H5640 — סָתַם (çâtham)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H5640
Original: סָתַם
Transliteration: çâtham (satham)
Pronunciation: saw-tham'
Part of Speech: Verb
Root: Primitive root (alternate form שָׂתַם in Num 24:15)
Occurrences: 17 tokens, 14 unique verses, 8 books
First Occurrence: Gen 26:15 — "For all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth."
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

Or שָׂתַם sâtham (Numbers 24:15), a primitive root; to stop up; by implication, to repair; figuratively, to keep secret: — closed up, hidden, secret, shut out (up), stop.

Verb Stem Distribution¶

Stem	Count	Typical Meaning
Qal	10	to stop up, shut up, block; also participle "hidden/secret"
Piel	2	to stop up (intensive — filling wells with earth)
Niphal	1	to be stopped (passive — breaches being repaired)

Tallied from hebrew_parser.py --lemma "סתם" (13 morphological tokens across 14 unique verses).

Qal dominates (77%), covering both the literal sense (blocking water sources) and the figurative sense (shutting up words/visions). The Piel appears only in Genesis 26:15, 18 (Philistines aggressively filling Abraham's wells). Niphal occurs once in Nehemiah 4:7 (breaches passively being repaired/stopped).

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
stopped / had stopped / who stopped / they stopped	5	36%
shut up / shut	2	14%
stop / to stop	2	14%
closed up	1	7%
to be stopped	1	7%
he shutteth out	1	7%
hidden	1	7%
secret	1	7%

Consolidated from phrase-level KJV translation data.

The physical "stop/stopped" sense accounts for the majority. The figurative "shut up / closed up" sense is confined to Daniel. "Hidden" and "secret" each appear once (Psa 51:6, Eze 28:3).

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Daniel	3	0.84
Lamentations	1	0.65
2 Chronicles	3	0.37
2 Kings	2	0.28
Nehemiah	1	0.25
Genesis	2	0.13
Ezekiel	1	0.08
Psalms	1	0.04

Highest density in Daniel (all three in chapters 8 and 12 — prophetic sealing contexts). Historical narratives (Genesis, 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, Nehemiah) dominate raw count (8/14 verses), all involving physical water-blocking or breach-repair. Poetic/prophetic usage (Psalms, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel) accounts for 6/14 verses and carries the figurative senses.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Physical Blocking of Water Sources¶

Filling or plugging wells and springs to deny water access — a standard military and territorial tactic. - Gen 26:15 — "the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth" - Gen 26:18 — "the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham" - 2 Kgs 3:19 — "shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water" - 2 Kgs 3:25 — "they stopped all the wells of water, and felled all the good trees" - 2 Chr 32:3 — "He took counsel...to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city" - 2 Chr 32:4 — "who stopped all the fountains, and the brook that ran through the midst of the land" - 2 Chr 32:30 — "Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon"

2. Repair of Breaches¶

Stopping gaps in a wall — closely related to the physical blocking sense but applied to structural repair. - Neh 4:7 — "the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped"

3. Prophetic Sealing — Shutting Up Revelation Until the End¶

Sealing words or visions to restrict access until a divinely appointed time. Always paired with חָתַם (chatham) in Daniel. - Dan 8:26 — "shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days" - Dan 12:4 — "shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end" - Dan 12:9 — "the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end"

4. Hiddenness / Secrecy (Figurative)¶

The participle form used adjectivally to describe concealed or inaccessible knowledge. - Psa 51:6 — "in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom" - Eze 28:3 — "thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee"

5. Blocking Access to God¶

Used once for prayer being shut out — God refusing to hear. - Lam 3:8 — "Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
מַיִם (mayim)	H4325	6x (43%)	"stop the waters / wells of water" — physical blocking of water sources
מַעְיָן (ma'yan)	H4599	3x (21%)	"stopped the fountains" — springs as targets of blocking
דָּנִיֵּאל (Daniyye'l)	H1840	3x (21%)	Prophetic sealing contexts — Daniel commanded to shut up
חָתַם (chatham)	H2856	2x (14%)	"shut up...and seal" — paired verb for prophetic concealment
עֵת (eth)	H6256	2x (14%)	"till the time of the end" — temporal boundary on the sealing
אֶמֶת ('emeth)	H571	2x (14%)	"the vision...is true" — truth of what is shut up

Word Family / Cognates¶

No derived nouns or adjective forms are attested in the OT. H5640 stands alone as a primitive root.

Synonyms¶

No synonyms returned by search_relationships.py.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms returned by search_relationships.py.

Semantic Domains¶

[002001001013] Close — Other words: גדר (H1443), גוף (H1479), חתם (A2857), חתם (H2856), טחח (H2902), נעל (H5274)
[002004002008] Non-Know — Other words: בָּצוּר (H1208), גנב (H1589), חבא (H2244), חֵיק (H2436), חפא (H2644), חפשׂ (H2664)
[002001002031] Unwilling — Other words: אֶבֶן (A69), אֶבֶן (H68), אֶשְׁתַּדּוּר (A849), בזה (H959), בזה (H960), גאל (H1350)

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
חָתַם (chatham)	H2856	both "shut up" / "sealed" / "stopped"	chatham = seal for authentication or permanent closure (signet ring, official documents); satham = block access / obstruct (wells, breaches, vision restricted until a future date)
סָגַר (sagar)	H5462	both "shut" / "shut up" / "closed"	sagar = close a door/gate/opening with the possibility of reopening; satham = fill in / block off more completely
סָכַר (sakar)	H5534	both "stop" / "stopped"	sakar = shut up, surrender (rare — only 2x); satham = stop up / obstruct (more common, broader range)
עָצַר ('atsar)	H6113	both "shut up" / "closed up"	'atsar = restrain, hold back, detain (broader meaning includes stopping rain, restraining people); satham = physically obstruct an opening
אָטַם ('atam)	H331	both "stoppeth"	'atam = close lips/ears specifically (3x); satham = block water sources, hide knowledge (broader physical/figurative range)

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occ	PMI Score	Notes
σφραγίζω (sphragizō) G4972	3x	10.99	LXX renders satham with "seal" in Daniel (same verb used for chatham)
πηγή (pēgē) G4077	4x	10.45	Collocation artifact — "fountain/spring" in water-blocking contexts
ὕδωρ (hudōr) G5204	6x	8.31	Collocation artifact — "water" in water-blocking contexts

The LXX translates satham the same as chatham (both → σφραγίζω) in Daniel, collapsing the Hebrew distinction between the two verbs. In narrative water-blocking passages, the LXX uses different constructions (ἐνέφραξαν, ἐνέπλησαν) rather than σφραγίζω.