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qatsah

קָצָה

HebrewH7098end, edge, ...

Appears 35 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Exo 25:18Exo 25:19 (3×)Exo 26:4Exo 27:4Exo 28:7Exo 28:23Exo 28:24Exo 28:25Exo 28:26Exo 36:11Exo 37:7Exo 37:8 (3×)Exo 39:4Exo 39:16Exo 39:17Exo 39:18Exo 39:19Jdg 18:21Ki 6:24 (2×)2Ki 17:32Psa 19:6(7)Ezk 15:4
Root family
Word studykaw-TSAWnoun

What qatsah means

the end or outer edge of something: its farthest point, rim, or border

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

This word names the outermost part of a thing, the place where it stops. Because an object's ends mark its limits, the word points to terminal points, rims, and edges. It appears most often in the careful descriptions of the tabernacle, where craftsmen set rings, chains, and gold cherubim at the two ends of an object.

From the ends of an object the word reaches out to the ends of the world. The ends of the earth and the edge of the sky are the farthest points anyone can picture, and this word marks that outer horizon.

A third use turns the same picture toward people. To take priests from the ends of the people is to take them from every quarter, from all sorts, rather than from one appointed family. Here the outermost bounds stand for the whole group they enclose. Across all three uses one idea holds: the far edge of something, whether a physical object, the world, or a body of people.

Nuances

1athe end or edge of a physical object: its terminal point or rim
Exo 25:18Exo 25:19 (3×)Exo 26:4Exo 27:4Exo 28:7Exo 28:23Exo 28:24Exo 28:25Exo 28:26Exo 36:11Exo 37:7Exo 37:8 (3×)
1bthe farthest reaches of the world: the ends of the earth and the edge of the sky
Job 28:24Psa 19:6(7)Isa 40:28Isa 41:5Isa 41:9Jer 49:36
1cthe whole extent of a group, named by its outermost bounds: from every quarter, from all sorts
Jdg 18:21Ki 12:311Ki 13:332Ki 17:32

What scholars say about qatsah

The standard lexica treat קָצָה (H7098) as a byform of קָצֶה (H7097), most often appearing in the plural construct קְצוֹת, from the root q-ts-h denoting a cutting off or terminal point. Its range covers three well-attested uses: the physical ends of a fabricated object (the dominant use, concentrated in the tabernacle pericopes of Exodus 25 to 39), the geographical extremity of the cosmos in the merism the ends of the earth (Isaiah 40:28; Job 28:24), and the idiomatic מִקְצוֹת with a collective, meaning from the full range of a group (1 Kings 12:31; 13:33), where the outermost bounds denote totality rather than periphery. Lexica differ only in cataloguing convention, whether to list קָצָה as a discrete lexeme or as the plural of קָצֶה; there is no substantive disagreement over its sense.

Sources

  • HALOT, s.v. קָצָהlexicon
  • BDB, s.v. קָצֶה / קָצָהlexicon
  • DCH, s.v. קָצָהlexicon
  • TWOT, s.v. קָצָה (root q-ts-h)lexicon

All attested forms of קָצָה

f p construct

קְצוֹת

Exo 25:18, Exo 28:23, Exo 28:24, Exo 28:25, Exo 28:26, Exo 37:7, Exo 39:16, Exo 39:17

f p construct

קְצוֹתָיו

Exo 25:19, Exo 27:4, Exo 28:7, Exo 37:8, Exo 39:4, Ezk 15:4

f s absolute

קָּצָה

Exo 25:19, Exo 25:19, Exo 26:4, Exo 36:11, Exo 37:8, Exo 37:8

f p construct

קְצוֹתָם

Jdg 18:2, 2Ki 17:32, Psa 19:6