Kbd appears in the
Hebrew Bible 376 times. Twice, its meaning is literally "heavy", as in the first book of
Samuel 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 has been divided into three sub-groups. The first of these deals with the "insensitivity or dullness of the human body," so that, for example, in the book of
Exodus,
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. 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==