H7540 — רָקַד (raqad)¶
Core Data¶
- Strong's: H7540
- Original: רָקַד
- Transliteration: raqad
- Pronunciation: raw-kad'
- Part of Speech: Verb (primitive root)
- Occurrences: 9 unique verses (9 tokens) across 7 books
- First Occurrence: 1 Chr 15:29 — "Michal the daughter of Saul looking out at a window saw king David dancing and playing: and she despised him in her heart."
- Hapax Legomenon: No
Lexicon Definition¶
A primitive root; properly, to stamp, i.e. to spring about (wildly or for joy): — dance, jump, leap, skip.
Verb Stem Distribution¶
| Stem | Count | Typical Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Qal | 3 | skip, dance (basic action) |
| Piel | 5 | skip, leap, dance (intensive/habitual) |
| Hiphil | 1 | make skip, cause to skip (causative) |
Qal (3×): Psa 114:4, 6; Ecc 3:4 — simple action of skipping or dancing. Piel (5×): 1 Chr 15:29; Job 21:11; Isa 13:21; Joel 2:5; Nah 3:2 — intensive or repeated leaping/bounding. Hiphil (1×): Psa 29:6 — causative: "He maketh them also to skip" — God causes Lebanon/Sirion to skip.
Translation Distribution (KJV)¶
| Translation | Verses | % |
|---|---|---|
| skip/skipped/skipping | 4 | 44% |
| dance/dancing | 3 | 33% |
| leap/leaping | 1 | 11% |
| jumping | 1 | 11% |
Distribution by Book¶
| Book | Count | Per 100 Verses |
|---|---|---|
| Nahum | 1 | 2.1 |
| Joel | 1 | 1.4 |
| Ecclesiastes | 1 | 0.5 |
| Psalms | 3 | 0.1 |
| 1 Chronicles | 1 | 0.1 |
| Job | 1 | 0.1 |
| Isaiah | 1 | 0.1 |
Spread across poetry (Psalms, Job, Ecclesiastes), prophets (Isaiah, Joel, Nahum), and history (1 Chronicles). No concentration in any single book. Psalms has the most occurrences (3) but at low density.
Semantic Categories¶
1. Human Worship / Celebration¶
- 1 Chr 15:29 — "Michal the daughter of Saul looking out at a window saw king David dancing and playing: and she despised him in her heart." (Piel participle — David leaping before the ark)
- Ecc 3:4 — "A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance." (Qal infinitive — dancing as the counterpart to mourning)
2. Playful / Exuberant Animal-Like Movement¶
- Job 21:11 — "They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance." (Piel — children skipping like lambs; simile with flock)
- Psa 114:4 — "The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs." (Qal — personified landscape leaping with animal simile)
- Psa 114:6 — "Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams; and ye little hills, like lambs?" (Qal — rhetorical address repeating the image)
3. Divine Power Over Nature¶
- Psa 29:6 — "He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn." (Hiphil — God's thundering voice causes mountains to leap; the only causative use)
4. Violent / Fearful Bounding¶
- Joel 2:5 — "Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array." (Piel — locust-army bounding with destructive force)
- Nah 3:2 — "The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots." (Piel participle — war chariots jolting/bouncing violently)
5. Wild / Demonic Cavorting¶
- Isa 13:21 — "But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there." (Piel — satyrs/wild goats leaping in Babylon's ruins; eerie desolation imagery)
Common Collocations¶
| Word | Strong's | Co-occurrences | Typical Pattern |
|---|---|---|---|
| בֵּן (ben) | H1121 | 3× | Children as subject of skipping (Job 21:11), or "young unicorn" (Psa 29:6) |
| הַר (har) | H2022 | 3× | Mountains that skip/leap (Psa 29:6; 114:4, 6; Joel 2:5) |
| צֹאן (tso'n) | H6629 | 3× | Flock imagery — children skip like a flock (Job 21:11; Psa 114:4, 6) |
| אַיִל ('ayil) | H352 | 2× | "Like rams" — simile for mountains skipping (Psa 114:4, 6) |
| גִּבְעָה (gib'ah) | H1389 | 2× | Little hills that skip like lambs (Psa 114:4, 6) |
| קוֹל (qol) | H6963 | 2× | Noise/sound associated with leaping — thunder (Psa 29), chariots (Joel 2:5) |
| שָׂחַק (sachaq) | H7832 | 2× | "Playing/sporting" paired with dancing (1 Chr 15:29; Ecc 3:4) |
Related Words¶
Semantic Domain: Leap¶
From SDBH domain [002002001011]: - H1801 דָּלַג (dalag) — to spring, leap (5v; Qal; physical leaping — "leaping upon the mountains" Song 2:8; "leap over a wall" 2 Sam 22:30) - H2187 זָנַק (zanaq) — to spring forward (1v; hapax; animal pouncing — "Dan... shall leap from Bashan" Deut 33:22) - H3769 כָּרַר (karar) — to dance, whirl (2v; Pilpel; specifically David's ark-procession dance — 2 Sam 6:14, 16) - H5425 נָתַר (nathar) — to jump, shake off, untie (8v; broader range — violent agitation, loosing bonds, grasshopper leaping Lev 11:21)
Easily Confused Words¶
| Word | Strong's | Shared Translation | Key Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| דָּלַג (dalag) | H1801 | "leap" | dalag = purposeful springing over obstacles; raqad = rhythmic skipping/bounding |
| כָּרַר (karar) | H3769 | "dance" | karar = whirling/spinning in place (only David); raqad = stamping/springing about (broader contexts) |
| שָׂחַק (sachaq) | H7832 | "play" (co-occurs with raqad) | sachaq = laughing, playing, sporting (36v); raqad = physical leaping motion specifically |
| מָחוֹל (machowl) | H4234 | "dance" (noun) | machowl = the dance itself as event/noun (6v); raqad = the verb of leaping/stamping |
| חָגַג (chagag) | H2287 | "dance" (1×) | chagag = primarily to keep a feast/festival (16v); only secondarily "dance" or "reel" |
LXX Mapping¶
| Greek Equivalent | Strong's | Co-occurrence | PMI | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ὀρχέομαι (orcheomai) | G3738 | 3× | 10.30 | Primary equivalent — "to dance"; NT: Matt 11:17, 14:6 |
| πρόβατον (probaton) | G4263 | 3× | 4.91 | Not a translation of raqad itself; co-occurs in verses with sheep/ram imagery |
| ὄρος (oros) | G3735 | 3× | 3.95 | Not a translation of raqad itself; co-occurs in mountain-skipping verses |
The primary LXX bridge is orcheomai (G3738) — used in the NT for Herodias's daughter dancing (Matt 14:6; Mark 6:22) and in Jesus's parable "We piped unto you, and ye did not dance" (Matt 11:17; Luke 7:32). The LXX bridge is small (3× co-occurrence), so no cross-testament trace file is warranted.
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