כבד

Aramaic

Verb

כְּבַד • (k'vad)

1. to be heavy
2. to burden, or to weigh down emotionally

Hebrew

כבד

Root
כ־ב־ד (k-b-d)
8 terms

Pronunciation

• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /kaˈved/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Semitic *kabid- (“liver”), which literally means "heavy (one)", since when washing the internal organs of slaughtered animals the liver sinks on the ground. A similar etymology can be found in Russian лёгкое (ljóxkoje, “lung”), which is directly derived from лёгкий (ljóxkij, “light”), because in contrast to the liver the lungs swim on the surface.

Noun

כָּבֵד • (kavéd) m (plural indefinite כְּבֵדִים, singular construct כְּבֵד־, plural construct כִּבְדֵי־) [pattern: קָטֵל]

1. liver (organ of the body)
   • Tanach, Leviticus 3:15, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     וְאֵת שְׁתֵּי הַכְּלָיֹת וְאֶת־הַחֵלֶב אֲשֶׁר עֲלֵהֶן אֲשֶׁר עַל־הַכְּסָלִים וְאֶת־הַיֹּתֶרֶת עַל־הַכָּבֵד עַל־הַכְּלָיֹת יְסִירֶנָּה׃

     ve-et shtei ha-klayót ve-et ha-ḥéleḇ ashér 'aleihén ashér 'al ha-ksalím ve-et ha-yotéret 'al ha-kaḇéd 'al ha-klayót y'sirénnah.

     and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the loins, and the lobe above the liver, which he shall take away by the kidneys.

   • Tanach, Ezekiel 21:26, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     כִּי־עָמַד מֶלֶךְ־בָּבֶל אֶל־אֵם הַדֶּרֶךְ בְּרֹאשׁ שְׁנֵי הַדְּרָכִים לִקְסָם־קָסֶם קִלְקַל בַּחִצִּים שָׁאַל בַּתְּרָפִים רָאָה בַּכָּבֵד׃

     Ki 'amad melekh Bavel el em ha-derekh, b-rosh shnei ha-drakhim, liq'sam qasem: qilqal ba-ḥitzim, sha'al ba-trafim. ra'ah ba-kaḇed.

     For the king of Babylon standeth at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination; he shaketh the arrows to and fro, he inquireth of the teraphim, he looketh in the liver.

   • a. 217 C.E., Mishnah. Yoma, section 8.6:

     מִי שֶׁנְּשָׁכוֹ כֶלֶב שׁוֹטֶה, אֵין מַאֲכִילִין אוֹתוֹ מֵחֲצַר כָּבֵד שֶׁלוֹ, וְרַבִּי מַתְיָא בֶן חָרָשׁ מַתִּיר.

     Mi she-n'shakhó khélev shotéh, ein ma'akhilin otó me-ḥatzár kaḇéd sheló, v-Rábbi Mátya ven Ḥarásh matír.

     If a person was bitten by a mad dog, they may not feed him the lobe of the dog's liver, though Rabbi Matya ben Ḥarash permits it.

Declension

Declension of כָּבֵד

	isolated forms		with possessive pronouns
Number:	State:	form	Person:	singular		plural
				m	f	m	f
singular	indefinite	כָּבֵד	first	כְּבֵדִי		כְּבֵדֵנוּ
	definite	הַכָּבֵד	second	כְּבֵדְךָ	כְּבֵדֵךְ	כְּבֵדְכֶם	כְּבֵדְכֶן
	construct	כְּבֵד־	third	כְּבֵדוֹ	כְּבֵדָהּ	כְּבֵדָם	כְּבֵדָן
plural	indefinite	כְּבֵדִים	first	כבדיי / כְּבֵדַי		כְּבֵדֵינוּ
	definite	הַכְּבֵדִים	second	כְּבֵדֶיךָ	כבדייך / כְּבֵדַיִךְ	כִּבְדֵיכֶם	כִּבְדֵיכֶן
	construct	כִּבְדֵי־	third	כְּבֵדָיו	כְּבֵדֶיהָ	כִּבְדֵיהֶם	כִּבְדֵיהֶן

Etymology 2

From Proto-Semitic, cognate with Akkadian 𒂂 (kabtum), Ugaritic 𐎋𐎁𐎄 (kbd), Arabic كَبِد (kabid) and Ge'ez ክቡድ (kəbud).

Adjective

כָּבֵד • (kavéd) (feminine כְּבֵדָה, masculine plural כְּבֵדִים) [pattern: קָטֵל]

1. heavy, having much weight

Derived terms

• בְּלֵב כָּבֵד (b'lév kavéd)

Verb

כָּבֵד • (kavéd) (pa'al construction)

1. to be heavy, weighty, burdensome, honoured

Conjugation

Conjugation of כָּבַד (see also Appendix:Hebrew verbs)

non-finite forms		to-infinitive		לכבוד / לִכְבֹּד
		action noun		—
		passive participle		כָּבוּד
finite forms		singular		plural
		m	f	m	f
past	first	כָּבַדְתִּי		כָּבַדְנוּ
	second	כָּבַדְתָּ	כָּבַדְתְּ	כְּבַדְתֶּם1	כְּבַדְתֶּן1
	third	כָּבַד	כָּבְדָה	כָּבְדוּ
present		כָּבֵד	כְּבֵדָה	כְּבֵדִים	כְּבֵדוֹת
future	first	אֶכְבַּד		נִכְבַּד
	second	תִּכְבַּד	תִּכְבְּדִי	תִּכְבְּדוּ	תִּכְבַּדְנָה2
	third	יִכְבַּד	תִּכְבַּד	יִכְבְּדוּ	תִּכְבַּדְנָה2
imperative		כְּבַד	כִּבְדִי	כִּבְדוּ	כְּבַדְנָה2

¹ Pronounced כָּבַדְתֶּם and כָּבַדְתֶּן in informal Modern Hebrew.
² Rare in Modern Hebrew.

Verb

כִּבֵּד • (kibéd) (pi'el construction)

1. defective spelling of כיבד

Noun

כֹּבֶד • (kóved) m

1. defective spelling of כובד

References

• H3515 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• H3513 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Klein, Ernest (1987) “כָּבֵד”, in A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English‎^[1], Jerusalem: Carta, →ISBN, page 268c
• Jastrow, Marcus (1903) A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature‎^[2], London, New York: Luzac & Co., G.P. Putnam's Sons, page 607a
• Caspari, Wilhelm (1908) Die Bedeutungen der Wortsippe כבד im Hebräischen [The meanings of the word kin כבד in Hebrew]‎^[3] (in German), Leipzig: A. Deichert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung Nachf. (Georg Böhme)