Hebrew word · H7098

קָצָה

ketzot

end

End, edge, extremity, outermost part.

Appears 35 times in 30 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) end, extremity

1a) end

1b) from the whole of, from among (of what is included between extremities)

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 1 Kings 6:24

Range of meaning

End, edge, extremity, outermost part.

Against the English

KJV 'uttermost part', WEB 'tip', YLT 'ends'. All are accurate.

Used elsewhere in the period

The same idiom 'from end to end' is used for the cherubim on the ark cover (Exod 25:19, 37:8).

From the study of Job 26:14

Range of meaning

Ends, edges, extremities, outermost parts of an object or region. It is used for the two ends of the mercy-seat cover and of the breastpiece chains (Exodus 25:18–19; 28:23–24), and for 'the ends of the earth', the farthest margins of the known world.

Against the English

BSB and NASB have 'fringes', ESV and WEB 'outskirts', NIV 'outer fringe', YLT 'borders', and KJV 'parts'. All the modern renderings keep the idea of periphery. KJV's 'parts' can sound to a modern reader like components or sections that add up to a whole, which loses the point that these are only the edges.

How it drifted

KJV's 'parts' follows the old Greek and Latin versions (Greek merē 'parts', Latin ex parte 'in part'). Over time 'parts' in English has come to suggest pieces of a set rather than outer margins.

Used elsewhere in the period

Job itself uses qəṣôt hāʾāreṣ, 'the ends of the earth' (Job 28:24), for the farthest reach of God's gaze. Isaiah uses the same phrase for the remotest coastlands (Isaiah 40:28; 41:5, 9). The Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint) has merē 'parts' here.

Where it appears

Exodus · 21
  1. Exodus 25:18 קְצ֥וֹת [the] ends of

    Make two cherubim of hammered gold at the ends of the mercy seat,

    Here: The extremities or edges: the two short ends of the rectangular cover, so the cherubim face each other across its length.

  2. Exodus 25:19 מִקָּצָה֙ מִקָּצָ֖ה קְצוֹתָֽיו׃ from an end, ends its

    one cherub on one end and one on the other, all made from one piece of gold.

  3. Exodus 26:4 מִקָּצָ֖ה from an end

    Make loops of blue material on the edge of the end curtain in the first set, and do the same for the end curtain in the second set.

  4. Exodus 27:4 קְצוֹתָֽיו׃ extremities its

    Construct for it a grate of bronze mesh, and make a bronze ring at each of the four corners of the mesh.

  5. Exodus 28:7 קְצוֹתָ֖יו ends its

    It shall have two shoulder pieces attached at two of its corners, so it can be fastened.

  6. Exodus 28:23 קְצ֥וֹת [the] ends of

    You are also to make two gold rings and fasten them to the two corners of the breastpiece.

  7. Exodus 28:24 קְצ֖וֹת [the] ends of

    Then fasten the two gold chains to the two gold rings at the corners of the breastpiece,

  8. Exodus 28:25 קְצוֹת֙ [the] ends of

    and fasten the other ends of the two chains to the two filigree settings, attaching them to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front.

  9. Exodus 28:26 קְצ֣וֹת [the] ends of

    Make two more gold rings and attach them to the other two corners of the breastpiece, on the inside edge next to the ephod.

  10. Exodus 36:11 מִקָּצָ֖ה from an end

    He made loops of blue material on the edge of the end curtain in the first set, and also on the end curtain in the second set.

  11. Exodus 37:7 קְצ֥וֹת [the] ends of

    He made two cherubim of hammered gold at the ends of the mercy seat,

  12. Exodus 37:8 מִקָּצָה֙ מִקָּצָ֖ה קְצוֹתָֽיו׃ [was] from an end, ends its

    one cherub on one end and one on the other, all made from one piece of gold.

  13. Exodus 39:4 קְצוֹתָ֖יו ends its

    They made shoulder pieces for the ephod, which were attached at two of its corners, so it could be fastened.

  14. Exodus 39:16 קְצ֥וֹת [the] ends of

    They also made two gold filigree settings and two gold rings, and fastened the two rings to the two corners of the breastpiece.

  15. Exodus 39:17 קְצ֖וֹת [the] ends of

    Then they fastened the two gold chains to the two gold rings at the corners of the breastpiece,

  16. Exodus 39:18 קְצוֹת֙ [the] ends of

    and they fastened the other ends of the two chains to the two filigree settings, attaching them to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front.

    Here: The ends of the cords. Each cord has two ends. Verse 17 attached one end of each to the rings on the breastpiece, and this verse deals with the remaining ends, so the BSB's 'other ends' is a fair reading.

  17. Exodus 39:19 קְצ֣וֹת [the] ends of

    They made two more gold rings and attached them to the other two corners of the breastpiece, on the inside edge next to the ephod.

Judges · 1
  1. Judges 18:2 מִקְצוֹתָם֩ from ends their

    So the Danites sent out five men from their clans, men of valor from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and explore it. “Go and explore the land,” they told them. The men entered the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah, where they spent the night.

1 Kings · 4
  1. 1 Kings 6:24 מִקְצ֥וֹת קְצ֥וֹת from [the] ends of, [the] ends of

    One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing was five cubits long as well. So the full wingspan was ten cubits.

    Here: 'From the extremities': the outermost tip of the wing.

  2. 1 Kings 12:31 מִקְצ֣וֹת from [the] ends of

    Jeroboam also built shrines on the high places and appointed from every class of people priests who were not Levites.

  3. 1 Kings 13:33 מִקְצ֤וֹת from [the] ends of

    Even after these events, Jeroboam did not repent of his evil ways, but again he appointed priests for the high places from every class of people. He ordained anyone who desired to be a priest of the high places.

2 Kings · 1
  1. 2 Kings 17:32 מִקְצוֹתָם֙ from among themselves

    So the new residents worshiped the LORD, but they also appointed for themselves priests of all sorts to serve in the shrines of the high places.

Job · 2
  1. Job 26:14 קְצ֬וֹת [are] [the] ends of

    Indeed, these are but the fringes of His ways; how faint is the whisper we hear of Him! Who then can understand the thunder of His power?”

    Here: The outer edges or far fringes of something. What seemed overwhelming is only the periphery, the hem of the garment, not the body of it.

  2. Job 28:24 לִקְצוֹת־ to [the] ends of

    For He looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.

Psalms · 1
  1. Psalm 19:6 קְצוֹתָ֑ם ends their

    it rises at one end of the heavens and runs its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.

Isaiah · 3
  1. Isaiah 40:28 קְצ֣וֹת [the] ends of

    Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; His understanding is beyond searching out.

    Here: 'The ends of': the outermost edges. To create the ends is to create everything in between, including Babylon.

  2. Isaiah 41:5 קְצ֥וֹת [the] ends of

    The islands see and fear; the ends of the earth tremble. They approach and come forward.

    Here: "The ends of": the outermost edges of the inhabited world. The same phrase appears in 40:28, where the LORD is "Creator of the ends of the earth", and in 41:9, where he says he took Israel "from the ends of the earth."

  3. Isaiah 41:9 מִקְצ֣וֹת from [the] ends of

    I brought you from the ends of the earth and called you from its farthest corners. I said, ‘You are My servant.’ I have chosen and not rejected you.

    Here: 'From the edges of': the outer rim of the known world. Seen from Judah, that meant places like Mesopotamia (where Abraham came from) and Egypt.

Jeremiah · 1
  1. Jeremiah 49:36 קְצ֣וֹת [the] ends of

    I will bring the four winds against Elam from the four corners of the heavens, and I will scatter them to all these winds. There will not be a nation to which Elam’s exiles will not go.

Ezekiel · 1
  1. Ezekiel 15:4 קְצוֹתָ֜יו ends its

    No, it is cast into the fire for fuel. The fire devours both ends, and the middle is charred. Can it be useful for anything?

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