חָרַשׁ
chârash · khaw-rash' · verb · “to be silent, be still”
Charash means to be silent, to be still — sometimes a guilty silence, sometimes the holy quiet of those who wait for God. “Be still, and know that I am God” calls this verb to mind.
Charash can mean to plow (work the field), to engrave (work on stone), and to be silent. The shared idea is quiet, focused work — or the stillness of attentive waiting.
Psalm 46:10’s call to “be still” is a closely related Hebrew word; charash gives the same kind of contemplative quiet. The Old Testament repeatedly invites God’s people into a silence that listens.
Definition: to scratch, i.e. (by implication) to engrave, plough; hence (from the use of tools) to fabricate (of any material); figuratively, to devise (in a bad sense); hence (from the idea of secrecy) to be silent, to let alone; hence (by implication) to be deaf (as an accompaniment of dumbness)
KJV usage: [idiom] altogether, cease, conceal, be deaf, devise, ear, graven, imagine, leave off speaking, hold peace, plow(-er, man), be quiet, rest, practise secretly, keep silence, be silent, speak not a word, be still, hold tongue, worker.
Reference gloss from Strong's Concordance (1890, public domain).
Original BibleDawn word study. Original-language data and the public-domain Strong's (1890) gloss are referenced; see sources.