רָחַף
râchaph · H7363 · Hebrew · 3 occurrences
Meanings
-
to tremble
Process by which (part of) the body of humans shakes or trembles violently and involuntarily, caused by grief
ExamplesJeremiah 23:9 As for the prophets: My heart is broken within me, All my bones tremble; I have become like a drunken man, And like a man overcome by wine, Because of the LORD And because of His holy words.
-
to hover
Exact meaning unsure; possibly: state in which birds and supernatural beings stay unmoving in the air
ExamplesGenesis 1:2 And the earth was a formless and desolate emptiness, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
Deuteronomy 32:11 “As an eagle stirs up its nest, And hovers over its young, He spread His wings, He caught them, He carried them on His pinions.
How it’s used In 2 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
3 occurrences in 3 groups
- עֶצֶםbone 1
- רוּחַspirit, wind 1
- Not stated: he, she or it 1
With prepositionsPrepositional phrases
2 occurrences in 2 groups
- עַלon, upon, over, against+ גּוֹזָלyoung bird 1
- עַלon, upon, over, against+ פָּנִיםface, presence, before 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 2 words
- נוּעַ nûwaʻ · H5128 · to move, to sway, to shake
- נוּעַ describes similar unstable, back-and-forth motion. Both verbs denote movement that is not fixed or steady, though נוּעַ more often implies wavering or tottering while רָחַף suggests hovering or fluttering motion.
- רָעַשׁ râʻash · H7493 · to tremble, to quake, to shake
- רָעַשׁ denotes shaking or trembling motion similar to רָחַף's sense of vibrating or rapid movement, though רָעַשׁ typically implies more violent shaking.
Contrasting words 2 words
- שָׁקַט shâqaṭ · H8252 · to be quiet, to be still
- שָׁקַט denotes being still, quiet, and at rest—the opposite of the fluttering, moving, shaking motion expressed by רָחַף.
- דָּמַם dâmam · H1826 · to stand still, to be still, to wait
- דָּמַם expresses cessation of movement and complete stillness, the direct opposite of רָחַף's sense of continuous fluttering or hovering motion.
Semantic domains 1 entry
- Unsteady002001001067
- The word means to hover or flutter, directly illustrated by "the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters" (Genesis 1:2), an eagle who "hovers over its young" (Deuteronomy 32:11), and the prophet's own trembling, "all my bones tremble" (Jeremiah 23:9).
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H7363. rachaph I. [רָחַף] verb grow soft, relax (compare Arabic be soft); — Qal…
I. [רָחַף] verb grow soft, relax (compare Arabic be soft); —
Qal Perfect3plural רָֽחֲפוּ Jer 23:9 (bones of one appalled).
II. רָחַף verb Pi`el hover (Late Hebrew id., compare GrünbaumZMG xxxix (1885), 607; Syriac Pa`el move Gently, also cherish, and brood, compare Thess. see; connection with I. ׳ר dubious); —
Pi`el Imperfect3masculine singular עַל יְרַחֵף Deu 32:11 (poem) of vulture hovering over young; Participle א ׳רוּחַ הַמָּ֑יִם עַלמְּֿנֵי מְרַחֶפֶת Gen 1:2 (P); hovering over face of waters, or perhaps (see Syriac) brooding (and fertilizing), so JerQuaest. in Gen. ed. Lag. 4 (reading 'marahaefeth), compare Di Gunk.
Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain
Topical studies with this word 1 entry
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
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