to encounter: meet
qa.ra describes going out to meet another, and also events or harm coming upon someone.
The dominant use describes persons or forces moving toward and meeting one another, whether in greeting, pursuit, or battle. Other clauses use it for harm, disaster, or other circumstances that come upon someone; Niphal forms portray something as encountered, found, or coming before a person, while one Hiphil form presents disaster as brought upon a people.
Senses in use
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Go out to meet a person or opposing force · dominant
Qal infinitive constructs repeatedly mark movement toward another party: in 1 Samuel 13:10 the APB renders Saul's action as going out “to meet him,” and in 1 Samuel 18:6 women come out “to meet King Saul.” The same form frames opposing ranks and combatants moving toward each other in 1 Samuel 17:21 and 1 Samuel 17:48.
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Come upon someone as an event or condition · common
Qal forms place the term with harm, future circumstances, and distress rather than a face-to-face meeting. In Genesis 42:4 the APB renders the feared outcome as “harm should meet him”; in Deuteronomy 31:29, disaster “will befall you,” and in Job 4:14 dread “came upon me.”
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Be encountered, found, or come before · occasional
Niphal forms present the encounter from the other side. In 2 Samuel 18:9 the APB says Absalom “was met” before David's servants; in Deuteronomy 22:6 a bird's nest “comes before you,” and in 2 Samuel 20:1 a man “was found there.”
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Bring disaster upon · rare
In Jeremiah 32:23 the Hiphil sequential imperfect occurs in the clause whose APB rendering says, “Therefore you brought all this disaster upon them.” The verse contrasts their failure to obey with the disaster brought upon them.
In the Anselm Project Bible: Across these verses the APB variously uses “meet,” “encounter,” “came upon,” “befall,” “was found,” and “brought... upon.” These renderings show the clauses' presentation rather than fixed English equivalents for each form.