בָּתַר (ba.tar)
ba.tar
to cut up
H:VQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 1 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:V
Word Overview
The Hebrew verb batar means simply to cut something in two. It appears only once in the entire Old Testament, in Genesis 15:10. In this passage, Abram cuts a heifer, a goat, and a ram into pieces, arranging them opposite each other.
This specific action was part of an ancient covenant ritual. By dividing the animals, the parties symbolically bound themselves to share the fate of the cut creatures if they broke their agreement. The word describes the physical act of severing the body, creating two distinct halves from a single whole.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The verb batar describes the physical act of cutting something into pieces. In Genesis 15:10, Abram cuts animals in half and places them opposite each other. This was part of an ancient covenant ritual where breaking the agreement meant sharing the fate of the divided creatures.
God’s promise to Abram relied on this solemn sign. It shows how serious His word is. You can trust that God keeps His promises, even when they seem impossible. His commitment to you is as sure as the covenant He made with Abraham.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 1 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- he cut in two1×
- and/ he cut in pieces1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- וַ/יְבַתֵּ֤ר1×
- בָתָֽר\׃1×
Key Verses
-
Genesis 15:10
He brought him all these, and divided them in the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he didn’t divide the birds.
This verse records the only occurrence of batar, describing Abram dividing animals for a covenant ritual.