Hebrew word · H6122

עׇקְבָה

ve'akebah

cunning

Craftiness, treachery, outmanoeuvring by stealth. The noun occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. Its root ʿ-q-b means 'heel.' The verb ʿaqab means 'to grab by the heel, overreach, supplant' (Gen 27:36; Jer 9:4 [9:3 Hebrew]; Hos 12:3 [12:4 Hebrew]).

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated November 14, 2026

What it means

subtlety, insidiousness, craftiness

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 2 Kings 10:19

Range of meaning: Craftiness, treachery, outmanoeuvring by stealth. The noun occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. Its root ʿ-q-b means 'heel.' The verb ʿaqab means 'to grab by the heel, overreach, supplant' (Gen 27:36; Jer 9:4 [9:3 Hebrew]; Hos 12:3 [12:4 Hebrew]). The adjective ʿaqob means 'deceitful, crooked' (Jer 17:9) or 'uneven ground' (Isa 40:4).
Against the English: Renderings include KJV 'in subtilty,' BSB/WEB 'deceptively,' ESV 'with cunning,' NASB 'in cunning.' All capture deception. None can carry the root's picture of tripping someone from behind, or its link to Jacob.
How it drifted: KJV 'subtilty' meant craftiness in 1611. To most modern ears 'subtlety' means delicacy or nuance, which softens the word badly.
Used elsewhere in the period: Genesis 27:36: Esau says of Jacob, 'Is he not rightly named Jacob (yaʿaqov)? He has supplanted me (yaʿqeveni) these two times.' Jeremiah 9:4 [9:3]: 'every brother is a real supplanter' (ʿaqov yaʿqov). Hosea 12:3 [4]: 'in the womb he grabbed his brother's heel.' The Greek Septuagint renders our word en pternismō, 'by heel-tripping.' It uses the same Greek root (pterna, 'heel') it uses for Jacob in Gen 27:36, which shows that ancient translators heard the image. The Latin Vulgate gives 'insidiose,' 'treacherously, by ambush.' HALOT and BDB both list the word under the ʿqb root with the sense 'craftiness.'

Where it appears

2 Kings · 1

2 Kings 10:19 בְעָקְבָּ֔ה with guile

Now, therefore, summon to me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests. See that no one is missing, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal. Whoever is missing will not live.” But Jehu was acting deceptively in order to destroy the servants of Baal.

Here: 'With craftiness.' The noun appears only here in the Bible. It comes from the root for 'heel' and 'heel-grabbing,' the same root that gives Jacob, the supplanter, his name.

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