Cleave

Cleave - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

CLEAVE, v.i.

1. To stick; to adhere; to hold to.

My bones cleave to my skin. Psa 102.

Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth. Psa 137.

Cleave to that which is good. Rom 12.

2. To unite aptly; to fit; to sit well on.

3. To unite or be united closely in interest or affection; to adhere with strong attachment.

A man shall leave father and mother, and cleave to his wife. Gen 2. Math. 19.

Cleave to Jehovah your God. Josh 23.

CLEAVE, v.t.

1. To part or divide by force; to split or rive; to open or serve the cohering parts of a body, by cutting or by the application of force; as, to cleave wood; to cleave a rock; to cleave the flood. Psa 74.

2. To part or open naturally.

Every beast that cleaveth the cleft into two claws. Deu 14.

CLEAVE, v.i. To part; to open; to crack; to separate, as parts of cohering bodies; as, the ground cleaves by frost.

The mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof. Zec 14.

klev: Is used in the Bible in two different senses:

(1) baqa` "to split," or "to rend." We are told that Abraham "clave the wood for the burnt-offering" (Ge 22:3), and that "they clave the wood of the cart" (1Sa 6:14). The Psalmist speaks of Yahweh cleaving fountain and flood (Ps 74:15), and the plowman cleaving the earth (Ps 141:7). For other examples see Jud 15:19; Ec 10:9; Ps 78:15; Hab 3:9.

(2) dabhaq; kollao, "to adhere to," or "to join one's self to." This meaning is the reverse of the preceding. The Psalmist speaks of his tongue cleaving to the roof of his mouth (Ps 137:6). We are told that a man should cleave unto his wife (Ge 2:24; Mt 19:5). It is said that Ru clave unto her mother-in-law (Ru 1:14), and that certain men clave unto Paul (Ac 17:34; compare Ac 4:23; 11:23 margin).

"Cleave" is also used in this sense to describe one's adherence to principles. Paul admonished the Romans to cleave to that which is good (Ro 12:9).

A. W. Fortune