H6990 H6990
to break, snap, or be cut off (meaning highly uncertain, possibly corrupt text)
A verb of extremely doubtful meaning, appearing only in Job 8:14. The context discusses the wicked person whose hope is fragile: 'whose confidence shall break' or 'whose hope is a fragile thing.' However, textual critics widely suspect corruption. Proposed emendations include reading 'spider webs' (qure qayits, an Aramaism) or other terms for fragile materials. The parallelism with 'spider's house' in the next line requires something expressing brittleness or impermanence, but the exact original word remains elusive.
Senses
1. sense 1 — A verb tentatively meaning 'to snap' or 'break,' used to describe the fragility of the wicked person's confidence in Job 8:14. The text's difficulty is evident: some treat it as a verb ('his hope snaps'), others as a noun ('a fragile thing'). The semantic requirement is clear—something conveying sudden breaking or inherent weakness—but lexical certainty is impossible. Most translations leave the form untransliterated or offer provisional renderings ('is cut off'), acknowledging that the parallel with 'spider's house' guides interpretation more than confidence in the Hebrew text itself. 1×
AR["يَنْقَطِعُ"]·ben["ছিন্ন-হয়"]·DE["[יקוט]"]·EN["is-cut-off"]·FR["יקוט"]·heb["ייקוט"]·HI["टूटेगा"]·ID["terputus"]·IT["is-cut-off"]·jav["dipun-tugel"]·KO["끊어지리라"]·PT["será-cortada"]·RU["обрублена"]·ES["confianza-será-cortada"]·SW["litakatika"]·TR["kesilecek"]·urd["ٹوٹے-گا"]
Related Senses
G0846 1. third-person pronoun reference (5552×)H???? 1. (4670×)H6213a 1. do, perform, act (2383×)G4160 1. do, act, perform (473×)H5221 1. Hifil: to strike in battle, smite enemies (362×)H0899b 1. garment, article of clothing (216×)H6213a 2. make, construct, fabricate (148×)H3772 1. cut a covenant / make a pact (97×)H5060 1. touch physically (Qal) (96×)H3615 1. complete a task (Piel) (85×)H3772 2. cut off / destroy (Hifil causative) (81×)H3920 1. capture, seize (Qal) (76×)H???? 12. (76×)H3772 3. be cut off / be eliminated (Niphal) (74×)H6213a 3. be done, be made (Niphal) (73×)G4160 2. make, construct, create (62×)H3847 1. Qal: put on, wear (60×)H8210 1. pour out (liquid/libation) (59×)G2440 1. garment or clothing (general) (54×)H4191 4. kill / put to death (Hifil causative) (50×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† [קוֹט] dub. vb.intrans., assumed meaning break, snap (supposed to be akin to Arabic قَطَّ cut, cut off, pare, trim [whence Buhl assumes √ קטט]), to account for יָקוֹט Jb 8:14, either as Qal Impf. 3 ms. whose hope snappeth; or as n.[m.] = fragile thing (‖ בֵּית עַכָּבִישׁ; cf. Di Bu); prob. crpt.; Du Beer read קוּרִים, Bu conj. קֻרֵי קַיִט [Aramaism for ק׳ קַיִץ].