קהי, קָהָה, קָהָא (b. h.; cmp. כָּהָה) 1) to be dull, blunt; (of a sword) to slide off a hard object. Y. Ber. IX, 13ᵃ וקָהַת החרב מעל וכ׳ and the sword slid off Moses’ neck and broke; Deut. R. s. 2; Yalk. Ex. 167 וקהית (corr. acc.). Gen. R. s. 78; Cant. R. to VII, 5 וקָהוּ שיניו וכ׳ and the teeth of the wicked (Esau) became blunt and loose. —2) to be tough, unyielding, hard. Num. R. s. 3 (ref. to Koh. X, 10) אם ראית שקהו השמים וכ׳, v. preced.—Trnsf. to be difficult, unsolvable. Cant. R. to III, 7 שהיו כולן שונין … הלכה קוֹהָא להם they all sharpened the discussion like a sword, so that, when a case came before them, the decision might not be too difficult for them. Ib. to IV, 4 שאין הלכה קוהא להם never was there a subject too difficult for them to decide; a. e. —3) to be wearied; to faint; esp. to have a morbid appetite (caused by the smell of a dish). Ib. to I, 12 the Lord sent them a sweet scent from Eden והיתה נפשם קוהא לאכול and they were dying to eat (of the Passover sacrifice), v. עָיֵף; a. e.
Hif. - הִקְהָה (with שן) to make blunt and loose; trnsf. to refute; to break the power of; to grieve. Mekh. Bo, s. 18 אף אתה הַקְהֵה את שיניו thou, too, make his teeth blunt (refute his arguments). Gen. R. s. 99 (play on יקהת, Gen. XLIX, 10) מי שמַקְהֶה שני וכ׳ he (the Messiah) that shall break the power of all nations; ib. s. 98. Sot. 49ᵃ [read:] אומרים … למה הִקְהִיתָ וכ׳ (v. Rashi) they (the children of the wicked that died in their parents’ lifetime) argue before him, … if thou intendedst to punish them in the hereafter, why didst thou cause them grief while living? Ib. שמחת … והקהית השיני thou hast gladdened my heart (with the evidence of thy purity) and given me pain (by showing more affection for thy son than for myself). Snh. 109ᵇ (play on בן קהת, Num. XVI, 1) בן שה׳ וכ׳ a son that brought grief over his parents; a. e.