Hebrew word · H6920

קַדַּ֫חַת

hakadachat

fever

Fever or inflammation. It is from qadach, 'to kindle, catch fire' (Deut 32:22; Isa 50:11; 64:1). Only here and in Deut 28:22.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated November 07, 2026

What it means

fever

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

Range of meaning: Fever or inflammation. It is from qadach, 'to kindle, catch fire' (Deut 32:22; Isa 50:11; 64:1). Only here and in Deut 28:22.
Against the English: KJV 'burning ague' (ague = recurring malarial-type fever with chills) keeps the root's 'burning'. Modern versions say simply 'fever'.
Used elsewhere in the period: Deut 28:22 pairs it with shachefet again. Malaria was endemic in the lowlands and marshes of the southern Levant in antiquity, so recurring fevers were a familiar killer. Mesopotamian medical and incantation texts treat fever as a sent affliction.

Range of meaning: Three words from three different roots that all mean 'burn' or 'kindle': qdḥ 'kindle a fire', dlq 'burn, set on fire; chase hotly', ḥrr 'be hot, scorched'. Dalleqet and ḥarḥur occur only here in the Bible. Qaddaḥat appears again only in Leviticus 26:16.
Against the English: Translations rotate synonyms: 'fever, inflammation, extreme burning' (KJV), 'fever, inflammation, fiery heat' (WEB), 'fever and inflammation, scorching heat' (BSB, NIV). No English version can show that all three come from fire words.
Used elsewhere in the period: qdḥ: 'a fire is kindled in my anger' (Deut 32:22; Jer 15:14). dlq: 'you have hotly pursued me' (Gen 31:36); 'they chased us… they hotly pursued us' (Lam 4:19, where it is paired with radaf, 'pursue'). ḥrr: 'my bones burn with heat' (Job 30:30).

Leviticus · 1

Leviticus 26:16 הַקַּדַּ֔חַת <the> fever

then this is what I will do to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting disease, and fever that will destroy your sight and drain your life. You will sow your seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.

Here: 'The fever'. It comes from a root meaning to kindle or set alight (Deut 32:22; Isa 50:11), so it is literally 'the burning'. Elsewhere only in Deut 28:22.

Deuteronomy · 1

Deuteronomy 28:22 וּבַקַּדַּ֜חַת and with <the> fever

The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, and with blight and mildew; these will pursue you until you perish.

Here: 'And with the fever.' From a root meaning 'to kindle a fire' (Deut 32:22; Jer 15:14): a burning fever. Paired with the wasting disease again in Leviticus 26:16.

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