writing
ka.tav denotes a written text, especially an official decree or copy, and also a recorded register or prescribed written form.
The attested use most often concerns official written texts: decrees, copies, and communications issued under royal authority. It also appears for writing associated with a people’s language or an inscribed/prescribed text, and for records in which persons are enrolled or excluded.
Senses in use
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Official decrees, copies, and royal documents · dominant
In Esther 3:14 and Esther 8:13, the absolute form occurs where the APB renders “A copy of the edict” issued as law throughout the provinces. In Esther 4:8, the construct form is associated with a copy of a law given in Susa, while Esther 8:8 places an absolute form in the clause about a writing made in the king’s name and sealed with his ring.
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Written form, inscription, or prescribed text · common
In 1 Chronicles 28:19, the absolute form occurs in the statement that the details of a plan were made clear “in writing.” In Daniel 10:21, the construct form stands in the clause the APB renders “inscribed in writing of truth”; Esther 1:22 and Ezra 4:7 associate construct forms with a province’s script or the writing of a letter.
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Registration or enrollment record · occasional
In Ezekiel 13:9, the construct form occurs where the APB says the prophets will not be “recorded in the register of the house of Israel.” Ezra 2:62 and Nehemiah 7:64 use construct forms in searches for an enrollment record that was not found, resulting in exclusion or defilement from the priesthood.
In the Anselm Project Bible: Across these verses, the APB presents the term through expressions such as “writing,” “script,” “copy of the edict,” and “register.” These are verse-level renderings rather than fixed word-for-word equivalents.