Hebrew word · H4385

מִכְתָּב

mikhtav

writing

Writing: a written text, an inscription, a letter or document, or a style of script.

Appears 9 times in 8 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) writing, thing written

1a) handwriting

1b) thing written

1c) writing

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 Exodus 32:16

Range of meaning

Writing: a written text, an inscription, a letter or document, or a style of script. It is used of the engraved inscription on the high priest's gold plate (Exod 39:30), a letter (2 Chr 21:12), Hezekiah's written poem (Isa 38:9), a king's written decree (2 Chr 35:4), and the writing on the wall (Aramaic kətav, Dan 5).

Against the English

"Writing" fits well. Hebrew places the noun next to itself ("the writing, writing of God"), and English versions keep that pattern well.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deut 10:4 says that on the second set of tablets God wrote "according to the first writing (kammiktav harishon) the Ten Words". Related phrases are "written with the finger of God" (Exod 31:18; Deut 9:10) and "which I have written" (Exod 24:12).

Similar words

Where it appears

Exodus · 3

  1. Exodus 32:16 וְהַמִּכְתָּ֗ב מִכְתַּ֤ב and the writing, [was] [the] writing of

    The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.

    Here: "And the writing": the inscription itself, the written text cut into the stone. Like "the tablets", it is placed first for emphasis.

  2. Exodus 39:30 מִכְתַּב֙ an inscription of

    They also made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and they engraved on it, like an inscription on a seal: HOLY TO THE LORD.

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 10:4 כַּמִּכְתָּ֣ב like the writing

    And the LORD wrote on the tablets what had been written previously, the Ten Commandments that He had spoken to you on the mountain out of the fire on the day of the assembly. The LORD gave them to me,

2 Chronicles · 3

  1. 2 Chronicles 21:12 מִכְתָּ֔ב a writing

    Then a letter came to Jehoram from Elijah the prophet, which stated: “This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘You have not walked in the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or of Asa king of Judah,

  2. 2 Chronicles 35:4 וּבְמִכְתַּ֖ב and by [the] writing of

    Prepare yourselves by families in your divisions, according to the instructions written by David king of Israel and Solomon his son.

  3. 2 Chronicles 36:22 בְּמִכְתָּ֖ב in writing

    In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows:

    Here: A written document, as royal decrees were in the Persian chancery. It gives the order lasting legal force (compare the archived record in Ezra 6:1–5).

Ezra · 1

  1. Ezra 1:1 בְּמִכְתָּ֖ב in writing

    In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows:

    Here: A written text or official document. The decree was also issued in writing, as Persian administration normally did, so it could be kept and checked later (see Ezra 6:1–5).

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 38:9 מִכְתָּ֖ב a writing

    This is a writing by Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:

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