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# קֶשֶׁת

Biblical Hebrew · Strong's H7198

**bow** — used 76 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

bow [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1511/7198/#m1)

### Brown–Driver–Briggs 1906

קֶ֫שֶׁת: n.f. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1511/7198/#m2)

**The whole BDB entry:** n.f. Gn 9:14 (appar. m. 2 S 1:22 but v. AlbrZAW xvi (1896) 91) bow (orig. √ perhaps קושׁ, meaning unknown; NH id.; Assyrian ḳaštu; Ethiopic ቀስት: Arabic قَوْسٌ, pl. قُسِىٌّ, قِسِىٌّ, etc.; 𝔗 קַשְׁתָּא and (ט for ת after ק) קוּשְׁטָא (rare), all bow, קַשָּׁתָא bowman; Syriac ܩܶܫܬܳܐ bow, ܩܰܫܳܬܳܐ bowman; Old Aramaic קשת bow, Mand. כשטא (Frä 206); Palm. קשטא bowman);—abs. ק׳ Ho 1:7 +, קָ֑שֶׁת Je 46:9 +; cstr. קֶ֫שֶׁת Ho 1:5 +; sf. קַשְׁתִּי Gn 48:22 +, etc.; pl. abs. קְשָׁתוֹת 2 Ch 26:14 +; sf. קַשְּׁתֹתָיו (Ges§ 20 h) Is 5:28, קַשְּׁתוֹתָם Je 51:56 ψ 37:15, קַשְּׁתֹתֵיהֶם Ne 4:7 (קַשְׁתֹּתָיו etc., van d. H. \[except ψ 37:15\]);— bow: for hunting Gn 27:3 (J; + תְּלִי). battle: + (or ‖) חֶרֶב, Gn 48:22; Jos 24:12 (both E), Ho 1:7; 2:20 1 S 18:4 (+ חֲגֹרוֹ), 2 S 1:22; 2 K 6:22; Is 41:2 Ne 4:7 (+ רָמְחֵיחֶם), Zc 9:13 (fig. of Judah as י׳’s bow), ψ 37:15 (fig.), 44:7 (+ or ‖ חֶרֶב also infr.); + (or ‖) חִזִּים Is 7:24; 2 K 13:15(×2); Ez 39:3, 9; 1 Ch 12:2a; cf. רִשְׁפֵי ק׳ ψ 76:4 = arrow (+ מָגֵן וְחֶרֶב) so בֶּן ק׳ Jb 41:20 (cf. La 3:13; Jb 5:7); + חֲנִית ψ 46:10, + כִּידוֹן Je 6:23; 50:42; + various weapons Ne 4:10; 2 Ch 26:14; alone Is 13:18 (context corrupt), 22:3; Je 51:56; Hb 3:9 (of י׳ as warrior); ק׳ מִלְחָמָה Zc 9:10; 10:4; in sim. כְּק׳ רְמִיָּה like a bow of deception Ho 7:16 ψ 78:57 (i.e. one that misses its aim; al. slack bow). ק׳ coll. = bow(-men), archers Is 21:17. phrases are: הַמּוֹרִים אֲנָשִׁים בַּקּ׳ 1 S 31:3 archers, bowmen (but dub.; Dr Kit Löhr tr., א׳ הַמּ׳; We Bu del. א׳, as ‖ 1 Ch 10:3; HPS Now del. א׳ בַּקּ׳), הַמּוֹרִים בַּקּ׳ 1 Ch 10:3; מְטַחֲוֵי ק׳ Gn 21:16 (v. \[טָחָה\]), רמֵה ק׳ Je 4:29, cf. perhaps Gn 21:21 v. קַשַּׁת, ‖ נשְׁקֵי ק׳ (v. II. נָשַׁק) 1 Ch 12:2 b; 2 Ch 17:17, נוֹ׳ רוֹמֵי ק׳ ψ 78:9; תֹּפֵשׂ הַקּ׳ Am 2:15 one grasping the bow, (v. Je 46:9 infr.) v. also מִלֵּא יָדוֹ בַקּ׳ 2 K 9:24, הַרְכֵּב יָֽדְךָ עַל־הַקּ׳ 13:16; דָּרַךְ ק׳ bend (lit. tread) the bow, Is 5:28 (pt. pass), 21:15 (id.; ‖ חֶרֶב), Je 50:14, 29; 51:3; 1 Ch 5:18; 8:40; 2 Ch 14:7; ψ 37:14 (‖ חֶרֶב), in fig. 11:2 (‖ חֵץ), and, of God, La 2:4; 3:12 ψ 7:13 (‖ חֶרֶב); תֹּפְשֵׂי דֹּרְכֵי ק׳ Je 46:9; cf. (fig.) וַיַּדְרְכוּ אֶת־לְשׁוֹנָם קַשְׁתָּם Je 9:2; also וְנִחֲתָה ק׳ נְחוּשָׁה ψ 18:35 = 2 S 22:35 (read וְנִחֲתָה for וְנִחַת); מָשַׁךְ בַּקּ׳ draw the bow 1 K 22:34 = 2 Ch 18:33; Is 66:19. bow (passing over into) fig. of might, Gn 49:24 (poem), 1 S 2:4; Ho 1:5; Je 49:35; Jb 29:20 (cf. ψ 37:15, b. supr.). f. ק׳ נְחוּשָׁה fig. of divine judgment Jb 20:24 (‖ נֵשֶׁק בַּרְזֶל). rainbow: כְּמַרְאֵה הַקּ׳ אֲשֶׁר יִהְיֶה בֶעָנָן בְּיוֹם הַגֶּשֶׁם Ez 1:28; Gn 9:13, 14, 16 (P).—וַיֹּאמֶד לְלַמֵּד בְּנֵי־יְהוּדָה קָ֑שֶׁת 2 S 1:18 is corrupt; 𝔊 al. om.; We Now think misplaced gloss on v 6; v. further HPS.

Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 73 of its verses cited, 0 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (2 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: bow (35); a bow (12); (of) a bow (7).

## In the verses

[1 Samuel 2:4](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/1SA.2.4/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/1SA.2.4/#tree)

קֶ֥שֶׁת גִּבֹּרִ֖ים חַתִּ֑ים וְנִכְשָׁלִ֖ים אָ֥זְרוּ חָֽיִל׃

*Word for word:* \[the\].bow of.warriors \[are\].shattered and \[those.who\].stumble they.gird.on strength

*JPS 1917:* The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.

[Job 20:24](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/JOB.20.24/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/JOB.20.24/#tree)

יִ֭בְרַח מִנֵּ֣שֶׁק בַּרְזֶ֑ל תַּ֝חְלְפֵ֗הוּ קֶ֣שֶׁת נְחוּשָֽׁה׃

*Word for word:* he.will.flee from a.weapon of.iron it will.pierce.him a.bow of.bronze

*JPS 1917:* If he flee from the iron weapon, the bow of brass shall strike him through.

## On Mova

- [This word in the Tanakh dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/7198.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of its meanings](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1511/7198/): 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).