Hebrew word · H3683

כָּסַח

kesuchim

to cut

To cut off, cut down or cut away, especially growth such as thorns or vine shoots. In the Bible it occurs only here and in Isaiah 33:12 ('thorns cut down, burned in the fire'). In rabbinic Hebrew and Aramaic it means trimming and clearing vegetation (Jastrow).

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to cut down, cut away, cut off (of plants)

1a) (Qal) cut away (pass participle)

1a1) of judgment (fig.)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Psalm 80:16

Range of meaning

To cut off, cut down or cut away, especially growth such as thorns or vine shoots. In the Bible it occurs only here and in Isaiah 33:12 ('thorns cut down, burned in the fire'). In rabbinic Hebrew and Aramaic it means trimming and clearing vegetation (Jastrow).

Against the English

English 'cut down' is accurate, though it can suggest felling a tree. The Hebrew usage points to cutting away brush that is then fit only for burning.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 33:12 gives the same pairing of 'cut down' and 'burned in fire', used of peoples consumed like thorns. The Septuagint translators read the second verb as 'dug up' (anaskaptō) and the Vulgate as 'dug under' (suffossa), so they understood uprooting. A noun suchah, 'refuse, offal', appears in Isaiah 5:25 ('their corpses were like refuse in the streets'), which lies behind the alternative reading 'like refuse'.

From the study of Isaiah 33:12

Range of meaning

To cut down or cut away. It appears in the Hebrew Bible only here and in Psalm 80:16 (Hebrew v. 17). Later Hebrew and Aramaic use related words for pruning or cutting off.

Against the English

Modern versions say "cut down" and KJV says "cut up." YLT's "as sweepings" reflects an older guess at this rare word that modern lexicons such as HALOT and BDB do not follow. The Vulgate's "gathered" (congregatae) is another guess.

Used elsewhere in the period

Psalm 80:16 says of the vine Israel: "burned with fire, cut down" (śerupah vaʾesh kesuchah). That verse pairs the same verb with fire, though there it is Israel suffering at the hands of the nations. Here the nations are on the receiving end.

Where it appears

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 80:16 כְּסוּחָ֑ה [it is] cut down

    Your vine has been cut down and burned; they perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.

    Here: Another feminine passive form: 'she is cut down'. The verb is rare. Its only other biblical use is Isaiah 33:12, where thorns are 'cut down' and then burned. In later Hebrew and Aramaic it means cutting or trimming away growth. The picture is of a vine hacked off and treated as brush for the fire.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 33:12 כְּסוּחִ֖ים cut down

    The peoples will be burned to ashes, like thorns cut down and set ablaze.

    Here: A passive form ("having been cut"). Thornbushes that have been hacked down are already uprooted and drying, ready to catch at once. The verb is rare and appears elsewhere only in Psalm 80:16 (Hebrew 80:17), where the vine Israel is "burned with fire, cut down."

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.