Word

שָׂפָה

sâphâh · H8193 · Hebrew · 176 occurrences

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Meanings

lip

Either of the two fleshy ridges forming the opening of the mouth, playing an important role in the speech and communication processes; sometimes used metonymically to denote the entire mouth or the activities performed with the lips, such as speech and language

Examples
1 Samuel 1:13 As for Hannah, she was speaking in her heart, only her lips were quivering, but her voice was not heard. So Eli thought that she was drunk.
Proverbs 24:26 One who gives a right answer Kisses the lips.
Song of Solomon 4:3 “Your lips are like a scarlet thread, And your mouth is beautiful. Your temples are like a slice of a pomegranate Behind your veil.
mouth

Literally: lips, used metonymically to denote the entire mouth; hence: the opening in the lower part of the face of animals where one places the bit in order to control them

Examples
2 Kings 19:28 ‘Because of your raging against Me, And because your complacency has come up to My ears, I will put My hook in your nose, And My bridle in your lips, And I will turn you back by the way by which you came.
Isaiah 37:29 “Because of your raging against Me And because your complacency has come up to My ears, I will put My hook in your nose And My bridle in your lips, And I will turn you back by the way that you came.
Exact meaning unknown; literally: to open with the lip; hence: action by which humans are curling their lips, as a mocking gesture (to curl (one's) lips (to mock))

Examples
Psalm 22:7 All who see me deride me; They sneer, they shake their heads, saying,
to purse one's lips

Causative action by which humans press their lips together, which is associated with evil intent

Examples
Proverbs 16:30 He who winks his eyes does so to devise perverse things; He who compresses his lips brings evil to pass.
speech, words, talk, utterance

Lips, as a metonym for the speech that the lips help to form; hence: words that people speak

Examples
Exodus 6:12 But Moses spoke before the LORD, saying, “Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; how then will Pharaoh listen to me, as I am unskilled in speech?”
Exodus 6:30 But Moses said before the LORD, “Behold, I am unskilled in speech; how then will Pharaoh listen to me?”
Leviticus 5:4 ‘Or if a person swears thoughtlessly with his lips to do evil or to do good, in whatever matter people speak thoughtlessly with an oath, and it is hidden from him, and then he comes to know it, he will be guilty of one of these things.
language

Literally: lip; hence: a system of verbal (an sometimes written) communication used by a community, ethnic group, or nation

Examples
Genesis 11:1 Now all the earth used the same language and the same words.
Genesis 11:6 And the LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they have started to do, and now nothing which they plan to do will be impossible for them.
Genesis 11:7 “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”
edge, shore, rim, bank, outskirts

Literally: lip; hence: the upper of outer edge of an object or area

Examples
Genesis 22:17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand, which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.
Genesis 41:3 Then behold, seven other cows came up after them from the Nile, ugly and thin, and they stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile.
Genesis 41:17 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream, there I was, standing on the bank of the Nile;

How it’s used In 9 roles

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

the word studied the word it goes with

Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive

146 occurrences in 36 groups

הוּhis 32
יmy 20
ךָyour 14
יָםsea 8
יְרִיעָהcurtain, tent curtain 8
נַחַלstream, valley, wadi 7
Other words · 26 groups that occur once or twice (34) 34

Words describing itAdjectives, demonstratives, participles

6 occurrences in 4 groups

אֶחָדone 2
עֵבֶרbeyond, side, across 2
בָּרַרto test 1
דָּלַקto set on fire, to pursue hotly 1

Named alongside itApposition

1 occurrences in 1 groups

דָבַרto speak, to say 1

What it doesIt is the subject

25 occurrences in 20 groups

דָבַרto speak, to say 4
Other words · 19 groups that occur once or twice (21) 21

What is done to itIt is the object

20 occurrences in 16 groups

פָּתַחto open 3
Other words · 15 groups that occur once or twice (17) 17

What it is said to bePredicate

16 occurrences in 15 groups

Other words · 15 groups that occur once or twice (16) 16

What is said to be itIt is the predicate

5 occurrences in 5 groups

חֵמָהwrath, fury 1
חֶרֶבsword 1
כָּסָהto cover 1
עֵץtree, wood 1
קֶסֶםdivination 1

After prepositionsPrepositional phrases

65 occurrences in 7 groups

עַלon, upon, over, against 58
בin/on/with 30
מִןfrom 4
אֵלto, toward 3
עַדto, as far as, until 3
לto/for 3

In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive

35 occurrences in 25 groups

דָּבָרword, thing, matter 5
מוֹצָאgoing out 4
Other words · 23 groups that occur once or twice (26) 26

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.

In the other Testament 1 word

χεῖλος cheîlos · G5491 · shore, speech, to speak: Greek χεῖλος serves as the standard LXX rendering of Hebrew שָׂפָה across its core senses: literal 'lip/edge/shore' (anatomical lip, water's edge, vessel rim) and metonymic 'language/speech' (the lip as instrument of speaking).

Semantic domains 3 entries

People001001003: This domain reflects this noun's sense of the lip as a bodily part, elsewhere in its very broad occurrences rather than being illustrated by the citations sampled here.
Stance002001001061: This domain reflects this noun's sense of an edge, brink, or border as a bounding position, elsewhere in its occurrences rather than being illustrated by the citations sampled here.
Speak002004001009008: The noun also denotes a shared language or speech, as in Genesis 11:1's statement that all the earth used the same language and the same words before Babel.

Word family 2 words

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

שָׂפָהsâphâh · H8193שָׂפָם sâphâm · H8222 · mustache · 5×

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H8193. saphah שָׂפָה176 noun feminine [masculine Exo 28:32, edge, compare AlbrZAW xvi…

H8193. saphah
שָׂפָה176 noun feminine [masculine Exo 28:32, edge, compare AlbrZAW xvi (1896), 76], lip, speech, edge; — absolute ׳שׂ Gen 11:1 +, construct שְׂפַת Gen 11:7 +; suffix שְׂפָתוֺ 1Ki 7:23 +, etc.; oftener dual שְׂפָתַיִם Isa 6:5 +, construct שִׂפְתֵי Psa 12:4 +; suffix שְׂפָתַי Jer 17:16 +, suffix 3 masculine plural שְׂפָתֵימוֺ Psa 59:13; Psa 140:4; Psa 140:10, etc.; plural (in poetry and late) construct שִׂפְתוֺת Ecc 10:12, suffix שִׂפְתוֺתֶיךָ etc. Psa 45:3; Psa 59:8; Isa 59:3; Son 4:3, Son 4:11; Son 5:13; —
1 lip:
a. usually (c. 108 t.) human organ of speech (often || לָשׁוֺן מֶּה, rarely [only late poetry] חֵךְ: 10 t. Job; 25t. Psalms; 45t. Proverbs): (1) Isa 29:13; Lev 5:4 (P), Job 13:6; Mal 2:6; Psa 12:5; Pro 5:3 +; שׂ ׳דַּל Psa 141:3 (see דָּל); שׂ ׳אִישׁ Job 11:2 = a talker, שׂ ׳אֱוִיל Pro 10:8 +? Pro 10:10 (ᵑ0; but see Toy); שְׂפָתַיִם טְמֵא Isa 6:5 (twice in verse) compare Isa 6:7; Dan 10:16; שׂ ׳עֲרַל Exo 6:12, Exo 6:30 (P; unskilled in speech); שׂ ׳עִקֵּשׁ Exo 19:1; שׂ ׳מֹּתֶה Exo 20:19 see [ מָּתָה] p. 834; שׂ ׳מוֺצָא i.e. utterance, Deu 23:24; Jer 17:16; Num 30:13 (P), Psa 89:35, שׂ ׳רוּחַ Isa 11:4 (of Messianic king), שׂ ׳דְּבַר Psa 59:13; Pro 14:23 +, = mere, empty, word 2Ki 18:20 = Isa 36:5; שׂ ׳תְּבוּאַת Pro 18:20, שׂ ׳נוב Isa 57:19 (thanksgiving), compare Hos 14:3 (ᵑ6 ᵐ5 and most מְּדִי for מָּרִים); of flattery, שׂ ׳חֵלֶק Pro 7:21, חֲלָקוֺת שְׂפַת Psa 12:3; Psa 12:4; compare מִרְמָה שִׂפְתֵי Psa 17:1, ׳שׂ שֶׁקֶר Psa 31:9 Psa 31:4t., אָוֶן שְׂפַת Pro 17:4; poison beneath (compare לָשׁוֺן) Psa 140:4 (figurative); שׂ ׳מֶּשַׁע Pro 12:13; שׂ ׳לְזוּת Pro 4:24; ׳שׂ אֱמֶת Pro 12:19, ׳שׂ יָ֑תֶר Pro 17:7, ׳שׂ צֶדֶק Pro 16:13, ׳שׂ דַּעַת Pro 14:7; Pro 20:15; שׂ ׳חֵן Pro 22:11; בְרוּרָה שָׂפָה Zep 3:9; ׳שׂ רְנָנוֺת Psa 63:5 i.e. lips that shout for joy; with verbs: שׂ ׳מָּתַח (to speak) Job 11:5; Job 30:20 (Gi Job 30:21), compare Psa 51:17, שׂ ׳מִפְתַּח Pro 8:6; שׂ ׳מָּשַׁק Pro 13:3 i.e. prate; ׳שׂ זַעַם מָֽלְאוּ Isa 30:27; ׳שׂ subject of דִּבֶּר Isa 59:3; Pro 24:2; עַלשֿׂ ׳נָשָׂא Psalm 16:14; שׂ ׳קָרַץ Pro 16:30 = backbite; שׂ ׳אָטַם Pro 17:28 +?שׂ ׳חָשַׂךְ Pro 10:19, ׳שׂ כָּלָא Psa 40:10. (2) lips moving in speech, with נוּעַ 1Sa 1:13, נִיד Job 16:5. (3) transition to meaning speech, לָשׁוֺן עַלשְֿׂפַת עָלָה Eze 36:3; = ability to speak Job 12:20.
b. organ of laughter Job 8:21.
c. of insulting grimace בְּשׂ ׳הִפְטִיר Psa 22:8.
d. quivering in terror Hab 3:16.
e. feature of beauty Son 4:3 (scarlet).
f. place of bridle 2Ki 19:28 = Isa 37:29 (see מֶתֶג).
g. receiving kiss Pro 24:26 compare Son 4:11 and (in figurative) Son 7:10.
h. of divine speech, שׂ ׳מִצְוַת Job 23:12, שׂ ׳דְּבַר Psa 17:4.
2 language (see לָשׁוֺן), Gen 11:1, Gen 11:6, Gen 11:7 (twice in verse); Gen 11:9; Psa 81:6; שׂ עִמְקֵי ׳עַם Eze 3:5-6, Isa 33:19, שׂ ׳לַעֲגֵי Isa 28:11; כְּנַעַן שְׂפַת Isa 19:18 (i.e. Hebrew).
3 edge: shore of sea Gen 22:17 (J) + 7 t.; bank of river Gen 41:3, Gen 41:17 (E) + 5 t., of wady (נַחַל) Deu 2:36 Deu 2:7t.; lip (bank) of מְחוֺלָה אָבֵל Jdg 7:22 compare GASmG 400; brim of vessel 1Ki 7:23 (twice in verse) + 7 t.; edge of altar Eze 43:13; of curtains (in pairs) Exo 26:4 (twice in verse) (P) + 6 t.; of חשֶׁן, toward ephod Exo 28:26 = Exo 39:19 (P); of round opening in robe ׳שׂ לְפִיו (יִהְיֶה) Exo 28:32 = Exo 39:23 (P).

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

Topical studies with this word 3 entries

People10 occurrences Stance2 occurrences Speak117 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