Hebrew word · H7197

קָשַׁשׁ

mekoshesh

to gather

Related to qash, 'stubble, chaff.' The verb means to gather up bits: straw left in the fields (Exod 5:7, 12) or scattered sticks (Num 15:32–33). It describes picking things up off the ground, not cutting wood.

Appears 8 times in 7 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 31, 2026

What it means

to gather, collect, gather stubble or sticks

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 17:12

Range of meaning: Related to qash, 'stubble, chaff.' The verb means to gather up bits: straw left in the fields (Exod 5:7, 12) or scattered sticks (Num 15:32–33). It describes picking things up off the ground, not cutting wood.
Against the English: All the English versions say 'gathering', which is accurate. The picture of scraping up scraps is lost, but the 'two sticks' partly makes up for it.
Used elsewhere in the period: Exodus 5 uses it for the Hebrew slaves forced to scrounge their own straw. Numbers 15 uses it for the man gathering sticks on the Sabbath. Both involve hard, scavenging labor.

From the study of Exodus 5:12

Range of meaning: To gather or collect bits of stubble or sticks. It is a rare verb made from qaš, 'stubble'. In one place (Zeph 2:1) it is used figuratively: 'gather yourselves together'.
Against the English: All the English versions say 'gather'. None can keep the Hebrew sound-play ləqōšēš qaš, 'to stubble-gather stubble'.
Used elsewhere in the period: Num 15:32–33 (the man gathering sticks on the Sabbath); 1 Kgs 17:10, 12 (the widow of Zarephath gathering sticks); Zeph 2:1. Every time, it is small-scale scavenging by hand, often done by poor people.

From the study of Zephaniah 2:1

Range of meaning: Formed from the noun qaš, 'stubble, straw, chaff-like dry stalks'. In every clear use the verb means 'to gather stubble or sticks'. Israelites gather straw for bricks (Exod 5:7, 12). A man gathers sticks on the Sabbath (Num 15:32–33). The widow of Zarephath gathers sticks for a last fire (1 Kgs 17:10, 12). Zephaniah 2:1 is the only place it is used of people gathering themselves.
Against the English: English versions say 'gather (together)', the ordinary word for an assembly. That is the right basic action, but it loses the image of straw. Hebrew had common words for calling an assembly (ʾāsap, qābaṣ, as in Joel 2:16). Zephaniah passes them over for the stubble word. YLT's 'bend yourselves' follows an older and now abandoned guess at the root.
How it drifted: The word is so rare that translators fell back on the general sense 'gather'. The straw picture comes through only in the Hebrew sound and its link to the context.
Used elsewhere in the period: Uses listed above (Exod 5; Num 15; 1 Kgs 17). The noun qaš is a stock image of something light, dry and quickly burned: 'stubble before the wind' (Ps 83:13), 'the house of Esau will be stubble' (Obad 18), 'all the arrogant… will be stubble' (Mal 4:1 [3:19 Heb]). The LXX gives 'be gathered together and be bound together' (synachthēte kai syndethēte), as if tying up sheaves.

Where it appears

Exodus · 2

Exodus 5:7 וְקֹשְׁשׁ֥וּ and they may gather

“You shall no longer supply the people with straw for making bricks. They must go and gather their own straw.
Exodus 5:12 לְקֹשֵׁ֥שׁ to gather

So the people scattered all over the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.

Here: A verb made from the noun 'stubble' that follows it: roughly 'to stubble the stubble.' It means scraping together scattered, low-value bits of plant material by hand, the kind of work done by the poor (compare the widow gathering sticks in 1 Kgs 17:10, 12).

Numbers · 2

Numbers 15:32 מְקֹשֵׁ֥שׁ gathering

While the Israelites were in the wilderness, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day.
Numbers 15:33 מְקֹשֵׁ֣שׁ gathering

Those who found the man gathering wood brought him to Moses, Aaron, and the whole congregation,

1 Kings · 2

1 Kings 17:10 מְקֹשֶׁ֣שֶׁת [was] gathering

So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow gathering sticks. Elijah called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, so that I may drink.”
1 Kings 17:12 מְקֹשֶׁ֜שֶׁת [am] gathering

But she replied, “As surely as the LORD your God lives, I have no bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. Look, I am gathering a couple of sticks to take home and prepare a meal for myself and my son, so that we may eat it and die.”

Here: An ongoing action. The verb is used for gathering bits of straw or stray sticks (Exod 5:7, 12; Num 15:32), so it means scraping fuel together from scraps, not cutting firewood.

Zephaniah · 2

Zephaniah 2:1 הִֽתְקוֹשְׁשׁ֖וּ וָק֑וֹשּׁוּ gather yourselves together, and gather together

Gather yourselves, gather together, O shameful nation,

Here: A reflexive command to a group: 'gather yourselves'. The verb comes from qaš, 'stubble, straw', and everywhere else it means picking up straw or sticks. Calling people to 'gather' with this word pictures them as dry stuff being raked into a heap.

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