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Strong's Concordance
Hebrew Word Study

Strong's H5643 סֵתֶר (cether)

Cether means “backbiting” — full meaning, definition, and every linked Bible usage across the indexed canon.

Strong's Number H5643
Language Hebrew
Linked Usages 36
Books 10

Strong's H5643 Quick Answer

Strong's H5643 סֵתֶר סִתרָה (cether) is a Hebrew Strong's word-study entry. cether (say'-ther) (or (feminine) cithrah (Deut. 32) n-f. 1. a cover (in a good or a bad, a literal or a figurative sense) [from H5641] It has 36 linked Bible usages across 10 books. Visible English usage signals include covering and backbiting. Indexed coverage on this page includes Old Testament.

Meaning
cether (say'-ther) (or (feminine) cithrah (Deut. 32) n-f. 1. a cover (in a good or a bad, a literal or a figurative sense) [from H5641]
Usage
36 linked usages
Books
10 indexed books
Corpus
Old Testament
Usage Words
covering and backbiting

Meaning and Definition

cether (say'-ther) (or (feminine) cithrah (Deut. 32) n-f. 1. a cover (in a good or a bad, a literal or a figurative sense) [from H5641] KJV: backbiting, covering, covert, X disguise(-th), hiding place, privily, protection, secret(-ly, place). Root(s): H5641

Original Word
סֵתֶר סִתרָה
Transliteration
cether
Derivation
Root: סתר First root strongs: 5641
Morphology
noun fem

Across Lexicons

How independent scholarly lexicons define Strong's H5643. Each definition is shown with its source so you can compare and cite the original reference works.

Extended Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (Brown-Driver-Briggs based)

secrecy

Usage: 1) covering, shelter, hiding place, secrecy 1a) covering, cover 1b) hiding place, shelter, secret place 1c) secrecy 1c1) secrecy (of tongue being slanderous)

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How Strong's H5643 Is Translated

The English word each shown verse actually uses to render cether, taken from the interlinear word alignment (the same word underlined in the excerpts below). Where a rendering is used more than once, the count is shown.

backbiting Proverbs 25:23 covering Job 22:14

How Strong's H5643 Usage Compares

Indexed coverage includes Old Testament. Each section below keeps corpus counts and sample passages visible so readers can compare the word across contexts instead of reading one flat concordance list.

  • The largest indexed corpus on this page is Old Testament with 36 linked usages.
  • The linked rows are Old Testament Hebrew usage, grouped by book for fast canonical scanning.

Strong's H5643 by Corpus

Indexed usage grouped by testament and extended corpus so readers can compare this word across the Bible, Septuagint, deuterocanonical books, and 1 Enoch where present.

Strong's H5643 in the Old Testament

36 indexed usages in Old Testament.

Deuteronomy 13:6 KJV

If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;

Deuteronomy 27:15 KJV

Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen.

Deuteronomy 27:24 KJV

Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbour secretly. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Usage Excerpts

First 36 linked usage excerpts for Strong's H5643.

Deuteronomy 13:6 Old Testament, KJV
If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;
Deuteronomy 27:15 Old Testament, KJV
Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen.
Deuteronomy 27:24 Old Testament, KJV
Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbour secretly. And all the people shall say, Amen.
Deuteronomy 28:57 Old Testament, KJV
And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.
Deuteronomy 32:38 Old Testament, KJV
Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you, and be your protection.
Judges 3:19 Old Testament, KJV
But he himself turned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king: who said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from him.
1 Samuel 19:2 Old Testament, KJV
But Jonathan Saul's son delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself:
1 Samuel 25:20 Old Testament, KJV
And it was so, as she rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert on the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down against her; and she met them.
2 Samuel 12:12 Old Testament, KJV
For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.
Job 13:10 Old Testament, KJV
He will surely reprove you, if ye do secretly accept persons.
Job 22:14 Old Testament, KJV
Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.
Job 24:15 Old Testament, KJV
The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth his face.
Job 31:27 Old Testament, KJV
And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:
Job 40:21 Old Testament, KJV
He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens.
Psalms 18:11 Old Testament, KJV
He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
Psalms 27:5 Old Testament, KJV
For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
Psalms 31:20 Old Testament, KJV
Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.
Psalms 32:7 Old Testament, KJV
Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.
Psalms 61:4 Old Testament, KJV
I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.
Psalms 81:7 Old Testament, KJV
Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.
Psalms 91:1 Old Testament, KJV
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Psalms 101:5 Old Testament, KJV
Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.
Psalms 119:114 Old Testament, KJV
Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.
Psalms 139:15 Old Testament, KJV
My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Proverbs 9:17 Old Testament, KJV
Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.
Proverbs 21:14 Old Testament, KJV
A gift in secret pacifieth anger: and a reward in the bosom strong wrath.
Proverbs 25:23 Old Testament, KJV
The north wind driveth away rain: so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue.
Song of Solomon 2:14 Old Testament, KJV
O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
Isaiah 16:4 Old Testament, KJV
Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land.
Isaiah 28:17 Old Testament, KJV
Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
Isaiah 32:2 Old Testament, KJV
And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
Isaiah 45:19 Old Testament, KJV
I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.
Isaiah 48:16 Old Testament, KJV
Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.
Jeremiah 37:17 Old Testament, KJV
Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from the LORD? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.
Jeremiah 38:16 Old Testament, KJV
So Zedekiah the king sware secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, As the LORD liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life.
Jeremiah 40:15 Old Testament, KJV
Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish?

All Indexed Usage Links

Every indexed verse link for Strong's H5643, grouped by book.

Deuteronomy 5 usages, Old Testament
Judges 1 usage, Old Testament
1 Samuel 2 usages, Old Testament
2 Samuel 1 usage, Old Testament
Job 5 usages, Old Testament
Psalms 10 usages, Old Testament
Proverbs 3 usages, Old Testament
Song of Solomon 1 usage, Old Testament
Isaiah 5 usages, Old Testament
Jeremiah 3 usages, Old Testament

Strong's H5643 FAQ

What does cether (סֵתֶר) mean?

Cether (Strong's H5643) is a Hebrew word most simply glossed "backbiting". cether (say'-ther) (or (feminine) cithrah (Deut. 32) n-f. 1. a cover (in a good or a bad, a literal or a figurative sense) [from H5641]

How many times is cether (סֵתֶר) used in the Bible?

This page currently indexes 36 linked usages for Strong's H5643 across 10 books.

Where can I study cether (סֵתֶר) in context?

Use the linked verse references on this page to study Strong's H5643 in context. The indexed coverage includes Old Testament.

What English words translate cether (סֵתֶר)?

The visible usage excerpts most often surface English words such as covering and backbiting. These are scanning signals from the displayed verses, not replacements for the original-language definition.