First occurrence
And YHVH said to Moses: Write this for a memorial in the book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. Exo 17:14
The primitive root
Strong’s H3789 כתב kathab, a primitive root meaning, “to write, to record.” The ancient pictographs are kaph + tav + bet.
kaph כ, ך = the open palm, thus bend, open, allow, tame
tav ת = crossed sticks, thus mark, sign, signal, monument
bet ב = the house, thus house, household, family, in, within
To cover (kaph, in the sense of the father covering the head of his firstborn with his open palm when conferring the blessing) with marks (tav) within (bet); i.e. to inscribe, as permanent records in the ancient world were made by engraving the letters into a solid surface such as stone.
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