All these words are translated as ‘gather’ but what do they all actually mean?
קו Strong’s# H6960
And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth
Gen 1:9-10, KJV; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
According to the ancient Hebrew Language, the definition of קו is quickly secured. Here the original writer saw fit to distinguish that the waters were ‘gathered’ quickly, versus gradually. These waters which were quickly secured in one place came to be known as seas.
אסף Strong’s# H662
Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.
Gen 25:8, KJV
אסף is actually energy protected at the edge. It is a word often translated as ‘add’. In context, its definition is to join. So, Abraham is being added to his dead relatives, which is slightly different than being gathered to them. It specifies a ‘plus one’ event – one person being added or joined to other people.
I also found that the phrase א+סף , which should be translated ‘I will(א) add(ספ)’ is sometimes mistranslated
It may not seem that important to us now, but consider if someone told you to add, rather than to multiply a math problem. The answer would be significantly different. The original authors of scripture thought these distinctions were worth mentioning. Reading the stories in their own words helps us to better understand, and even visualize, what’s happening in scripture.
רכש Strong’s# H7408
And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan
Gen 12:5 , KJV; and into the land ofCanaan they came.
רכש is literally, the head physically pressed. In this context, it is best defined as goods. Specifically, it is the first of one’s physical possessions. In context, it means that Abram took his people and all of their initial possessions (the first things they possessed).
קבץ Strong’s# H6908
(35)And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.
(48)And he gathered up all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same.
Gen 41:35, 48, KJV
קבץ is literally to quickly gather to cover the way. In other words, to hurry to a destination or to accomplish something. So, Joseph and the Egyptians rushed to transport and store food during plentiful years for the famine that was coming.