כַּחַשׁ
𐤊𐤇𐤔
kachash
H3585 noun
SILEX Entry
Definition
Physical wasting or emaciation due to lack or disease; by extension, the concept of deception, falsehood, or untruth, particularly as a deliberate act of lying or denying what is true. The term can also refer metaphorically to leanness or barrenness, especially as a consequence for unfaithfulness or denial.
Semantic Range
physical wasting, emaciation, bodily leanness, barrenness, deceit, untruth, denial, falsehood, lying, hypocrisy
Root / Etymology
From the root כּחשׁ (k-ḥ-sh), meaning 'to be untrue, to deny, to deceive, to fail.' The noun derives from the verbal root, capturing both the notions of physical failure (as bodily leanness or emaciation) and moral failure (as dishonesty, deceit, falsehood).
Historical & Contextual Notes
In early biblical contexts (e.g., Psalms, Isaiah), כַּחַשׁ refers both to literal physical leanness or wasting, often understood as a form of punishment or result of hardship, and to figurative lying or falsehood. The dual sense—physical and moral—arises from the root's association with failure or denial of expected support, whether bodily (wasting) or in truthfulness (deceit). In poetry and prophetic texts, כַּחַשׁ frequently occurs with words for falsehood or in parallelism indicating conscious deception. English translations sometimes narrow this term to 'lies' or 'hypocrisy,' but its scope includes the result of denial (such as leanness) as well as the act (lying, deceiving). It stands in contrast to related terms such as שֶׁקֶר (sheqer, 'lie, falsehood'), which focus solely on spoken or written untruths, while כַּחַשׁ carries a wider semantic field, including failure and wasting. Usage in the post-exilic period continues to encompass both senses, but later tradition and translation often emphasize the moral/ethical meaning.
Translation Consistency
The dominant and most natural meaning in context is deceit/falsehood—deliberate lying, denial, or hypocrisy. ‘Deception’ clearly conveys that core semantic range (falsehood, lies, deceit) while remaining a natural English noun; the rarer physical sense of wasting/leanness is metaphorical and can be handled by context-specific wording.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
from כָּחַשׁ; literally a failure of flesh, i.e. emaciation; figuratively, hypocrisy; leanness, lies, lying.
Bantu Hebrew
No Bantu Hebrew comparisons have been submitted for this word yet.
+ Add Bantu Hebrew WordRoot Family
כחשׁ (k-ḥ-sh) — to be untrue, to deny, to fail, to deceive
| Strong's | Lemma | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|
| H3584 | כָּחַשׁ | deception |
Word Forms
6 distinct forms
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H3585-06 |
בְ/כַ֨חַשׁ֙ | vekhachash | HR/Ncmsa |
with lies | in untruth | in deception | 1 |
H3585-04 |
וּ/מִ/כַּ֣חַשׁ | umikachash | HC/R/Ncmsa |
and from lies | and from falsehood | and from falsehood | 1 |
H3585-03 |
כַ֝חֲשִׁ֗/י | khachashi | HNcmsc/Sp1cs |
my-leanness | my wasting | my leanness | 1 |
H3585-01 |
כַּ֤חַשׁ | kachash | HNcmsa |
full of lies | falsehood | falsehood | 1 |
H3585-02 |
כָ֑חַשׁ | khachash | HNcmsa |
of lies | deceitful untruth | of lies | 1 |
H3585-05 |
וּ/בְ/כַחֲשֵׁי/הֶ֖ם | uvekhachasheyhem | HC/R/Ncmpc/Sp3mp |
and with their lies | and in their falsehoods | and with their lies | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
6 occurrences
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H3585-05 |
Hosea 7:3 | וּ/בְ/כַחֲשֵׁי/הֶ֖ם | uvekhachasheyhem | HC/R/Ncmpc/Sp3mp |
and with their lies | and in their falsehoods | and with their lies |
H3585-02 |
Hosea 10:13 | כָ֑חַשׁ | khachash | HNcmsa |
of lies | deceitful untruth | of lies |
H3585-06 |
Hosea 12:1 | בְ/כַ֨חַשׁ֙ | vekhachash | HR/Ncmsa |
with lies | in untruth | in deception |
H3585-01 |
Nahum 3:1 | כַּ֤חַשׁ | kachash | HNcmsa |
full of lies | falsehood | falsehood |
H3585-04 |
Psalms 59:13 | וּ/מִ/כַּ֣חַשׁ | umikachash | HC/R/Ncmsa |
and from lies | and from falsehood | and from falsehood |
H3585-03 |
Job 16:8 | כַ֝חֲשִׁ֗/י | khachashi | HNcmsc/Sp1cs |
my-leanness | my wasting | my leanness |