Hebrew word · H7135

קָרָה

karah

cold

Cold, especially the bitter cold of winter or of night. It is rare: Job 24:7 (the poor who have 'no covering in the cold'), Job 37:9 (cold coming from the north winds), Prov 25:20 (taking off a garment 'on a cold day'), Nah 3:17 (locusts settling on walls 'on a day of cold').

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

What it means

cold

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 Psalm 147:17

Range of meaning

Cold, especially the bitter cold of winter or of night. It is rare: Job 24:7 (the poor who have 'no covering in the cold'), Job 37:9 (cold coming from the north winds), Prov 25:20 (taking off a garment 'on a cold day'), Nah 3:17 (locusts settling on walls 'on a day of cold').

Against the English

KJV/WEB/NASB/ESV 'his cold' is exact. BSB/NIV 'icy blast' adds wind, which is not in the word, though wind is nearby in v. 18. NLT 'freezing cold' adds intensity.

Used elsewhere in the period

Job 24:7 shows what cold meant socially: deadly for anyone without a cloak or shelter. The Septuagint renders it psychos, 'cold'.

Where it appears

Job · 2

  1. Job 24:7 בַּקָּרָֽה׃ in the coldness

    Without clothing, they spend the night naked; they have no covering against the cold.

  2. Job 37:9 קָרָֽה׃ coldness

    The tempest comes from its chamber, and the cold from the driving north winds.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 147:17 קָ֝רָת֗וֹ coldness his

    He casts forth His hail like pebbles. Who can withstand His icy blast?

    Here: A rare noun for bitter cold (Job 37:9; Prov 25:20; Nah 3:17). It echoes qarḥo ('his ice') in sound, so the two halves of the line are bound together by a q-r sound-play.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 25:20 קָ֭רָה coldness

    Like one who removes a garment on a cold day or vinegar poured on a wound is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.

Nahum · 1

  1. Nahum 3:17 קָרָ֔ה coldness

    Your guards are like the swarming locust, and your scribes like clouds of locusts that settle on the walls on a cold day. When the sun rises, they fly away, and no one knows where.

    Here: Cold weather. Locusts cannot fly until warmed, so on a cold day they sit packed and motionless on walls, looking settled and permanent.

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