---
title: כָּסַם — shear · The Tanakh dictionary
description: כָּסַם (3697), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 2 times: shear. BDB 1906: vb. shear, clip. With 1 verse in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/3697.html)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [Tanakh](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/) / [כ](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/1499-2.md)‎ / כָּסַם‎

<!-- .hw dir=rtl lang=hbo -->
# כָּסַם

<!-- .meta -->
«כָּסַם» in the Tanakh dictionary: **shear** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 1 verse in layers.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Used:** 2 times · **Key:** 3697 · **BDB:** כָּסַם

### Glosses

surely.(trim) (1); they.will.trim (1)

### Meaning (OSHB)

shear [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1499/3697/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

vb. shear, clip [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1499/3697/#m2)

<!-- fold -->
**The whole BDB entry:** vb. shear, clip (Assyrian kasâmu, cut in pieces, according to DlHWB 344);—only Impf. and Inf. abs. כָּסוֹם יִכְסְמוּ אֶת־רָאשֵׁיהֶם Ez 44:20 they shall by all means clip their heads (opp. יְגַלֵּ֔חוּ shave and יְשַׁלֵּ֑חוּ, i.e. let grow freely).

<!-- .note -->
Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 of its verses cited, 0 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (1 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 0 with the glosses (1 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «כָּסַם» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1499/3697/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

<!-- div verse -->

<!-- .ref -->
[Ezekiel 44:20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/EZK.44.20/)

<!-- .vt dir=rtl lang=hbo -->
וְרֹאשָׁם֙ לֹ֣א יְגַלֵּ֔חוּ וּפֶ֖רַע לֹ֣א יְשַׁלֵּ֑חוּ כָּס֥וֹם יִכְסְמ֖וּ אֶת־רָאשֵׁיהֶֽם׃

*Word for word:* and head their not they.will.shave and hair not they.will.let.loose surely.(trim) they.will.trim (et) heads their

*JPS 1917:* Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [כַּסְלֻחִים](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/3695.md)
- next →: [כֻּסֶּמֶת](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/3698.md)
- ↑ back to [כ](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/1499-2.md)