3799. katham

Lexical Summary

katham: To seal, to mark, to inscribe

Original Word: כְּתַם
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: katham
Pronunciation: kah-tham'
Phonetic Spelling: (kaw-tham')
KJV: mark
NASB: stain
Word Origin: [a primitive root]

1. (properly) to carve or engrave
2. (by implication) to inscribe indelibly

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

mark

A primitive root; properly, to carve or engrave, i.e. (by implication) to inscribe indelibly -- mark.

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
a prim. root
Definition
to be stained
NASB Translation
stain (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs

[כָּתַם] verb only

Niph`al be stained (Late Hebrew Niph`al id. (Jastr); כֶּתֶם blood-stain; ᵑ7 כְּתִים (blood-)stained Isaiah 1:18; כִּיתְמָא blood-stain Jeremiah 2:22; Syriac stain, defile, Participle, also Pa`el, Ethpa`al, and derive.; Arabic is cover, conceal, so Assyrian katâmu; Zinjirli כתם (?) DHM^{Sendsch. P. 37}); —

Niph`al Participle, figurative, נִכְתָּם עֲוֺנֵךְ לְפָנַי Jeremiah 2:22 stained is thine iniquity before me (compare English phrase iniquity of deepest dye).

II. כתם (√ of following; meaning unknown).

Topical Lexicon

Term Overview

Hebrew כְּתַם (ketem) denotes a deeply ingrained stain or spot. In prophetic usage it pictures moral defilement that resists ordinary cleansing. Jeremiah chooses the word to expose Judah’s indelible guilt.

Old Testament Usage

• Only occurrence: “Although you wash with lye and use much soap, the stain of your iniquity is still before Me, declares the Lord GOD.” (Jeremiah 2:22)
• The prophet contrasts vigorous outward washing with an inner pollution that remains visible to God. The imagery intensifies the previous charges of forsaking the fountain of living waters (Jeremiah 2:13) and trusting false gods (Jeremiah 2:26–28).

Historical and Cultural Background

• “Lye” (borit) derived from plant ashes; “soap” (nether) was an alkaline salt gathered around the Dead Sea. Both were strong cleansing agents in the ancient Near East.
• Fullers used similar substances to scour cloth (Malachi 3:2). Jeremiah’s audience knew that stubborn stains sometimes survived even these harsh treatments; the metaphor therefore carried immediate force.
• In covenant language, physical stain regularly stands for ritual or moral uncleanness (Leviticus 13:59; Numbers 19:13). Jeremiah applies this imagery to national apostasy.

Theological Significance

1. Total Inability: Human effort cannot erase sin. As Job confessed, “If I wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye, yet You would plunge me into the pit” (Job 9:30–31).
2. Divine Omniscience: The stain is “before Me.” No cosmetic righteousness deceives the Holy One (Psalm 139:1–4).
3. Necessity of Divine Cleansing: Only God provides the remedy—ultimately through the atoning blood foreshadowed in the sacrificial system (Leviticus 17:11) and fulfilled in the Lamb of God (John 1:29).

Intertextual Connections

• Isaiah 1:18: “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.”
• Psalm 51:7: “Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean.”
• Zechariah 3:1–4: Joshua’s filthy garments replaced with festal robes, prefiguring imputed righteousness.
• Revelation 7:14: Robes “made white in the blood of the Lamb.”

Related New Testament Themes

• Justification: “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)
• Sanctification: Believers are exhorted to “cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit” (2 Corinthians 7:1), relying on the Spirit’s power rather than self-reformation.
• Evangelism: Proclaiming the gospel confronts sinners with an unremovable stain and the only Savior who can remove it (Acts 4:12).

Application for Ministry

• Preaching: Jeremiah 2:22 exposes superficial religiosity; sermons may contrast external morality with heart renewal (Ezekiel 36:25–27).
• Counseling: Pastors can assure repentant believers that no stain is too deep for Christ’s blood (Hebrews 9:14).
• Worship: Songs of confession and praise keep the congregation mindful of both human sinfulness and divine mercy (Psalm 130).
• Discipleship: Teach new believers to pursue holiness not through self-effort but through abiding in Christ (John 15:4–5).

Homiletical Insights

Illustration: A garment irreparably marked by dye parallels the sinner’s heart until God creates “a clean heart” (Psalm 51:10).

Outline:

1. The Futility of Self-Cleansing (Jeremiah 2:22)
2. The Faithfulness of Divine Confrontation (Jeremiah 2:29–30)
3. The Fullness of God’s Provision (Hebrews 10:22)

Summary

Ketem underscores the seriousness of sin and the insufficiency of human remedies. Jeremiah’s single usage reverberates through Scripture, driving readers to the only cleansing fountain—“the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:19).

Forms and Transliterations

נִכְתָּ֤ם נכתם nichTam niḵ·tām niḵtām

Englishman's Concordance

Jeremiah 2:22
HEB: לָ֖ךְ בֹּרִ֑ית נִכְתָּ֤ם עֲוֹנֵךְ֙ לְפָנַ֔י
NAS: soap, The stain of your iniquity
KJV: [yet] thine iniquity is marked before
INT: and use soap the stain of your iniquity is before

1 Occurrence

Strong's Hebrew 3799
1 Occurrence

niḵ·tām — 1 Occ.