Hebrew word · H7096

קָצָה

hiktzu

to cut off

To cut off, trim off, chop off the end of something. It is related to the noun qatseh, 'end, edge, extremity'. The verb appears only a few times. In the intensive form used here it means cutting something off, or cutting it down to size.

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to cut off

1a) (Qal) to cut off

1b) (Piel) to cut off

1c) (Hiphil) to scrape, scrape off

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 Proverbs 26:6

Range of meaning

To cut off, trim off, chop off the end of something. It is related to the noun qatseh, 'end, edge, extremity'. The verb appears only a few times. In the intensive form used here it means cutting something off, or cutting it down to size.

Against the English

Most English versions say 'cuts off'. BSB and the ESV-type versions add 'one's own' or 'his own', which the Hebrew implies but does not state. The Vulgate's 'lame in the feet' softens the active, violent picture into a condition.

Used elsewhere in the period

2 Kings 10:32: YHWH 'began to cut off' parts of Israel's territory through Hazael. Habakkuk 2:10 speaks of 'cutting off many peoples'. A related root (qatsats) is used for disabling mutilation of hands and feet: Adoni-bezek's thumbs and big toes (Judges 1:6–7) and David's punishment of Ish-bosheth's assassins (2 Samuel 4:12). Hearers knew this as a way of making a person helpless, so the picture would have been vivid. The link between the two roots is a matter of meaning, not the same word.

Where it appears

Leviticus · 2

  1. Leviticus 14:41 הִקְצ֔וּ they have scraped off

    And he shall have the inside of the house scraped completely and the plaster that is scraped off dumped into an unclean place outside the city.

  2. Leviticus 14:43 הִקְצ֥וֹת has scraped

    If the mildew reappears in the house after the stones have been torn out and the house has been scraped and replastered,

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 10:32 לְקַצּ֖וֹת to cut off

    In those days the LORD began to reduce the size of Israel. Hazael defeated the Israelites throughout their territory

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 26:6 מְקַצֶּ֣ה [one who] cuts off

    Like cutting off one’s own feet or drinking violence is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool.

    Here: A participle, so it describes ongoing action: 'one who is chopping off'. The verb is rare and harsh. Elsewhere it is used of cutting pieces off a territory (2 Kings 10:32). Here it pictures someone mutilating himself.

Habakkuk · 1

  1. Habakkuk 2:10 קְצוֹת־ by cutting off

    You have plotted shame for your house by cutting off many peoples and forfeiting your life.

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