חֹפֵף XOPEP Deut. 33:12
Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2017 8:48 pm
We read there
לְבִנְיָמִן אָמַר יְדִיד יהוה יִשְׁכֹּן לָבֶטַח עָלָיו חֹפֵף עָלָיו כָּל הַיּוֹם וּבֵין כְּתֵפָיו שָׁכֵן
KJV: "And of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him; and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders"
with חֹפֵף XOPEP, of the root XPP, a bone fide member of the Hebrew root family
גבב, הבהב, חבב, כבב, קבב
גפף, חפף, כפף
Thus, חפף is a variant of כפף, 'bend over, lean over, hover', as in Ps. 146:8
יהוה פֹּקֵחַ עִוְרִים יהוה זֹקֵף כְּפוּפִים
NIV: "the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down"
כפף is also related to כפה, 'compel, suppress' (related in turns to כבה, 'extinguish, smother') as in Prov. 21:14
מַתָּן בַּסֵּתֶר יִכְפֶּה אָף וְשֹׁחַד בַּחֵק חֵמָה עַזָּה
KJV: "A gift in secret pacifieth anger: and a reward in the bosom strong wrath"
Today חפיפה XAPIYPAH is 'congruence, overlapping, shampooing the hair'.
We recall here also the derived post biblical גפף, 'hug, cuddle'.
Isaac Fried, Boston University
לְבִנְיָמִן אָמַר יְדִיד יהוה יִשְׁכֹּן לָבֶטַח עָלָיו חֹפֵף עָלָיו כָּל הַיּוֹם וּבֵין כְּתֵפָיו שָׁכֵן
KJV: "And of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him; and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders"
with חֹפֵף XOPEP, of the root XPP, a bone fide member of the Hebrew root family
גבב, הבהב, חבב, כבב, קבב
גפף, חפף, כפף
Thus, חפף is a variant of כפף, 'bend over, lean over, hover', as in Ps. 146:8
יהוה פֹּקֵחַ עִוְרִים יהוה זֹקֵף כְּפוּפִים
NIV: "the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down"
כפף is also related to כפה, 'compel, suppress' (related in turns to כבה, 'extinguish, smother') as in Prov. 21:14
מַתָּן בַּסֵּתֶר יִכְפֶּה אָף וְשֹׁחַד בַּחֵק חֵמָה עַזָּה
KJV: "A gift in secret pacifieth anger: and a reward in the bosom strong wrath"
Today חפיפה XAPIYPAH is 'congruence, overlapping, shampooing the hair'.
We recall here also the derived post biblical גפף, 'hug, cuddle'.
Isaac Fried, Boston University