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Abarim Publications' Biblical Dictionary: The Old Testament Hebrew word: גדע

Source: https://www.abarim-publications.com/Dictionary/g/g-d-ay.html

גדע

Abarim Publications' online Biblical Hebrew Dictionary

גדע

The verb גדע (gada'), meaning to hew down or cut off, usually shows up when conflicting convictions slug it out, and one party destroys the regalia of the other (Ezekiel 6:6). Or when a person, or a body gets expelled from the mother group (Judges 21:6) or gets cut down a size (Isaiah 10:33). Or even when an entity separates from a quality (Lamentations 2:3).

This verb is curious because it is used quite frequently in the Bible but it has no derivatives (apart from three names, including Gideon). There's no noun that means 'a cutting off,' and there's no noun that notes that what's been cut off. Since the Hebrew language is quite fluidic, and verbs spawn nouns at the drop of a hat, this absence of nouns may be taken as an indication that whatever gets cut off, stays cut off and is remembered or even mentioned no more.


Associated Biblical names