H3772 — karath¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H3772
Original: karath (Hebrew: כָּרַת)
Transliteration: kârath
Pronunciation: kaw-rath
Part of Speech: Verb (primitive root)
Root: Primitive root; produces H3773 (hewn stone) and H3774 (Kerethites)
Occurrences: 280 unique verses (360 tokens) across 33 books
First Occurrence: Gen 9:11 — "neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A primitive root; to cut (off, down or asunder); by implication, to destroy or consume; specifically, to covenant (i.e. make an alliance or bargain, originally by cutting flesh and passing between the pieces): — be chewed, be con(feder)ate, covenant, cut (down, off), destroy, fail, feller, be freed, hew (down), make a league (covenant), lose, perish, utterly, want.

Verb Stem Distribution¶

Stem	Count	Typical Meaning
Qal	134	cut (wood/body); cut a covenant (active agent)
Hiphil	78	cause to be cut off; destroy, eliminate
Niphal	73	be cut off (judicial penalty; passive result)
Pual	2	be cut down (passive of intensive)
Hophal	1	be caused to be cut off

Tallied from hebrew_parser.py --lemma "krt". The Niphal "shall be cut off" is the standard covenant-penalty formula in Leviticus/Numbers.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

The KJV renders this verb in highly fragmented phrases. Consolidating by semantic function:

Semantic Function	Representative KJV Phrases	Approx. Verses	%
Judicial cutting off	"shall be cut off", "be cut off"	~110	39%
Covenant-making	"made (a covenant)", "make a league"	~75	27%
Physical cutting	"cut down", "hew (down)", "cut off"	~30	11%
Cessation / failure	"fail", "want", "perish"	~10	4%
Other / mixed phrases	various fragments	~55	19%

Top raw entries: "shall be cut off" 30v (11%), "made" 18v (6%), "and cut off" 12v (4%), "be cut off" 9v (3%), "to cut off" 9v (3%)

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Obadiah	3	14.3
Zephaniah	5	9.4
Nahum	4	8.5
Micah	5	4.8
Joel	3	4.1
Zechariah	6	2.8
Leviticus	20	2.3
Joshua	13	2.0
1 Samuel	16	2.0
1 Kings	16	2.0
Jeremiah	26	1.9
Deuteronomy	16	1.7
2 Chronicles	14	1.7
Ezekiel	19	1.5
Isaiah	18	1.4
Exodus	14	1.2
Judges	8	1.3
2 Samuel	8	1.2
2 Kings	10	1.4
Numbers	9	0.7
Psalms	14	0.6
Genesis	8	0.5
Proverbs	4	0.4
Daniel	1	0.3

Density: Minor prophets of judgment (Obadiah, Zephaniah, Nahum, Micah) show highest density. Leviticus/Numbers carry the judicial penalty formula. Historical books carry covenant-making usage.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Covenant-Making (karath beriyth)¶

The idiom karath beriyth — "cut a covenant" — accounts for ~75 verses (beriyth co-occurs 80x). The metaphor derives from cutting animals and passing between the pieces (Gen 15).

Gen 15:18 — "In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land"
Deut 5:2 — "The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb"
1 Sam 18:3 — "Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul"
Haggai 2:5 — "the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt"

2. Judicial Cutting Off (Covenant Penalty)¶

The Niphal formula "that soul shall be cut off from his people" is the standard Mosaic penalty for covenant violation. Appears ~30x in Leviticus-Numbers.

Gen 17:14 — "the uncircumcised man child... shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant"
Lev 7:20 — "the soul that eateth of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings... shall be cut off from his people"
Num 15:30-31 — "the soul that doeth ought presumptuously... shall be cut off from among his people"
Exod 12:15 — "whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day... that soul shall be cut off from Israel"

3. Divine Judgment on Nations and Leaders¶

God or his agents "cut off" enemies, dynasties, and peoples — the language of divine warfare and prophetic judgment.

2 Kings 9:8 — "I will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall"
Mic 5:9-11 — "all thine enemies shall be cut off... I will cut off thy horses... I will cut off the cities of thy land"
Zeph 1:3-4 — "I will cut off man from off the land... I will cut off the remnant of Baal"
Obad 1:10 — "thou shalt be cut off for ever"

4. Physical Cutting (Trees, Timber, Body)¶

The literal sense: felling trees, cutting wood, circumcision. Concentrated in Solomon's temple-building narratives and circumcision accounts.

Exod 4:25 — "Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son"
1 Kings 5:6 — "command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon"
Judg 9:48 — "Abimelech... cut down a bough from the trees"
2 Chron 2:16 — "we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need"

5. Prophetic Cessation (cut off = ceasing to exist)¶

Used to describe the end of provision, prophecy, or life — something is "cut off" when it simply stops.

Joel 1:9 — "The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD"
Prov 23:18 — "thine expectation shall not be cut off"
Dan 9:26 — "shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself"
Jer 9:21 — "death is come up into our windows... to cut off the children from without"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
YHWH	H3068	103x (37%)	"the LORD made / will cut off"
beriyth (covenant)	H1285	80x (29%)	karath beriyth — "cut a covenant"
kol (all)	H3605	75x (27%)	"cut off all [enemies/flesh]"
am (people)	H5971	48x (17%)	"cut off from his people"
Yisrael	H3478	45x (16%)	covenant or judgment against Israel
iysh (man)	H376	40x (14%)	"that man shall be cut off"
nephesh (soul)	H5315	33x (12%)	"that soul shall be cut off"
asah (do/make)	H6213	32x (11%)	parallel "make/do" in covenant formulas

Word Family / Cognates¶

H3773 karuthoth — hewn (of stone); from same root (1 Kings 6:36)
H3774 Kerethiy — Cherethites, David's bodyguard; possibly "executioners" (1 Sam 30:14)

Synonyms¶

Cutting / severing neighbors: H1438 גדע, H1548 גלח, H5394 נשׁל, H5423 נתק, H8025 שׁלף, H8456 תזז. search_relationships.py groups karath with other verbs of cutting, stripping, and severing.
Covenant / binding neighbors: H548 אֲמָנָה, H1166 בעל, H3162 יַחְדָּו, H5674 עבר, H7121 קרא, H7130 קֶרֶב. The same tool surfaces relationship/bonding language reflecting the covenant-making side of karath.
Destruction / death neighbors: H6 אבד, H398 אכל, H1478 גוע, H1818 דָּם, H2026 הרג, H4194 מָוֶת, H6993 קֶטֶל, H7921 שׁכל, H369 אַיִן. These neighbors reflect the judicial and destructive "cut off" side of the verb.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for H3772.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared KJV Translation	Key Difference
gazar	H1504	"cut off"	gazar = cut with decisiveness, also "decree/determine"; karath = sever/covenant
gadah	H1438	"cut down/off"	gadah = fell trees specifically; karath is broader (covenant, judicial, physical)
tsamath	H6789	"cut off" (Niphal)	tsamath = extirpate utterly; karath Niphal = the act of severing from community
damam	H1826	"shall be cut off"	damam = be silenced/still; coincidental KJV overlap only

Semantic Domains¶

UBS / Relationship Domains¶

[002003001021] Non-Whole — search_relationships.py places karath in a breaking/severing field, with neighbors such as H234 אַזְכָּרָה, H680 אצל, H717 ארה, H914/H915 בדל / בָּדָל, and H958 בזא.
[002003002002] Associate — the same tool also groups karath with joining/covenant vocabulary such as H92 אֲגֻדָּה, H262/H264 אַחֲוָה, H548/H549 אֲמָנָה, and H622 אסף.
[002001001019] Dead — a death/destruction field with neighbors such as A7/H6 אבד, H8 אֹבֵד, and H12/H13 אַבְדָן / אָבְדָן.
[002003002009] Dissociate — a separation/removal field including H270 אחז, H488/H489 אַלְמָן / אַלְמֹון, H491 אַלְמָנוּת, and H905/H906 בַּד.
[002002002006] Non-Exist — another elimination field, again linking karath with A7/H6 אבד, H8 אֹבֵד, and H12/H13 אַבְדָן / אָבְדָן.
[002003003010] End — the termination field, with neighbors such as A7/H6 אבד, A236/H235 אזל, H319 אַחֲרִית, and H622 אסף.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occ	PMI Score	Notes
diatithemi	G1303	71x	6.22	Primary LXX rendering: covenant-making sense
diatheke	G1242	83x	4.63	Covenant noun — co-occurs in karath beriyth passages
ekkopto	G1581	13x	5.07	"Cut out/off" — judicial/physical cutting
kopto	G2875	15x	4.05	"Chop" — physical cutting
exairo	G1808	22x	3.51	"Remove/take away" — elimination sense
ekleipo	G1587	16x	3.24	"Fail/cease" — cessation sense
apollymi	G622	21x	2.72	"Destroy" — harsh judgment sense

LXX bifurcation: covenant-making uses diatithemi (a legal/testamentary verb, also in NT Hebrews 8-10), while judicial cutting-off uses ekkopto, apollymi, exairo. The Greek translators recognized the two distinct semantic domains.