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# קֶסֶם

Biblical Hebrew · Strong's H7081

**divination** — used 11 times in the Hebrew Bible. Below: its meanings with their sources, MACULA's glosses, and 2 verses word for word and in JPS 1917.

## Meaning

### OpenScriptures lexical index

divination [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1511/7081/#m1)

### Brown–Driver–Briggs 1906

קֶ֫סֶם: divination [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1511/7081/#m2)

**The whole BDB entry:** n.\[m.\] divination;—abs. ק׳ Nu 23:23 +, קָ֑סֶם Ez 21:26; cstr. קֶסֶם 13:6; pl. קְסָמִים Dt 18:10 +;— of the nations: Balaam, Nu 23:23 (poem in JE; ‖ נַחַשׁ; c. ב against; as acc. cogn. לִקְסָם־ק׳ Ez 21:26; ק׳ as instr. of divination בִּימִינוֹ v 27; so of elders of Moab and Midian, קְסָמִים בְּיָדָם, Nu 22:7 (E).—Is 2:6 v. \[קָסַם\]. of false proph. ק׳ כָּזָב Ez 13:6 (but v. \[קָסַם\]); ק׳ as acc. cogn. Ez 13:23 (כָּזָב as v 9 21:34; 22:28); ק׳ אֱלִיל (so Gf for MT וֶאֱלִו֯ל) Je 14:14 (all ‖ חזה שׁוא or שׁקר); קֹסֵם קְסָמִים prohibited Dt 18:10; 2 K 17:17; reprobated 1 S 15:23 (poem; ‖ תרפים). in good sense ק׳ עַל שִׂפְתֵי מֶלֶךְ Pr 16:10 (king’s lips as oracle).

Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 11 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (3 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (2 candidates)

## Glosses

MACULA's English glosses of the word in the text, with how often each is used: divination (7); divinations (3); of divination (1).

## In the verses

[Proverbs 16:10](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PRO.16.10/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PRO.16.10/#tree)

קֶ֤סֶם ׀ עַֽל־שִׂפְתֵי־מֶ֑לֶךְ בְּ֝מִשְׁפָּ֗ט לֹ֣א יִמְעַל־פִּֽיו׃

*Word for word:* divination \[is\].on \[the\].lips of.a.king in judgment not it.will.act.unfaithfully mouth his

*JPS 1917:* A divine sentence is in the lips of the king; his mouth trespasseth not in judgment.

[1 Samuel 15:23](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/1SA.15.23/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/1SA.15.23/#tree)

כִּ֤י חַטַּאת־קֶ֙סֶם֙ מֶ֔רִי וְאָ֥וֶן וּתְרָפִ֖ים הַפְצַ֑ר יַ֗עַן מָאַ֙סְתָּ֙ אֶת־דְּבַ֣ר יְהוָ֔ה וַיִּמְאָסְךָ֖ מִמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ס

*Word for word:* (dm) \[is.the\].sin of.divination rebellion and.\[is\] wickedness and teraphim presumption because you.have.rejected (et) the.word of.Yahweh and he has.rejected.you from king

*JPS 1917:* For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, He hath also rejected thee from being king.'

## On Mova

- [This word in the Tanakh dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/7081.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of its meanings](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1511/7081/): every English meaning parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.

Sources. The words, their counts, glosses and the word-for-word renderings: MACULA Hebrew (the Westminster Leningrad Codex; Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0). Meanings: the OpenScriptures lexical index (CC BY 4.0), Brown–Driver–Briggs 1906 and Jastrow 1903 (public domain, via Sefaria); Targum Onkelos from Sefaria (public domain). Translation: JPS 1917 (public domain, from eBible.org).