za.rah describes dispersing people among nations, spreading material, and winnowing at a threshing floor.

The dominant use describes people or peoples being driven out and dispersed among nations, lands, or winds. Other contexts show material spread over a surface or cast away, winnowing activity with fork and shovel, and figurative distribution involving knowledge or what is bad.

1. Dispersing people among nations or winds · dominant

   Piel forms repeatedly occur in clauses about a people’s removal and distribution: in Ezekiel 12:15 the APB renders the clause "when I scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the lands," and Ezekiel 5:12 places a third of the population "to every wind." Ezekiel 36:19 uses a Niphal form where they "were dispersed throughout the lands," while Jeremiah 31:10 identifies the one who scattered Israel as the one who will gather him.

   Ezekiel 12:15Ezekiel 5:12Ezekiel 36:19Leviticus 26:33Jeremiah 49:36Jeremiah 31:10
2. Spreading or casting away material · common

   The verb can concern tangible items rather than displaced populations. In Exodus 32:20 the Qal sequential imperfect follows burning and grinding the calf, with the APB rendering "scattered it on the surface of the water"; Isaiah 30:22 similarly places the Qal imperfect in the disposal of silver-covered idols. Piel forms occur where bones are put around altars in Ezekiel 6:5 and refuse is put upon faces in Malachi 2:3.

   Exodus 32:20Isaiah 30:22Ezekiel 6:5Job 18:15Malachi 2:3
3. Winnowing or spreading at the threshing floor · occasional

   Qal participles identify a person engaged in winnowing: Ruth 3:2 says Boaz is "winnowing barley at the threshing floor," and Isaiah 30:24 describes fodder "winnowed with shovel and fork." Jeremiah 15:7 uses a Qal sequential imperfect in the clause rendered "I have winnowed them with a winnowing fork in the gates of the land."

   Ruth 3:2Isaiah 30:24Jeremiah 15:7Jeremiah 4:11
4. Distributing knowledge or separating what is bad · rare

   Piel forms apply the action beyond physical objects: Proverbs 15:7 says that "The lips of the wise scatter knowledge," while Proverbs 20:8 and Proverbs 20:26 describe a king who scatters what is bad or the wicked in judgment. The clauses show a distribution or removal image, though the translation does not isolate a fixed English equivalent for the Hebrew form.

   Proverbs 15:7Proverbs 20:8Proverbs 20:26

In the Anselm Project Bible: Across the dispersal contexts, the APB commonly uses "scatter" and "disperse," especially with nations, lands, and winds. In the agricultural contexts it uses "winnowing" or "winnowed"; These renderings reflect the clauses rather than a one-to-one equivalent in every verse.