Hebrew word · H7136

קָרָה

keruhu

to meet

To meet, encounter, and so to happen to or befall someone. It is often used of misfortune or unplanned events (Gen 42:4; 44:29; Ruth 2:3, 'she happened upon').

Appears 27 times in 27 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to encounter, meet, befall, happen, come to meet

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to encounter, meet

1a2) to befall

1b) (Niphal)

1b1) to encounter, meet (without pre-arrangement)

1b2) to chance to be present

1b3) to come to meet

1c) (Hiphil) to cause to meet, appoint

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 Daniel 10:14

Range of meaning

To meet, encounter, and so to happen to or befall someone. It is often used of misfortune or unplanned events (Gen 42:4; 44:29; Ruth 2:3, 'she happened upon').

Against the English

KJV: 'befall'. BSB and WEB: 'happen to'. YLT: 'doth happen to'. All are accurate. 'Befall' keeps the sense of something coming upon people.

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis 49:1 uses the same verb with the same time phrase: 'what will befall you in the after-part of the days.' Daniel 10:14 seems to echo Jacob's last words about the future of the tribes.

From the study of Exodus 3:18

Range of meaning

The verb qārâ means 'to meet, encounter, happen upon, befall'. In the passive-reflexive form used here it means 'to present oneself, to be met with, to meet (unexpectedly)'. The related noun miqreh means 'chance, what happens' (Ruth 2:3; 1 Sam 6:9). The verb is closely related to, and sometimes spelled like, qārāʾ III 'to meet'. That form is distinct from qārāʾ I, 'to call', which is spelled the same way.

Against the English

English versions read 'has met with us'. That can sound like a planned appointment or a friendly meeting. The Hebrew points to God confronting them on his own initiative, without warning. The ancient versions read the word as 'has called/summoned us', which changes the picture from encounter to summons.

How it drifted

'Met with' has become the language of appointments and fellowship in modern English. The Hebrew sense of a sudden encounter fades.

Used elsewhere in the period

The same form is used of God 'meeting' Balaam in Numbers 23:3–4, 15–16. Balaam goes aside hoping God will meet him, and God does present himself. Exodus 5:3 repeats this message but spells the verb niqrāʾ, with the aleph. The Septuagint renders both places 'has summoned us' (proskeklētai), and the Vulgate has vocavit nos, 'has called us'.

From the study of Ecclesiastes 9:11

Range of meaning

To meet, encounter, happen, befall — something that comes to a person unplanned (Gen 42:29, "all that had befallen them"; Ruth 2:3, Ruth "happened" upon Boaz's field).

Against the English

"Happen to" (KJV, BSB, ESV) is accurate; NASB's "overtake" adds a fitting sense of being caught.

Used elsewhere in the period

The related noun miqreh is a key word of Ecclesiastes: the one "fate" or "happening" that befalls wise and fool, human and beast, righteous and wicked — death (2:14–15; 3:19; 9:2–3). In 1 Sam 6:9 miqreh is set against divine action: "it was a chance (miqreh) that happened to us."

Where it appears

Genesis · 4

  1. Genesis 24:12 הַקְרֵה־ make happen

    “O LORD, God of my master Abraham,” he prayed, “please grant me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham.

    Here: A command form meaning 'make it happen / bring it about that I meet'. The root is the everyday word for things that 'happen' or 'chance' to occur. The servant asks God to arrange what will look like a chance meeting at the well.

  2. Genesis 27:20 הִקְרָ֛ה he made happen

    But Isaac asked his son, “How did you ever find it so quickly, my son?” “Because the LORD your God brought it to me,” he replied.

    Here: "He made it come my way", "he arranged the encounter". It is the vocabulary of God-guided "chance". Abraham's servant used the same verb with the same "before me" when praying for guidance (24:12). Jacob borrows the family's language of providence to cover a lie.

  3. Genesis 42:29 הַקֹּרֹ֥ת the [things which] had happened to

    When they reached their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they described to him all that had happened to them:

  4. Genesis 44:29 וְקָרָ֣הוּ and it will happen to him

    Now if you also take this one from me and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.’

Exodus · 1

  1. Exodus 3:18 נִקְרָ֣ה he has met

    The elders of Israel will listen to what you say, and you must go with them to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’

    Here: 'Has met / has presented himself'. The God took the initiative and confronted them; it was not a meeting they arranged.

Numbers · 6

  1. Numbers 11:23 הֲיִקְרְךָ֥ ¿ will it happen to you

    The LORD answered Moses, “Is the LORD’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not My word will come to pass.”

    Here: Another question marked by ha-. The verb means to meet, encounter, or happen to someone. God's word is pictured as something that arrives and runs into Moses as a real event. The suffix 'you' makes it personal to Moses.

  2. Numbers 23:3 יִקָּרֵ֤ה he will meet

    “Stay here by your burnt offering while I am gone,” Balaam said to Balak. “Perhaps the LORD will meet with me. And whatever He reveals to me, I will tell you.” So Balaam went off to a barren height,

  3. Numbers 23:4 וַיִּקָּ֥ר and he met

    and God met with him. “I have set up seven altars,” Balaam said, “and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram.”

  4. Numbers 23:15 אִקָּ֥רֶה I will meet

    Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here beside your burnt offering while I meet the LORD over there.”

  5. Numbers 23:16 וַיִּקָּ֤ר and he met

    And the LORD met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and speak what I tell you.”

  6. Numbers 35:11 וְהִקְרִיתֶ֤ם and you will make happen

    designate cities to serve as your cities of refuge, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there.

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 25:18 קָֽרְךָ֜ it met you

    how they met you on your journey when you were tired and weary, and they attacked all your stragglers; they had no fear of God.

Ruth · 1

  1. Ruth 2:3 וַיִּ֣קֶר and it chanced on

    So Ruth departed and went out into the field and gleaned after the harvesters. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.

1 Samuel · 1

  1. 1 Samuel 28:10 יִקְּרֵ֥ךְ it will happen to you

    Then Saul swore to her by the LORD: “As surely as the LORD lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this.”

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 1:6 נִקְרֵ֙יתִי֙ I found myself

    “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa,” he replied, “and there was Saul, leaning on his spear, with the chariots and the cavalry closing in on him.

2 Chronicles · 1

  1. 2 Chronicles 34:11 וּלְקָרוֹת֙ and to make beams for

    They also gave money to the carpenters and builders to buy dressed stone, as well as timbers for couplings and beams for the buildings that the kings of Judah had allowed to deteriorate.

Nehemiah · 3

  1. Nehemiah 2:8 לְ֠קָרוֹת to make beams for

    And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so that he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house I will occupy.” And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.

    Here: A verb made from the noun qorah, "beam": "to beam, to fit with beams." Gates needed heavy timber lintels, frames and doors, and Neh 3:3, 6 describes them being "beamed" with this same verb.

  2. Nehemiah 3:3 קֵר֔וּהוּ they made beams for it

    The Fish Gate was rebuilt by the sons of Hassenaah. They laid its beams and installed its doors, bolts, and bars.

  3. Nehemiah 3:6 קֵר֔וּהוּ they made beams for it

    The Jeshanah Gate was repaired by Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah. They laid its beams and installed its doors, bolts, and bars.

Esther · 2

  1. Esther 4:7 קָרָ֑הוּ it had happened to him

    and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money that Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury in order to destroy the Jews.

  2. Esther 6:13 קָרָ֑הוּ it had happened to him

    Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened. His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has begun, is Jewish, you will not prevail against him—for surely you will fall before him.”

    Here: "Had met him" or "had befallen him." The verb describes events that come upon a person. The same phrase describes Mordecai's report of his own crisis in 4:7, so the two enemies have now traded places.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 104:3 הַ֥מְקָרֶֽה the [one who] makes beams for

    laying the beams of His chambers in the waters above, making the clouds His chariot, walking on the wings of the wind.

    Here: A builder's word: 'the one who sets the roof-beams.' It is formed from the noun for a beam or rafter, so the picture is God as a master builder putting timbers in place. The 'the one who…' form names God by what he keeps doing.

Ecclesiastes · 3

  1. Ecclesiastes 2:14 יִקְרֶ֥ה it will happen to

    The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also came to realize that one fate overcomes them both.

    Here: 'Will befall, will meet'. It comes from the same root as miqreh, so the phrase is a sound-play: 'one happening happens'. The form looks forward and also states a general rule: it will come and it always comes.

  2. Ecclesiastes 2:15 יִקְרֵ֔נִי it will happen to me

    So I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will also befall me. What then have I gained by being wise?” And I said to myself that this too is futile.

  3. Ecclesiastes 9:11 יִקְרֶ֥ה it happens to

    I saw something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither is the bread to the wise, nor the wealth to the intelligent, nor the favor to the skillful. For time and chance happen to all.

    Here: "Befalls" — the singular verb treats "time and occurrence" as one combined thing. The same root gives miqreh, the book's word for the common "fate" (death) that overtakes wise and fool alike (2:14–15; 3:19; 9:2–3).

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 41:22 תִּקְרֶ֑ינָה they will happen

    “Let them come and tell us what will happen. Tell the former things, so that we may reflect on them and know the outcome. Or announce to us what is coming.

    Here: 'Will happen / will befall.' The word is used for events that come upon people. The feminine plural is Hebrew's ordinary way of saying 'things' in general: whatever is going to take place.

Daniel · 1

  1. Daniel 10:14 יִקְרָ֥ה it will happen

    Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision concerns those days.”

    Here: The verb means 'to meet, to encounter,' and from that 'to happen to' someone. Events are pictured as coming to meet Israel. It is future and often used of things that come upon people from outside. Here it covers the troubles laid out in chapters 11–12.

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