H7126 — קָרַב (qarab)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H7126
Original: קָרַב
Transliteration: qarab
Pronunciation: kaw-rab'
Part of Speech: Verb (primitive root)
Occurrences: 263 unique verses (353 tokens) across 27 books
First Occurrence: Gen 12:11 -- "And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife..."
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A primitive root; to approach (causatively, bring near) for whatever purpose: (cause to) approach, (cause to) bring (forth, near), (cause to) come (near, nigh), (cause to) draw near (nigh), go (near), be at hand, join, be near, offer, present, produce, make ready, stand, take.

Verb Stem Distribution¶

Stem	Count	Typical Meaning
Hiphil	154	bring near, present, offer (causative -- dominant stem)
Qal	49	come near, approach, draw near (intransitive)
Niphal	2	be brought near (passive -- Exo 22:8, Jos 7:14)

The Hiphil (causative) accounts for 75% of all verb forms, making "bring near / present / offer" the statistically dominant usage. The Qal (simple stem) covers intransitive approach.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Approx. Verses	%
offer / offered / offereth / to offer	~95	36%
bring / brought / shall bring	~55	21%
come near / come nigh / draw near / drew near / drew nigh	~45	17%
approach / approached	~8	3%
at hand / near / nigh	~8	3%
present / presented	~3	1%
join / joined	~2	1%
Other (including partial phrase renderings)	~47	18%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Leviticus	91	10.6
Numbers	59	4.6
Malachi	2	3.6
Haggai	1	2.6
Jonah	1	2.1
Zephaniah	1	1.9
Deuteronomy	13	1.4
Joshua	9	1.4
Ezekiel	16	1.3
Exodus	16	1.3
Lamentations	2	1.3
Isaiah	13	1.0
Judges	5	0.8
Esther	1	0.6
1 Samuel	4	0.5
Hosea	1	0.5
1 Kings	3	0.4
2 Samuel	3	0.4
Ezra	1	0.4
Genesis	5	0.3
Psalms	8	0.3
2 Kings	2	0.3
Job	2	0.2
Proverbs	1	0.1
2 Chronicles	1	0.1
1 Chronicles	1	0.1
Jeremiah	1	0.1

Leviticus and Numbers together account for 57% of all occurrences. The word is overwhelmingly Pentateuchal (73% -- 184 of 263 verses). Prophetic books use it both in continued sacrificial language (Ezekiel, Malachi) and in metaphorical senses (Isaiah -- approaching for judgment, bringing near righteousness).

Semantic Categories¶

1. Presenting Sacrificial Offerings (Hiphil -- dominant usage)¶

Lev 1:2 -- "If any man of you bring an offering unto the LORD, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle"
Lev 2:1 -- "And when any will offer a meat offering unto the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour"
Num 7:12 -- "And he that offered his offering the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab"
Mal 1:8 -- "And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil?"

2. Approaching the Divine Presence¶

Exo 3:5 -- "Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground"
Exo 16:9 -- "Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the LORD"
Lev 9:7 -- "Go unto the altar, and offer thy sin offering, and thy burnt offering, and make an atonement"
Zep 3:2 -- "She obeyed not the voice... she drew not near to her God"

3. Physical Approach to Persons or Places¶

Gen 12:11 -- "when he was come near to enter into Egypt"
Gen 37:18 -- "even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him"
1 Sam 17:48 -- "when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David"
2 Sam 20:17 -- "And when he was come near unto her, the woman said, Art thou Joab?"

4. Unauthorized or Forbidden Approach¶

Num 1:51 -- "the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death"
Num 18:3 -- "only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar"
Lev 21:17-18 -- "Whosoever he be of thy seed... that hath any blemish, let him not come nigh... he shall not approach"
Num 18:22 -- "Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation"

5. Sexual Approach¶

Lev 18:6 -- "None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness"
Lev 18:14 -- "Thou shalt not... approach to his wife"
Lev 18:19 -- "thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness"
Gen 20:4 -- "But Abimelech had not come near her"

6. Temporal Nearness (Time Drawing Near)¶

Gen 47:29 -- "And the time drew nigh that Israel must die"
1 Kings 2:1 -- "Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die"
Deut 31:14 -- "thy days approach that thou must die"
Isa 26:17 -- "Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery"

7. Bringing to Judgment / Forensic Approach¶

Isa 41:1 -- "let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment"
Isa 41:21 -- "Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons"
Mal 3:5 -- "And I will come near to you to judgment"
Deut 1:17 -- "the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
יְהֹוָה (Yehovah)	H3068	113x (43%)	"offer unto the LORD" / "before the LORD"
בֵּן (ben)	H1121	78x (30%)	"sons of Aaron / sons of Israel" -- priestly/national subjects
פָּנִים (paniym)	H6440	53x (20%)	"before the face of" -- presenting before the LORD
קׇרְבָּן (qorban)	H7133	36x (14%)	"bring an offering" -- cognate noun with the verb
עֹלָה (olah)	H5930	28x (11%)	"offer a burnt offering"
אַהֲרוֹן (Aharon)	H175	37x (14%)	Aaron as priestly agent or recipient
כֹּהֵן (kohen)	H3548	24x (9%)	"the priest shall offer/bring"
מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbeach)	H4196	24x (9%)	"offer upon the altar"
אִשָּׁה (ishsheh)	H801	23x (9%)	"offering made by fire"
מֹשֶׁה (Mosheh)	H4872	26x (10%)	Moses as commander or intermediary

Word Family / Cognates¶

H7133 קׇרְבָּן (qorban) -- offering, oblation (noun: "that which is brought near"); 80x
H7131 קָרֵב (qareb) -- approaching, coming near (adjective); used for "the stranger that cometh nigh" (Num 1:51, 3:10, 3:38, 17:28, 18:7)
H7132 קְרָבָה (qerabah) -- approaching, coming near (feminine noun); 2x
H7138 קָרוֹב (qarob) -- near, close (adjective); 75x

Synonyms¶

H982 בָּטַח (batach) -- to trust, be confident (semantic domain overlap: approaching with confidence)

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
נָגַשׁ (nagash)	H5066	"come near," "draw near," "came near"	nagash = approach a person face-to-face, often for dialogue; qarab = broader, includes offering/presenting
עָלָה (alah)	H5927	"offer," "offered"	alah = cause to ascend (on the altar); qarab = bring near (to the altar/presence)
זָבַח (zabach)	H2076	"offer," "offered"	zabach = slaughter as sacrifice; qarab = present/bring near (the act before slaughter)
בּוֹא (bo)	H935	"bring," "brought," "came"	bo = general movement verb (come/go/enter); qarab = specifically approaching or presenting
נָגַע (naga)	H5060	"come near," "come nigh"	naga = touch/reach; qarab = approach/draw near (may or may not involve contact)

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
προσφέρω (prosphero) G4374	83x	26.08	Primary: transitive sacrificial sense -- "bear toward, offer"
προσάγω (prosago) G4317	82x	25.67	Nearly equal: "lead toward" -- more about leading persons
προσέρχομαι (proserchomai) G4334	38x	19.73	Intransitive: "come to, approach"
ἐγγίζω (engizo) G1448	36x	16.94	Spatial nearness: "draw near" without offering connotation
δῶρον (doron) G1435	42x	17.36	Noun: "gift, offering" -- LXX renders qorban contexts

The LXX splits qarab's semantic range across multiple Greek verbs: prosphero for the transitive/causative sacrificial sense, prosago for leading persons forward, proserchomai for intransitive approaching, and engizo for spatial nearness.