English · KJV
H5595

סָפָה

çâphâh /saw-faw'/ Ask about this word
Roota primitive root
Meaningproperly, to scrape (literally, to shave; but usually figuratively) together (i.e. to accumulate or increase) or away (i.e. to scatter, remove, or ruin; intransitively, to perish)
KJV usageadd, augment, consume, destroy, heap, join, perish, put.

Word Study

In depth

A plain-language study of çâphâh — the range of meaning it carries, how Scripture actually uses it, and where it points. Written for readers who don’t know the original language.

Core Meaning & Semantic Range

The Hebrew word çâphâh, represented by H5595, is a primitive root with a dualistic meaning. It appears 20 times in 20 unique verses. The word's core idea is to scrape, which can be understood figuratively as scraping together to accumulate and increase, or scraping away to scatter, remove, or destroy. This results in it being translated as add, augment, consume, destroy, heap, join, and perish.

Biblical Occurrences & Contextual Analysis

In biblical usage, H5595 captures both the act of accumulation and the act of eradication. It is used to describe the compounding of wrongdoing, as in the warning to "add sin to sin" Isaiah 30:1 or "to add drunkenness to thirst" Deuteronomy 29:19. Conversely, it frequently signifies total destruction or consumption as a form of judgment or consequence. In the account of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham asks God, "Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?" Genesis 18:23, and Lot is warned to escape "lest thou be consumed" Genesis 19:17. It also describes a personal fear of death, as when David says in his heart, "I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul" 1 Samuel 27:1.

Related Words & Concepts

Several related words further explore the theme of destruction and finality:

  • H3615 kâlâh: A primitive root meaning to end, be finished, perish, or consume. It is used to describe how God's compassions "fail not" Lamentations 3:22.
  • H4191 mûwth: This primitive root means to die or, causatively, to kill. It carries the weight of ultimate finality, as established in the Garden of Eden with the command, "in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" Genesis 2:17.
  • H7843 shâchath: Meaning to decay or ruin, this word often denotes corruption or destruction. It is used when God declares his intent to bring a flood "to destroy all flesh" from the earth Genesis 6:17.

Theological Significance

The theological weight of H5595 is significant, often illustrating the direct link between actions and their consequences.

  • The Accumulation of Guilt: The word is used to show how negative actions build upon each other. This is seen when rebellious counsel is said to "add sin to sin" Isaiah 30:1 or when a new generation is warned against augmenting the "fierce anger of the LORD" Numbers 32:14.
  • Divine Judgment: A primary use of H5595 is to describe destruction as a result of wickedness. The warning for Israel is that if they "do wickedly, ye shall be consumed" 1 Samuel 12:25. Similarly, the land mourns and beasts "are consumed" because of the wickedness of the inhabitants Jeremiah 12:4.
  • Peril and Ruin: The word encapsulates the state of being at risk of utter ruin. This applies to individuals, like the poor man who "is destroyed for want of judgment" Proverbs 13:23, and to communities, as when people are warned to separate from the wicked "lest ye be consumed in all their sins" Numbers 16:26.

Summary

In summary, H5595 is a powerful word that conveys a dynamic of cause and effect. It demonstrates how things can be scraped together—whether it be sins or years—or scraped away entirely. From the act of heaping mischiefs Deuteronomy 32:23 to the threat of being utterly consumed Genesis 19:15, çâphâh illustrates a core biblical principle: that accumulation can lead directly to destruction, and that actions, whether individual or collective, carry the potential for ruin.

How the KJV Renders It

Translation

Strong’s lists the renderings but not their weight. These are counted from the King James text of the tagged verses — the bar under each is how often the translators actually reached for it. Select one to filter the occurrences below.

Grammatical Forms

Morphology

In the Hebrew Old Testament, this word appears as a verb across 21 occurrences, inflected in 12 grammatical forms — each row is one form, and the bar is how often it is that form. Select any form to read what each part of its name means, and to filter the occurrence list to it.

  • סְפוֹת
  • נִסְפֶּה
  • תִּסָּפוּ
  • תִּסָּפֶה
  • סְפוּ
  • תִּסְפֶּה
  • אַסְפֶּה
  • נִסְפָּה
  • אֶסָּפֶה
  • סָפוּ
  • תִּסְפֶּה
  • סָפְתָה

Related Words

Related

Other entries the study above points to — each one is drawn from a reference it makes. Follow the trail to see how the words connect.

H3615 כָּלָה a primitive root; to end, whether intransitive (to cease, be finished, perish) or transitived (to complete, prepare, con H4191 מוּת a primitive root; to die (literally or figuratively); causatively, to kill; [idiom] at all, [idiom] crying, (be) dead (b H7843 שָׁחַת a primitive root; to decay, i.e. (causatively) ruin (literally or figuratively); batter, cast off, corrupt(-er, thing),

Theographic Context

Context

The people, places, and span of history the verses containing this word touch on — drawn from the theographic tagging of Scripture. Select any name to isolate its verses in the occurrence list.

Biblical Distribution

Distribution

Appears in 20 verses across 9 of the 39 books. Most frequent in Genesis and Isaiah (4 verses each); never once in the other 30.

4
Genesis
2
Numbers
2
Deuteronomy
3
1 Samuel
1
1 Chronicles
1
Psalms
1
Proverbs
4
Isaiah
2
Jeremiah

Every Occurrence

Concordance

Every verse where the word is tagged in the King James text. Filter by book, by the English word the translators chose, by grammatical form, or search within the verses.

Sources. Definition and numbering: James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890). Morphology: STEPBible / Tyndale House (CC BY). Verse tagging: the King James text keyed to Strong’s numbers. Every count on this page is computed from the tagged corpus, not estimated.