1795. dakkah

Lexical Summary

dakkah: Contrition, crushed, broken

Original Word: דַּכָּה
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: dakkah
Pronunciation: dak-KAH
Phonetic Spelling: (dak-kaw')
KJV: + wounded
Word Origin: [from H1794 (דָּכָה - crushed) like H1793 (דַּכָּא - Crushed)]

1. mutilated

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

wounded

From dakah like dakka'; mutilated -- + wounded.

see HEBREW dakah

see HEBREW dakka'

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
from the same as dak
Definition
a crushing
NASB Translation
emasculated* (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs

דַּכָּה noun feminine crushing, מְּצוּעַדַּֿכָּה Deuteronomy 23:2 one wounded by crushing (namely of testicles).

Topical Lexicon

Scriptural Setting

Deuteronomy 23:1 records the sole biblical occurrence of דַּכָּה: “No man with crushed or severed genitals may enter the assembly of the LORD” (Berean Standard Bible). The prohibition lies within a larger section (Deuteronomy 23:1-8) that guards the purity of Israel’s corporate worship by restricting participation for certain persons and peoples.

Cultural and Legal Background

1. Bodily integrity and covenant identity In the Ancient Near East, physical wholeness symbolized honor and fitness for both civil and cultic service. Within Israel, circumcision marked covenant inclusion (Genesis 17:9-14); intentional or accidental mutilation of the reproductive organ undercut that sign.
2. Pagan cults and castration Neighboring nations practiced ritual emasculation in service to fertility deities. By excluding the emasculated man, the Torah drew a stark line between Israel’s worship of the living God and pagan fertility rites (Leviticus 18:3).
3. Priestly parallels Leviticus 21:17-21 bars priests with crushed testicles from offering food on the altar. Deuteronomy extends the principle from priestly service to participation in the wider “assembly,” underscoring holiness for the entire covenant community.

Theological Implications

• Holiness and wholeness Physical completeness functions as an outward emblem of inward holiness. Defect rules remind Israel that worshipers must approach God without blemish (Psalm 24:3-4).
• Reverence for procreative design Genesis presents fruitfulness as a blessing (Genesis 1:28). The law guards the organ tied to that blessing, affirming the sanctity of human sexuality.
• Anticipation of redemption The restriction points beyond itself to a future healing of all brokenness. Isaiah promises, “Let not the eunuch say, ‘Look, I am a dry tree,’ … I will give them an everlasting name” (Isaiah 56:3-5). The prophet anticipates a day when ceremonial barriers fall before divine grace.

Prophetic and Redemptive Trajectory

1. Inclusion foretold Isaiah 56 widens the welcome; the once-excluded eunuch receives “a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters.”
2. Fulfillment in Messiah Jesus teaches voluntary celibacy “for the sake of the kingdom” (Matthew 19:12) and extends acceptance beyond ceremonial limits.
3. Acts and the early church The gospel reaches an Ethiopian court official (Acts 8:27-39). Though a eunuch, he is baptized into Christ without hindrance, showing the outworking of Isaiah’s promise.
4. Eschatological consummation In the New Jerusalem “nothing unclean will ever enter it” (Revelation 21:27). This ultimate purity is achieved not by excluding the physically impaired but by the cleansing blood of the Lamb, restoring creation to wholeness.

Pastoral and Ministry Applications

• Compassion without compromise Modern ministry upholds biblical sexual ethics while showing Christlike compassion to those suffering bodily injury or congenital conditions.
• Gospel hope for the broken Physical loss does not bar anyone from fellowship in Christ. The church proclaims a Savior who heals the whole person—spirit, soul, and, finally, body (Philippians 3:20-21).
• Guarding worship purity While Old-Covenant ceremonial restrictions are fulfilled in Christ, the underlying call to holiness remains (1 Peter 1:15-16). Worship leaders cultivate reverence, moral integrity, and doctrinal fidelity as expressions of the holy assembly.

Related Scriptures

Deuteronomy 23:1; Leviticus 21:17-23; Genesis 17:9-14; Isaiah 56:3-5; Matthew 19:12; Acts 8:27-39; Galatians 3:28; Revelation 21:27.

Summary

דַּכָּה underscores God’s demand for holiness, the covenant significance of bodily wholeness, and the anticipation of a redeemed humanity. Its solitary appearance in Deuteronomy sets a boundary that, in Christ, becomes a signpost to gracious inclusion and ultimate restoration.

Forms and Transliterations

דַּכָּ֛א דכא dak·kā dakKa dakkā

Englishman's Concordance

Deuteronomy 23:1
HEB: יָבֹ֧א פְצֽוּעַ־ דַּכָּ֛א וּכְר֥וּת שָׁפְכָ֖ה
NAS: one who is emasculated or has his male organ
INT: shall enter one wounded cut has his male

1 Occurrence

Strong's Hebrew 1795
1 Occurrence

dak·kā — 1 Occ.