Word

נָפַח

nâphach · H5301 · Hebrew · 12 occurrences

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Meanings

to blow, to breathe

Causative action by which humans or deities cause air to flow from their nose or mouth upon an object

Examples
Genesis 2:7 Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living person.
Job 20:26 Complete darkness is held in reserve for his treasures, And unfanned fire will devour him; It will consume the survivor in his tent.
Isaiah 54:16 “Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows on the fire of coals And produces a weapon for its work; And I have created the destroyer to inflict ruin.
Literally: to blow (one's) self; hence: process by which humans breathe their last breath and pass away (to breathe (one's) last)

Examples
Jeremiah 15:9 “She who gave birth to seven sons withers away; Her breathing is labored. Her sun has set while it was still day; She has been shamed and humiliated. So I will turn over their survivors to the sword Before their enemies,” declares the LORD.
Literally: to cause to blow (someone's) life; hence: causative process by which humans cause other humans to breathe their last breath and pass away (to cause to breathe (one's) last)

Examples
Job 31:39 If I have eaten its fruit without money, Or have caused its owners to lose their lives,
to snort, to sniff

Exact meaning unknown; probably: action by which humans give expression to an emotion of contempt by releasing a little bit of air through the nose

Examples
Malachi 1:13 “You also say, ‘See, how tiresome it is!’ And you view it as trivial,” says the LORD of armies, “and you bring what was taken by robbery and what is lame or sick; so you bring the offering! Should I accept it from your hand?” says the LORD.
to steam

Process by which a container containing a boiling substance releases its steam

Examples
Job 41:20 “From his nostrils smoke goes out As from a boiling pot and burning reeds.
Jeremiah 1:13 And the word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.”

How it’s used In 4 roles

Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.

the word studied the word it goes with

Who or what does itSubject

10 occurrences in 6 groups

Not stated: I 3
Not stated: he, she or it 3
Not stated: you (more than one) 1
Not stated: you (one person) 1
Not stated (infinitive) 1
Not stated (participle) 1

What it acts on, or what is saidObject

6 occurrences in 5 groups

נֶפֶשׁsoul, life 2
נְשָׁמָהbreath 1
פֶּחָםcharcoal 1
אֵשׁfire 1
וֹhim 1

With prepositionsPrepositional phrases

6 occurrences in 7 groups

בin/on/with+ אֵשׁfire 2
עַלon, upon, over, against+ וֹhim 1
עַלon, upon, over, against+ כֶםyou 1
בin/on/with+ הָרַגto kill 1
בin/on/with+ אַףanger, nose 1
בin/on/with+ וֹhim 1

With adverbsAdverbs

1 occurrences in 1 groups

לֹאnot 1

When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.

MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.

Near synonyms 3 words

פּוּחַ pûwach · H6315 · to blow upon, to stir up (an area): Both words are action verbs meaning "to blow," with related senses of breath, puff, and speaking or uttering, two distinct Hebrew roots that overlap in the sense of blowing.
נָשַׁב nâshab · H5380 · to blow, to make to blow: Both terms are Hebrew verbs denoting the action of blowing or wind, two distinct words that can substitute for each other in the sense "blow." One has broader metaphorical extensions (life, despise, hot), while the other is more focused (blow, drive away), but both share the core blow-action sense.
נָשַׁף nâshaph · H5398 · to blow, to cause to blow: Both lexemes denote the physical action of blowing (air/breath), a genuine same-language near-synonym relationship. נָפַח (nâphach, H5301) has broader semantic extensions (metaphorical uses like "give up life," "seething"), but the core "blow" sense overlaps directly with נָשַׁף (nâshaph, H5398)'s simpler profile.

Semantic domains 4 entries

Blow002002001002: The word describes blowing or breathing forcefully, as the LORD breathes the breath of life into the man's nostrils (Genesis 2:7) and a smith blows on the coals of his fire (Isaiah 54:16), tying the word to the act of blowing air.
Dead002001001018: The word is also used of breathing out one's last, causing someone to lose their life (Job 31:39), tying the word to the cessation of life through the loss of breath.
Despise002001002005: The word can describe a contemptuous puff or snort of derision, a broader dismissive sense than the literal breath/blowing citations sampled here.
Hot002001001034: The word's use for fanning or blowing on fire ties it to the intensifying of heat, as fire unfanned will still consume in judgment (Job 20:26), tying the word to combustion and burning.

Word family 4 words

Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.

נָפַחnâphach · H5301תַּפּוּחַ tappûwach · H8598 · apple tree, apple · 6×מַפָּח mappâch · H4646 · breathing one's last · 1×מַפֻּחַ mappuach · H4647 · bellows · 1×

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H5301. naphach [נָפַח] verb breathe, blow (נפוח כור Ecclus 43:4 a furnace blown upon…

H5301. naphach
[נָפַח] verb breathe, blow (נפוח כור Ecclus 43:4 a furnace blown upon (heated hot); Late Hebrew נָפַח id., נְפַח ᵑ7, Syriac ; Assyrian napâ—u, inflame, nappa—u, smith DlHWB 474; Arabic ( and) blow; Ethiopic or Di712); —
Qal Perfect3feminine singular נָָֽפְחָה Jer 15:9; וְנָפַ֫חְתִּי Hag 1:9; וְנָפַחְתִּ֫י Eze 22:21; Imperfect וַיִּמַּח Gen 2:7; Imperative feminine singular מְּחִי Eze 37:9; Infinitive (לָ)פַ֫חַת Eze 22:20; Perfect active נֹפֵחַ Isa 54:16; passive נָפוּחַ Jer 1:13; Job 41:12; — breathe, blow, חַיִּים נִשְׁמַת בְּאַמּוֺ וַיִּמַּח Gen 2:7 (J); followed by ב also Eze 37:9; Isa 54:16 and Hag 1:9 blow into it (to scatter it); followed by עַלֿ: אֵשׁ עָלָיו לָפַחַת Eze 22:20 to blow fire upon it (ore, for melting), so figurative Eze 22:21 and I will blow upon you with (ב) the fire of my wrath; ׳נ נַפְשָׁהּ Jer 15:9 she hath breathed out her life (of a mother, compare
Hiph`il); absolute נָפוּחַ סִיר Jer 1:13 a blown (i.e. well-heated, boiling) pot, compare נ ׳דּוּד Job 41:12 (simile).
Pu`al Perfect נֻמָּ֑ח לֹא אֵשׁ Job 20:26 a fire not blown (by any human breath). So perhaps also Num 21:30 (reading וגו אֵשׁ ׳עַדנֻֿמַּח until fire was blown [hot] as far as Medeba), compare Di.
Hiph`il Perfect1singular חִמָּ֑חְתִּי בְּעָלֶיהָ נֶפֶשׁ Job 31:39 (or if) the life of its (the land's) owners I have caused them to breathe out; אוֺתוֺ וְהִמַּחְתֶּם Mal 1:13 and ye have sniffed at it (in contempt).

Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain

Topical studies with this word 4 entries

Dead2 occurrences Hot2 occurrences Despise1 occurrence Blow7 occurrences

Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.

Sources

eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0