Hebrew word · H6131

עִקֵּר

'iker

to hamstring

To uproot, tear out by the roots. Other stems mean to hamstring (piel, Gen 49:6; Josh 11:6) or to be uprooted (niphal, Zeph 2:4). The related noun ʿăqār means 'root, offshoot'. The Aramaic cognate appears in Dan 4:15, 23 ('the stump of its roots').

Appears 7 times in 7 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to cut, hamstring

1a) (Piel) to cut, hamstring

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 Ecclesiastes 3:2

Range of meaning

To uproot, tear out by the roots. Other stems mean to hamstring (piel, Gen 49:6; Josh 11:6) or to be uprooted (niphal, Zeph 2:4). The related noun ʿăqār means 'root, offshoot'. The Aramaic cognate appears in Dan 4:15, 23 ('the stump of its roots').

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'pluck up that which is planted' keeps the repeated root. BSB/NIV 'uproot' drop the word 'planted'. NLT 'harvest' picks one interpretation.

Used elsewhere in the period

The simple active form occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. Zeph 2:4 puns on the city name Ekron ('Ekron shall be uprooted', tēʿāqēr). It is common in later rabbinic Hebrew for pulling up plants.

From the study of Joshua 11:6

Range of meaning

The Piel (intensive) form of ʿāqar, 'to uproot'. Here it means 'to hamstring': cutting the large hock tendon of a hind leg (the 'hamstring' in older usage) so the animal cannot use the leg. The basic root also gives ʿāqār, 'barren' (cut off, without offspring).

Against the English

KJV 'hough' is the archaic word for the hock joint, used as a verb meaning 'hamstring'. Most modern versions say 'hamstring'. Some paraphrases say 'cripple', which is correct in effect but loses how specific the act was.

How it drifted

'Hough' fell out of everyday English. Readers of the KJV today often do not know what was done to the horses.

Used elsewhere in the period

Only a few uses: Gen 49:6 (Simeon and Levi 'hamstrung an ox' in anger), Josh 11:6, 9, and 2 Sam 8:4 / 1 Chr 18:4 (David hamstrings chariot horses but keeps enough for 100 chariots). The Septuagint translates it neurokopeō, 'cut the sinews'.

From the study of Zephaniah 2:4

Range of meaning

To uproot or pluck up (Eccl 3:2, "a time to uproot what is planted"). In the intensive form it means to hamstring animals (Josh 11:6; Gen 49:6). The related adjective ʿaqar / ʿaqarah means "barren" (Gen 11:30).

Against the English

"Rooted up" (KJV/WEB) and "uprooted" (BSB) are both correct. What English loses is the pun: ʿEqron teʿaqer, roughly "Ekron will be uprooted / Ekron will be Ekron-ed."

Used elsewhere in the period

This passive form occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. In Aramaic and later Hebrew the root continues to mean uprooting. A similar "name = fate" wordplay appears on Philistine and other towns in Micah 1:10–15 and Amos 5:5 ("Gilgal shall surely go into exile", haggilgal galoh yigleh).

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 49:6 עִקְּרוּ־ they hamstrung

    May I never enter their council; may I never join their assembly. For they kill men in their anger, and hamstring oxen on a whim.

    Here: 'They hamstrung': cutting the tendon behind the hock, which cripples an animal for good. In war this was done to enemy horses (Joshua 11:6, 9; 2 Samuel 8:4). It is pointless maiming of a valuable working beast.

Joshua · 2

  1. Joshua 11:6 תְּעַקֵּ֔ר you will hamstring

    Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for by this time tomorrow I will deliver all of them slain before Israel. You are to hamstring their horses and burn up their chariots.”

    Here: To cut the large tendon behind the hind leg, so the horse can never again pull a chariot. It is a deliberate decision not to capture and reuse the enemy's war machine.

  2. Joshua 11:9 עִקֵּ֔ר he hamstrung

    Joshua treated them as the LORD had told him; he hamstrung their horses and burned up their chariots.

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 8:4 וַיְעַקֵּ֤ר and he hamstrung

    David captured from him a thousand chariots, seven thousand charioteers, and twenty thousand foot soldiers, and he hamstrung all the horses except a hundred he kept for the chariots.

    Here: To cut the large tendon at the back of an animal's hind legs. The horse is crippled for running and pulling, so it is useless for war. It is not the same as killing it.

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 18:4 וַיְעַקֵּ֤ר and he hamstrung

    David captured from him a thousand chariots, seven thousand charioteers, and twenty thousand foot soldiers, and he hamstrung all the horses except a hundred he kept for the chariots.

Ecclesiastes · 1

  1. Ecclesiastes 3:2 לַעֲק֥וֹר to pluck up

    a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,

    Here: To tear something out by the roots. This is the only use of this simple active form in the Bible. It could mean pulling up a crop at harvest or clearing out what was planted.

Zephaniah · 1

  1. Zephaniah 2:4 תֵּעָקֵֽר׃ ס it will be plucked up

    For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon left in ruins. Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be uprooted.

    Here: "She will be uprooted." ʿEqron teʿaqer is a second sound-play: Ekron will be "Ekron-ed", torn up by the roots. The root also sounds like ʿaqarah, "barren woman". This passive form of the verb appears only here.

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