H3789 — כָּתַב (kathab)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H3789
Original: כָּתַב
Transliteration: kâthab
Pronunciation: kaw-thab'
Part of Speech: Verb (primitive root)
Occurrences: 212 unique verses (248 tokens) across 25 books
First Occurrence: Exo 17:14 — "And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A primitive root; to grave, by implication, to write (describe, inscribe, prescribe, subscribe): — describe, record, prescribe, subscribe, write(-ing, -ten).

Verb Stem Distribution¶

Stem	Count	Typical Meaning
Qal	204	write, inscribe, record (active writing)
Niphal	17	be written, be recorded, be enrolled
Piel	2	write intensively / prescribe (Isa 10:1 ×2)

Note: 8 additional Peal (Aramaic) forms appear under the cognate A3790 kᵉthab in Daniel and Ezra Aramaic sections.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
written	87	41.0%
wrote / he wrote / she wrote	28	13.2%
write / Write / write it / write them	16	7.5%
that is written / that are written / which are written	15	7.1%
as it is written / as it was written	4	1.9%
describe / described	5	2.4%
subscribe / subscribed	3	1.4%
prescribed	1	0.5%
recorded	1	0.5%
Other (fragmentary KJV phrases)	52	24.5%

The dominant rendering "written" (41%) reflects the high frequency of the Qal passive participle kâtûb in formulaic references to authoritative texts.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Esther	14	8.4
2 Kings	30	4.2
2 Chronicles	27	3.3
Nehemiah	10	2.5
Deuteronomy	22	2.3
1 Kings	16	2.0
Habakkuk	1	1.8
Ezra	5	1.8
Malachi	1	1.8
Joshua	11	1.7
Jeremiah	20	1.5
Exodus	10	0.8
Daniel	3	0.8
1 Chronicles	5	0.5
Hosea	1	0.5
Ecclesiastes	1	0.5
Isaiah	7	0.5
Ezekiel	6	0.5
Numbers	5	0.4
2 Samuel	3	0.4
Job	3	0.3
Proverbs	3	0.3
Psalms	6	0.2
Judges	1	0.2
1 Samuel	1	0.1

Heavily concentrated in historical narrative (1–2 Kings, Chronicles, Esther) and Torah (Deuteronomy, Exodus). The Kings/Chronicles cluster reflects the recurring formula "are they not written in the book of the chronicles?" Absent from the Minor Prophets (except Hosea 8:12, Habakkuk 2:2, Malachi 3:16) and entirely absent from Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Zephaniah, and Haggai.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Divine Writing — God as Author¶

Exo 24:12 — "I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written"
Exo 31:18 — "two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God"
Exo 34:1 — "I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables"
Deu 10:4 — "And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments"

God writes directly only twice in Scripture (the Decalogue tablets). This category establishes writing as a divine act before it becomes a human one.

2. Prophetic/Divine Command to Write¶

Exo 17:14 — "Write this for a memorial in a book" (first occurrence)
Isa 8:1 — "Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man's pen"
Isa 30:8 — "Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book"
Jer 30:2 — "Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book"
Jer 36:2 — "Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words"
Hab 2:2 — "Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables"

God commands writing to preserve prophetic testimony for future generations.

3. Authoritative Record — "As It Is Written"¶

Jos 1:8 — "thou shalt meditate therein... all that is written therein"
Jos 8:31 — "as it is written in the book of the law of Moses"
2Ki 14:6 — "according unto that which is written in the book of the law of Moses"
2Ki 23:21 — "Keep the passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written"
Neh 8:14 — "they found written in the law which the LORD had commanded by Moses"
Dan 9:13 — "As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us"

The passive participle kâtûb ("written") functions as a technical term for textual authority — what is "written" carries binding force.

4. Royal/Historical Chronicle Formula¶

1Ki 11:41 — "are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon?"
1Ki 14:19 — "are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?"
2Ki 15:6 — "are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?"
2Ch 9:29 — "are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet?"
2Ch 35:27 — "they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah"

This stereotyped formula accounts for ~40 occurrences in Kings and Chronicles alone, appealing to external written records as historical verification.

5. Legal/Administrative Writing¶

Deu 24:1 — "let him write her a bill of divorcement"
Est 3:12 — "there was written according to all that Haman had commanded"
Est 8:8 — "Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king's name"
Est 8:10 — "And he wrote in the king Ahasuerus' name, and sealed it"
Jer 32:10 — "And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it"
Jer 32:44 — "Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences"

Writing as the mechanism for legal transactions — decrees, contracts, letters of authority.

6. Correspondence — Letters¶

2Sa 11:14 — "David wrote a letter to Joab"
2Ki 10:1 — "Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria"
2Ch 30:1 — "Hezekiah... wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh"
2Ch 32:17 — "He wrote also letters to rail on the LORD God of Israel"
1Ki 21:8 — "So she wrote letters in Ahab's name"

Personal and political correspondence, sometimes with deceitful or hostile intent.

7. Internalized/Metaphorical Writing¶

Pro 3:3 — "write them upon the table of thine heart"
Pro 7:3 — "write them upon the table of thine heart"
Jer 31:33 — "I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts"
Isa 44:5 — "another shall subscribe with his hand unto the LORD"

Writing as metaphor for permanent internalization of God's instruction — the New Covenant promise moves writing from stone to heart.

8. Heavenly Registry/Book of Life¶

Exo 32:32 — "blot me... out of thy book which thou hast written"
Psa 139:16 — "in thy book all my members were written"
Isa 4:3 — "every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem"
Dan 12:1 — "every one that shall be found written in the book"
Mal 3:16 — "a book of remembrance was written before him"

God maintains written records — a registry of the righteous that determines destiny.

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
סֵפֶר (sepher)	H5612	112× (53%)	"written in the book of..." — book/scroll as the standard writing medium
דָּבָר (dabar)	H1697	93× (44%)	"the words... written" — writing preserves spoken words
מֶלֶךְ (melek)	H4428	71× (33%)	"the chronicles of the kings" — royal record-keeping formula
יְהֹוָה (Yehovah)	H3068	60× (28%)	"the LORD said... Write" — divine writing commands
עָשָׂה (asah)	H6213	50× (24%)	"do... as it is written" — written text as basis for action
יֶתֶר (yether)	H3499	43× (20%)	"the rest of the acts... are they not written?" — archival formula
תּוֹרָה (towrah)	H8451	34× (16%)	"written in the law" — Torah as the written standard
מֹשֶׁה (Mosheh)	H4872	24× (11%)	"Moses wrote" / "written in the book of Moses" — Moses as writer
אֱלֹהִים (elohiym)	H430	23× (11%)	"finger of God... written" — divine authorship

Word Family / Cognates¶

H3791 כָּתָב (kathab) — noun: a writing, scripture, register
A3790 כְּתַב (kethab) — Aramaic cognate verb: to write (Dan 5–7, Ezra 4–6)
A3792 כְּתָב (kethab) — Aramaic cognate noun: writing, prescription (Dan 5–6, Ezra 6)

Synonyms¶

H2710 חָקַק (chaqaq) — to engrave, decree, legislate; overlaps in "inscribe" but emphasizes cutting into hard material and legal authority

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
G1125 γράφω (grapho)	G1125	"written," "wrote," "write"	Greek NT equivalent; same semantic range; kathab is the Hebrew counterpart
A3790 כְּתַב (kethab)	H3790	"written," "wrote," "he wrote"	Aramaic cognate; restricted to Aramaic portions of Daniel and Ezra
H2710 חָקַק (chaqaq)	H2710	"write," "inscribe"	chaqaq = engrave/cut into hard surface for permanence; kathab = general writing on any medium

Semantic Domain¶

[002001001067] Write — Other words: חצב (H2672), חקה (H2707), חקק (H2710), יחשׂ (H3187), כְּתַב (A3790)

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
γράφω (grapho) G1125	185×	34.64	Primary — near-exclusive correspondent
βιβλίον (biblion) G975	99×	28.35	Where the book/scroll is the syntactic focus
νόμος (nomos) G3551	34×	14.23	"the written law" contexts
πλάξ (plax) G4109	9×	12.58	Tablet-writing contexts (Exo 24:12, 31:18, etc.)
ἐπιγράφω (epigrapho) G1924	4×	10.87	Inscribe upon a surface

Primary bridge: G1125 γράφω (grapho) is the near-exclusive Greek equivalent with 185 co-occurrences and the highest PMI score (34.64), forming one of the strongest Hebrew-Greek lexical bridges in the LXX.