to buy
qa.nah most often denotes buying for payment, and also describes acquiring or possessing what comes under someone’s control.
The dominant use concerns purchase in an exchange involving silver, money, land, goods, or persons. Other clauses extend the term to obtaining things not presented as a cash transaction, including wisdom and knowledge, and to possession language in descriptions of God, people, and land.
Senses in use
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Purchasing in an exchange · dominant
Qal forms commonly occur where an object is acquired from another party for payment: in Genesis 33:19 the APB renders the purchase of a field “for a hundred pieces of money,” and in Jeremiah 32:44 it renders fields being bought “for silver” with deeds written and witnessed. The same transactional setting includes David’s refusal to take Araunah’s property without cost in 2 Samuel 24:24, the purchase of a Hebrew servant in Exodus 21:2, and the buyer’s lasting possession of a house in Leviticus 25:30.
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Acquiring or obtaining · occasional
The Qal perfect in Genesis 4:1 occurs in Eve’s statement after the birth of a man, which the APB renders “I have acquired a man,” without describing a monetary exchange. Qal imperatives in Proverbs 4:5 and Proverbs 23:23 urge the obtaining of wisdom, understanding, and truth, while Proverbs 18:15 says that a discerning heart acquires knowledge.
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Possession in divine descriptions · occasional
In Genesis 14:19 and Genesis 14:22, a Qal active participle construct appears in the designation of God in relation to heaven and land; the APB renders the designation “possessor of heaven and land.” Related clauses describe a people whom God has bought in Exodus 15:16 and a mountain his right hand had bought in Psalm 78:54, so its precise English correspondence in every clause cannot be isolated.
In the Anselm Project Bible: Across the transactional clauses, the APB regularly uses “buy,” “bought,” “purchase,” and “buyer.” It also uses “acquired,” “possessor,” and “recover” in other settings.