how to say “to strike” in Hebrew
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להכות-1.m4a” /]לִשְׁבּוֹת, לְהַכּוֹת
Yesterday we saw the Hebrew word for a strike – שביתה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להכות-2.m4a” /]. This noun comes from the active-simple verb לשבות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להכות-3.m4a” /] – to strike or to refrain from work.
But what about to strike another person – to hit? That’s the active-intensive להכות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להכות-4.m4a” /].
Here’s an example from the biblical story of Moses:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להכות-5.m4a” /]וַיֵּצֵא בַּיּוֹם הַשֵּׁנִי וְהִנֵּה שְׁנֵי אֲנָשִׁים עִבְרִים נִצִּים וַיֹּאמֶר לָרָשָׁע לָמָּה תַכֶּה רֵעֶךָ. (שמות ב’, י”ג)
And he (Moses) went out on the second day and behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one in the wrong (the hitter), “why do you strike your fellow?” (Exodus 2:13)
להכות is about as common in Modern Hebrew as to strike is in English – these are terms you’re far more likely to find in poetry than in everyday speech. If Moses were speaking today, he’d probably use a form of the active-causative להרביץ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להכות-6.m4a” /], rendering something like: ?למה אתה מרביץ לו[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להכות-7.m4a” /] – why are you hitting him?
A word related to להכות you may recognize is מכה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להכות-8.m4a” /] – a hit, a blow or, in Biblical Hebrew, a plague. You may also know it from the expression, I got hurt – קיבלתי מכה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להכות-9.m4a” /] – literally, I’ve received a blow.
To strike a match in Hebrew is simply to light a match – להדליק גפרור[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להכות-10.m4a” /] or להצית גפרור[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להכות-11.m4a” /].
