קֶ֫טֶב

From the study of Isaiah 28:2

Range of meaning

Destruction, a deadly scourge, plague. Deut 32:24 has 'bitter qeṭeb' among the arrows of God's judgment, with hunger, plague and wild beasts. Ps 91:6 has 'the qeṭeb that lays waste at noon'. Hos 13:14 has 'O Sheol, where is your qeṭeb?' (Paul echoes this in 1 Cor 15:55 via the Greek). In several of these places it reads almost like a personified destroyer.

Against the English

'Destructive' or 'destroying storm' (BSB, KJV, WEB, YLT) is fair. It loses the hint of plague and of a deadly power that the word carries elsewhere.

Used elsewhere in the period

Later Jewish tradition developed Qeṭeb Merîrî ('Bitter Destruction') into a named noon-day demon, building on Deut 32:24 and Ps 91:6. That is a later development and should not be read straight into Isaiah, but it shows how strongly the word suggested a deadly force.

From the study of Deuteronomy 32:24

Range of meaning

A destroying blow, scourge, or plague with a sense of sudden cutting-off. Ps 91:6: 'the qetev that lays waste at noon'. Isa 28:2: a 'storm of qetev'. Hos 13:14: 'O Sheol, where is your qetev?' Personification hovers around the word: in Ps 91:5–6 it is listed beside Dever (pestilence) as a lurking attacker.

Against the English

KJV and NASB 'bitter destruction' is accurate but abstract. ESV 'poisonous pestilence' and NIV 'deadly plague' make it a disease. Rare words like this seem to name a recognisable destroyer, close to a demon of sudden death, which 'destruction' does not convey.

How it drifted

Older English used 'destruction' for any ruin. Modern readers hear demolition, not a striking, stinging killer.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint of Hos 13:14 renders it 'sting' (kentron), and Paul quotes that line in 1 Cor 15:55, 'O death, where is your sting?' Later rabbinic tradition, much later than Deuteronomy, made 'Qeteb Meriri' a named noon-day demon active in the summer weeks between 17 Tammuz and 9 Av (e.g., Numbers Rabbah 12:3; Midrash Tehillim on Ps 91). The Septuagint here gives 'incurable opisthotonos' (a convulsive spasm).

From the study of Psalm 91:6

Range of meaning

Destruction, a destroying blow or scourge. Its four uses are all poetic lists of deadly agents: 'wasted by hunger, devoured by Reshef and bitter Qeteb' (Deut 32:24); 'like a storm of hail, a destroying (qeṭeḇ) tempest' (Isa 28:2); 'O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your qeṭeḇ?' (Hos 13:14).

Against the English

'Destruction' (KJV, ESV, WEB), 'calamity' (BSB), 'plague' (NIV) and 'disaster' (NLT) all treat it as an event. The Hebrew sounds more like a named destroyer. In Deuteronomy and Hosea it sits next to Reshef, Death and Sheol, which are powers more than events.

How it drifted

Translators rightly avoid printing a demon's name, so the word becomes abstract. That loses the sense that this is a counterpart to the walking Deber in the first half of the line.

Used elsewhere in the period

Later Jewish tradition clearly treated Qeteb as a demon. The rabbis spoke of 'Qeteb Meriri' (from Deut 32:24), a demon who rules between the fourth and ninth hours of the day, in the hottest part of summer (b. Pesahim 111b; Midrash Tehillim 91; Numbers Rabbah 12:3). That is later evidence. It shows how the word was heard, but it cannot prove what the psalmist himself meant.