ma.chats denotes forcefully striking or crushing, especially in acts of defeating opponents, and can describe inflicting injury.

The contextualized uses chiefly describe forceful blows that subdue, crush, or strike enemies and their bodies; a smaller group places injury alongside healing. Two Psalm occurrences are not specifically isolated by the translation, so their precise English rendering remains unclear.

1. Forcefully strike or crush opponents · dominant

   Qal forms occur in scenes of overcoming opponents: in Judges 5:26 the APB renders a sequence in which Sisera is struck and his head and temple are crushed, while in Numbers 24:8 it renders the defeat of hostile nations with broken bones. In 2 Samuel 22:39 the first-person sequential imperfect belongs to the speaker's account of consuming adversaries so that they fall under his feet; Psalm 110:6 likewise places the action amid judgment and shattered heads.

   Judges 5:26Numbers 24:82 Samuel 22:39Psalm 110:6Deuteronomy 33:11Habakkuk 3:13
2. Inflict injury in contrast with healing · occasional

   In Deuteronomy 32:39, the first-person Qal perfect stands in the clause the APB renders, “I wound and I heal.” Job 5:18 similarly uses a third-person Qal imperfect in a statement that pairs causing pain and wounding with binding up and healing.

   Deuteronomy 32:39Job 5:18

In the Anselm Project Bible: Across the clearer contexts, the APB uses wording such as “struck,” “crushed,” “shatter,” “wound,” and “smites”; these are verse-level renderings rather than fixed equivalents. In Psalm 68:22 and Psalm 68:24, the translation does not clearly isolate the contribution of the supplied forms.