to cut off: to sever or chop a physical thing clean away, whether a limb, a piece of metal, or a cord
TranslatabilityDirectCertaintySettled
This verb is always concrete and physical. Something solid is severed and comes away from the whole: a thumb from a hand, gold from a temple door, a spear snapped in two. It names a violent, decisive stroke, not a gentle trimming.
The things it cuts fall into a few clear groups:
- body parts hacked off in war, vengeance, or as a legal penalty (thumbs, big toes, hands)
- precious metal stripped from temple fittings or sacred vessels broken up for their gold
- weapons and bonds cut apart, which the Psalms use as a picture of God ending war and breaking the grip of the wicked
One fixed expression stands apart from the rest: the phrase "clipped at the corners," a stock label for certain desert peoples in Jeremiah. It is built from this same verb but works as a set description rather than a plain action.
Unlike the far broader כָּרַת, which can mean cutting a person off from the community or "cutting" (making) a covenant, this verb never leaves the physical world. It only ever chops, clips, or snaps a real object.
Nuances
1ato hack off a limb or extremity, such as thumbs, big toes, or hands, in war, vengeance, or judicial punishment
Deu 25:12Jdg 1:6Jdg 1:72Sa 4:12
1bto cut off or chop up metal objects, stripping gold from temple fittings or breaking sacred vessels into pieces
Exo 39:32Ki 16:172Ki 18:162Ki 24:132Ch 28:24
1cto cut something apart or snap it in two, such as a spear or the cords that bind
Psa 46:9(10)Psa 129:4
1din the fixed phrase "clipped at the corners," a standing description of certain desert peoples
TranslatabilityPartial
Jer 9:26(25)Jer 25:23Jer 49:32