Definition

(figuratively) to love; by implication, a love-token, lover, friend; specifically an uncle

Etymology

or (shortened) דֹּד; from an unused root meaning properly, to boil, i.e.

Where the KJV renders it

• (well-) beloved
• father's brother
• love
• uncle

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.