Hebrew · Strong's H398 · Verb

אָכַל

a·khal

to eat

810times used

701verses

38books

How it's translated

you will eat43
to eat38
he will eat31
and you will eat28
and they ate28
it will be eaten20
they will eat19
you must eat17

Definition

1) to eat, devour, burn up, feed

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to eat (human subject)

1a2) to eat, devour (of beasts and birds)

1a3) to devour, consume (of fire)

1a4) to devour, slay (of sword)

1a5) to devour, consume, destroy (inanimate subjects - ie, pestilence, drought)

1a6) to devour (of oppression)

The forms it takes

Stem

Qal 91% simple action
Niphal 6% passive or reflexive
Hiphil 2% causing someone to do it
Pual 1% passive of Piel

Form

Imperfect (yiqtol) 40% incomplete: ongoing, future or possible
Weqatal (“and he will”) 12% and then …: future or instructions
Infinitive 12% “to …”, or for emphasis
Wayyiqtol (“and he did”) 11% and then …: the storyteller’s past
Perfect (qatal) 11% a complete action, usually past
Participle 9% one who is doing

Tap a form to see what it means in Grammar, simply.

Between Hebrew and Greek

The Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint), the Bible the first Christians often quoted, translates this word as:

φαγεῖν phagein · to eat 50%
ἐσθίω esthiō · to eat 27%
κατεσθίω katesthiō · to devour 16%
βιβρώσκω bibrōskō · to eat 5%
βρῶσις brōsis · eating 2%

Where it appears

Genesisacross the Old TestamentMalachi

Leviticus81
Deuteronomy71
Genesis54
Ezekiel51
Isaiah49
Exodus44
Jeremiah38
1 Kings33
Psalms27
Numbers24

…and 28 more books.

Every verse

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English previews: World English Bible. Hebrew and Greek data from STEPBible.org (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0.