שָׂרָף
sârâph · H8314 · Hebrew · 7 occurrences
Thing
- ViperSnakes and lizards14 verses
Meanings
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carpet viper
Reddish brown viper with a pale underside and a row of pale blotches arranged side-by-side in pairs all the way down its back; it grows to about 80 centimeters in length, and its head is smaller and its body thinner than most typical vipers; it is easily provoked and quite aggressive; it is active mainly in the daytime, as it can stand higher temperatures than many other snakes; it lives in desert and grassland areas and feeds on jerboas, mice, and mole rats; its venom is slow-acting but highly poisonous; Echis coloratus; unclean animal; associated with lurking danger
ExamplesNumbers 21:6 Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.
Numbers 21:8 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and put it on a flag pole; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, and looks at it, will live.”
Deuteronomy 8:15 He who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions, and its thirsty ground where there was no water; He who brought water for you out of the rock of flint.
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seraph
Heavenly creature with six wings; surrounding the throne of God and praising his holiness
ExamplesIsaiah 6:2 Seraphim were standing above Him, each having six wings: with two each covered his face, and with two each covered his feet, and with two each flew.
Isaiah 6:6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs.
How it’s used In 7 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Words describing itAdjectives, demonstratives, participles
2 occurrences in 1 groups
- עוּףto fly 2
Named alongside itApposition
2 occurrences in 1 groups
- נָחָשׁsnake 2
What it doesIt is the subject
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- עָמַדto stand 1
What is done to itIt is the object
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- עָשָׂהto do, to make 1
What it is said to bePredicate
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- הֶםthem 1
What is said to be itIt is the predicate
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- פְּרִיfruit, produce 1
After prepositionsPrepositional phrases
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- מִןfrom 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 4 words
- שְׁפִיפֹן shᵉphîyphôn · H8207 · viper
- Both words denote types of serpents or snakes, within the same range of snake terminology.
- נָחָשׁ nâchâsh · H5175 · snake, serpent
- Both lexemes denote types of serpents in Hebrew: נָחָשׁ (nâchâsh, H5175) is the general term for "serpent," while שָׂרָף (sârâph, H8314) denotes a specific kind, the "fiery serpent" (Numbers 21, Isaiah 14:29, 30:6). This is a same-language near-synonym relationship (genus-species synonymy) — both can refer to serpents, with שָׂרָף (sârâph, H8314) as a more specific variety.
- אֶפְעֶה ʼephʻeh · H660 · viper
- Both terms denote dangerous serpent types in Hebrew, אֶפְעֶה a venomous snake (viper) and שָׂרָף a burning/fiery serpent. These are near-synonyms within the snake/serpent semantic space.
- פֶּתֶן pethen · H6620 · asp, cobra
- Both words denote specific types of serpents attested in the Hebrew Bible. פֶּתֶן (pethen, H6620) is a poisonous snake, an adder, while שָׂרָף (sârâph, H8314) refers to fiery serpents, venomous snakes whose epithet likely denotes the burning sensation from the venom. They overlap in the category of venomous snake despite their different specific referents.
In the other Testament 1 word
- ὄφις óphis · G3789 · snake, reptile, evil person
- Greek ὄφις translates Hebrew שָׂרָף specifically in contexts where the fiery serpent is viewed as a serpentine creature (Numbers 21:6-9 and its echoes), narrowing from שָׂרָף's broader range covering both the seraphic beings of Isaiah 6 and the wilderness serpents to ὄφις's consistent animal-serpent denotation.
Semantic domains 2 entries
- Small Animals001001002003
- This noun denotes a fiery serpent, as in Numbers 21:6's account of the LORD sending fiery serpents among the people because of their complaining.
- Names of People003001007
- שָׂרָף (sârâph, H8314) is a common noun denoting a fiery serpent or, in Isaiah's temple vision, a celestial being ("seraph"). The quotation "seraphim were standing above Him" at Isaiah 6:2 shows this sense, which does not independently attest the "Names of People" domain; that classification is bundle-shared with שָׂרָף (Sârâph, H8315) in the source data and is not confirmed by this lexeme's own occurrences.
Word family 7 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H8314. saraph I. שָׂרָף noun masculineIsa 14:29 a serpent, usually venomous (possibly…
I. שָׂרָף noun masculineIsa 14:29 a serpent, usually venomous (possibly from above v, from burning effect of poison); — absolute ׳שׂ Num 21:8 (J E; on Arabic parallels see JacobArabic Dichter ii. 93, iv. 10 f.), apposition שׂ ׳נָחָשׁ Deu 8:15, plural הַשְּׂרָפִים הַנְּחָשִׁים Num 21:6; a flying serpent, or dragon, מְעוֺפֵף שָׂרָף Isa 14:29; Isa 30:6.
II. [שָׂרָף] noun masculineIsa 6:2 plural שְׂרָפִים seraphim (probably akin to I. ׳שׂ, as beings originally mythically conceived with serpents' bodies (serpent-deities, compare Isa 14:29; Isa 30:6), or (CheComm.) personified of lightning, compare arts. SERAPHIM, StrachanHast. DB CheEncy. Bib.; Di Marti and others compare also Egyptian guardian-griffins, called Šerref; see also כְּרוּב; on Assyrian Šarrapu (-bu), epithet of god Nergal, connected by DlWB with √ שָׂרַף, see שָׁרָב, ZimKAT 3. 415); — in OT. majestic beings with six wings, and human hands and voices, attendant upon ׳י Isa 6:2, Isa 6:6.
Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain
Topical studies with this word 2 entries
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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