The shoulder (proper, i.e. upper end of the arm; as being the spot where the garments hang); figuratively, side-piece or lateral projection of anything
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The Hebrew noun kateph means the shoulder and can extend to the side or a supporting projection of an object. People carry the ark on their shoulders, armor rests between or upon shoulders, and transport duties are assigned according to what must be carried.
Reader summary
Full entry for כָּתֵף (H3802) · Open the biblical lexicon
The Hebrew noun kateph means the shoulder and can extend to the side or a supporting projection of an object. People carry the ark on their shoulders, armor rests between or upon shoulders, and transport duties are assigned according to what must be carried.
The BSB source-word alignment has 67 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include side (13), slope (8), shoulder pieces (4), the shoulder pieces (4), shoulder (3).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Exodus 27:14. Its strongest book concentrations include Ezekiel (19), Exodus (13), 1 Kings (8), Joshua (8).
The Hebrew noun kateph means the shoulder and can extend to the side or a supporting projection of an object. People carry the ark on their shoulders, armor rests between or upon shoulders, and transport duties are assigned according to what must be carried. Priestly garments include shoulder pieces that bear memorial stones. Poetry and blessing may use shoulder location relationally, while prophets portray a stubborn shoulder as a refusal to listen.
Architectural texts can use the same noun for side structures or supports. These uses do not create a universal shoulder symbolism. Carrying may express service or responsibility, but burdens differ and should not be imposed without calling, capacity, training, and help. A turned shoulder can picture resistance in a prophetic accusation, yet pain, disability, fatigue, posture, or limited movement is not rebellion.
Responsible teaching distinguishes anatomy, clothing, transport, architecture, and metaphor. It respects bodily limits, accessible participation, shared labor, and the safety of those asked to carry weight.
Kateph names the human shoulder and extends to garment pieces, side structures, carrying locations, and prophetic posture imagery. The supported object and genre determine its force.
And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the Lord.
The Levites carry the ark of God on their shoulders with poles according to the commanded order.
And he had armor of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders.
Goliath's equipment includes a bronze javelin carried between or on his shoulders as he confronts Israel.
Fasten both stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. Aaron is to bear their names on his two shoulders as a memorial before the Lord.
Memorial stones bearing Israel's names are fastened on the ephod's shoulder pieces before the Lord.
But he did not give any to the Kohathites, since they were to carry on their shoulders the holy objects for which they were responsible.
The Kohathites receive no carts because their holy-object service requires carrying on their shoulders.
Concerning Benjamin he said: “May the beloved of the Lord rest secure in Him; God shields him all day long, and upon His shoulders he rests.”
Benjamin's blessing speaks of the Lord's beloved resting securely between His shoulders.
But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears from hearing.
The ancestors refuse attention, turn a stubborn shoulder, and stop their ears against the prophetic word.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Shoulder as bearing capacity: literal load-carrier shifts to figurative support, strength, or structural foundation.
Shoulder as bearing capacity: literal load-carrier shifts to figurative support, strength, or structural foundation.
the shoulder (proper, i.e. upper end of the arm; as being the spot where the garments hang); figuratively, side-piece or lateral projection of anything BDB: shoulder Usage: arm, corner, shoulder(-piece), side, undersetter.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Kateph is a load-bearing word, but the load and assignment matter. Chronicles and Numbers describe Levites carrying sacred objects under defined roles and procedures. Those texts honor ordered service while refusing improvisation, yet they do not authorize leaders to place unlimited labor on volunteers or ignore modern lifting safety. Exodus's shoulder pieces carry Israel's names as part of the high priest's garments, a covenant representation that should not be converted into a claim that contemporary leaders literally bear others' salvation.
Goliath's javelin shows that a shoulder may support threatening equipment. Deuteronomy's blessing uses bodily location for security, while Zechariah's stubborn shoulder pictures a historical refusal to heed God's word. The metaphor must not be applied to someone whose posture, pain, trauma, or disability limits movement. Faithful teaching asks what is carried, by whom, under what authority, and with what support.
It shares burdens, honors rest, provides accommodations, and recognizes when a task exceeds capacity. Shoulders are embodied and vulnerable, not merely symbols available for demands.
1Chr.15.15
Kateph is a Hebrew noun for shoulder whose range extends to a side, flank, shoulder piece, or projecting support. Possessors, carried objects, garment vocabulary, and architectural context distinguish anatomy from structural extension.
The New Testament speaks of burdens, yokes, service, priesthood, bodily members, and mutual care through other vocabulary. Canonical comparison can illuminate responsible burden-bearing without making kateph the direct lexical source of every later image.