K-B-D

K-B-D (Hebrew: ; East Semitic ''K-B-T''; ) is a triliteral Semitic root with the common meaning of to "be heavy", and thence "be important; honour, majesty, glory".

The basic noun formed from the root means "liver", "interior", "soul" in most Semitic languages.
The Akkadian word for liver is spelled with the sumerogram , transliterated ''kabtu''; the Ugaritic cognate is spelled ''kbd''.

There is a wide range of uses for ''kbd'' as a noun among the Semitic languages. It can be used literally to denote the organ of the "liver", or more figuratively to refer to the "interior of the body", seen as being "the seat of human will and emotions."

Akkadian ''kbt''

In Akkadian, an East Semitic language which has the ''kbt'' form of the root, ''kabattu'' is used to denote the realm of "violent emotions" and "blind passions".

According to Wolfgang Heimpel in ''Letters to the King of Mari'', the Babylonian root ''kbt'' was vocalized as ''kbd'' in Mari, and an adjectival derivation of the root appears in Mari inscriptions that record royal correspondences. Heimpel translated its meaning as "heavy", as in the following excerpt: "The troops are well. The tablets are heavy for the messengers whom Ibal-Pi-El is sending, and so my mail to you is not regular."

Early West Semitic

The K-B-D root is a constituent of personal names in many West Semitic languages and are found in inscriptions of the Amorites, Ugarits, and Punics. Scholars like J.C. de Moor and F. de Meyer have also claimed that ''kbd'' is used as the root for the name of a god, ''Kabidu''.

In Ugaritic ''kbd'' is often paired with ''lb'' to denote "the seat of feelings and emotions." As in a text which reads: Her liver' swells with laughter, her heart is filled with joy, Anat's 'liver' with victory." The Ugaritic verb ''kbd'' means "to honour", "be weighty/honoured", or figuratively, "to make heavy", and encapsulates only the positive meaning of the word. ''Kbd'' is also used as an adjective in Ugaritic, meaning "heavy" or "valuable", and was used in administrative texts to describe quantities, whereby ''kbd'' "designates a heavier weight in contrast to the normal lighter weight."

Biblical Hebrew

''Kbd'' appears in the Hebrew Bible 4:18, where Eli is said to be "heavy", and in second book of Samuel 14:2 where Absalom's hair is described as "heavy". However, the dominant usage of the root throughout most of the text is "heavy", with a meaning negative in connotation. In Hebrew, the word for both heavy and liver is ''kaved'' (), following from its Semitic roots.

This negative usage of heavy in the Hebrew Bible, ''kbd'' is used to describe "the hardening of the Pharaoh's" heart. The second subgroup involves the use of ''kbd'' to refer to a concept related to "severity", in terms of "work, slavery, warfare, plague, or famine," and is perhaps best translated in these cases as a transitive verb, such as "burden", "weigh down" or "impede".

The hand of the Lord, for example, is described as "heavy", as in the first book of Samuel 5:6 or in the Psalms 32:4. The third subgroup is one in which ''kbd'' is used negatively to refer to magnitude in size or numbers, such as in discussing the greatness of a sin, or the size of an army. For example, the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah is described as very heavy.

The use of ''kbd'' as positive in connotation does also appear in the Hebrew Bible. In Genesis 13:2, Abraham is described as very "heavy" in the context of his material wealth and importance and other figures to whom positive adjectives such as "heroic" or "glorious" are attached, are also described as ''kbd'' ("heavy"). ''Kbd'' is also used to refer to the "heaviness" of God, and in this case it is most commonly translated as referring to his " glory". God's glory (''kabhodh'': Septuagint ''dóxa'') was visible fire It is occasionally used also of the soul or spirit in man

Instead of using K-B-D, Aramaic usually uses ''yaqar'', meaning "be heavy," and "be precious," which may have subsequently entered Hebrew as an Aramaic loanword.Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament by G. Johannes Botterweck
/ref> In Hebrew, Y-Q-R is found in the adjective ''yaqar'' () meaning both dear and expensive, the noun ''yeqar'' () meaning honor and respect
and another noun, ''yoqer'' () meaning expensiveness, one verb ''yaqar'' () meaning to be appreciated and another verb ''yiqer'' () meaning to make expensive.

In the Dead Sea Scrolls, the usage of the root closely follows the biblical usage. Of the 30 occurrences of the root, 13 are of the nif'al participle ("those who are honored"), 10 are of the word meaning honor, though in addition there is one instance of the postbiblical meaning "sweep up, clean." In terms of its positive connotations the root is also found in this word for honour "kavod" () which is found in the Hebrew expression ''Kol HaKavod'' () meaning "all of the honour" and used to congratulate someone for a job well done. Bekhavod (, "with honour") is the most common valediction used in Hebrew.

Arabic

The root ''kbd'' is used as in the other Semitic languages to refer to the "interior" or "middle" of something, and this is its most common use in Arabic. In both Hebrew and Arabic, as a noun, it means "liver," and the liver in Arabic and Hebrew, as with the other Semitic languages described above, is "an organ thought to be the seat of passion, especially of burning feelings like hate, spite, malice, etc." It can also be used to refer to the entire stomach and entrails. For example, in a Bedouin poem from central Arabia, it is written that "clean, sweet water filled my entrails (after revenge was taken)." or in Jewish Liturgy "God scrutinizes the Entrails and Hearts f menJeremiah 11

In Arabic, the verb ''kabada'' itself is limited to its negative meaning of "oppress" and "endure". However, K-B-D shows instances of semantic overlap with the root K-B-R. So that in Arabic, for example, the verb ''kabura'' means to "be/become large", echoing the semantic meaning of the K-B-D root as used in other Semitic languages. In Libyan Arabic, the word kabdah كبدة, in addition to its literal meaning as liver, also refers to the person one deeply loves. The expression 'sħanli kabdi' – literally: He squished my liver – expresses the condition of being deeply emotionally moved.

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{{Semitic roots

Triconsonantal roots
Hebrew words and phrases
Arabic words and phrases
Glory (honor)
Liver