Definition

to wind tightly (as a rope), i.e. to bind; specifically, by a pledge; figuratively, to pervert, destroy; also to writhe in pain (especially of parturition)

Etymology

a primitive root;

Where the KJV renders it

• at all
• band
• bring forth
• (deal) corrupt(-ly)
• destroy
• offend
• lay to (take a) pledge
• spoil
• travail
• very
• withhold

Every distinct English word the King James Version uses to translate this Hebrew term. The variety shows what readers in English receive across many different surface words — the same underlying word, scattered across the English Bible under different names.

What the first audience heard

A deep-dive treatment of this word is in the works. The featured chapter above carries the long form of what this word meant to its first audience.