I. Name
The term Qeṭeb appears four times in the OT. Its basic significance is ‘destruction’, (perhaps etymologically ‘that which is cut off’) though the contexts suggest that other nuances are present. Various scholars have translated it as ‘plague’ or ‘pestilence’ in the context of its parallel use with rešep, deber. The term has overtones of a divine name.
II. Identity
qẓb occurs once in Ugaritic (KTU 1.5 ii:24) and may be a kinsman of Mot (J. C. de Moor, ‘O Death, Where is Thy Sting’, Ascribe to the L…