ka.rah denotes cutting or digging out a place, especially a well, grave, or pit, and can describe pits set against someone.

The attested uses chiefly describe digging or cutting out physical places such as wells, a grave, and a pit. Several verses use the same action for pits prepared against a person or for the wicked; in a few supplied renderings, the term's specific contribution is not exposed clearly enough to specify further.

1. Digging out a physical place · dominant

   In Genesis 26:25 the plural sequential imperfect occurs where Isaac's servants dig a well, and in Numbers 21:18 the plural perfect is used of princes and nobles excavating a well. The same action concerns a pit in Exodus 21:33 and a self-prepared grave in Genesis 50:5; 2 Chronicles 16:14 likewise places the singular perfect in the account of a tomb cut for its owner.

   Genesis 26:25Numbers 21:18Exodus 21:33Genesis 50:52 Chronicles 16:14
2. Preparing a pit against someone · common

   In Jeremiah 18:20 and Jeremiah 18:22, the plural perfect stands in clauses about people digging a pit for the speaker's life and to capture him. Psalm 119:85 similarly has a plural perfect where the arrogant have prepared pits for the psalmist, while Psalm 94:13 uses a Niphal imperfect in the clause about a pit being dug for the wicked.

   Jeremiah 18:20Jeremiah 18:22Psalm 119:85Psalm 94:13

In the Anselm Project Bible: Where the clause is clear, the APB presents the action with "dug," "digs," "excavated," and "cut." In several supplied verses, including Psalm 40:7, Psalm 57:7, and Psalm 7:16, the translation does not make this term's particular contribution clear.