Hebrew word · H1765

דָּחַף

nidchaf

to hasten

To hurry, to be pressed or driven on. Only four occurrences, all describing urgent movement under pressure.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to drive on, hurry, hasten

1a) (Qal) to hasten

1b) (Niphal) to hasten oneself, hurry

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Esther 3:15

Range of meaning

To hurry, to be pressed or driven on. Only four occurrences, all describing urgent movement under pressure.

Against the English

KJV/YLT 'hastened' keeps the passive (others hurried them); BSB 'spurred on' does too, vividly. WEB 'in haste' makes it sound like the couriers' own choice.

Used elsewhere in the period

Esther 6:12: Haman 'hurried' home in grief after being humiliated. Esther 8:14: the couriers go out 'hurried and pressed' with Mordecai's counter-decree. 2 Chronicles 26:20: King Uzziah 'hurried' out of the temple when struck with skin disease.

Where it appears

2 Chronicles · 1

  1. 2 Chronicles 26:20 נִדְחַ֣ף he hurried himself

    When Azariah the chief priest and all the priests turned to him and saw his leprous forehead, they rushed him out. Indeed, he himself hurried to get out, because the LORD had afflicted him.

Esther · 3

  1. Esther 3:15 דְחוּפִים֙ being hasty

    The couriers left, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was in confusion.

    Here: A passive form: they were 'pushed', urged on. The speed comes from outside them, from the king's word, not from their own eagerness.

  2. Esther 6:12 נִדְחַ֣ף he hurried himself

    Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief.

  3. Esther 8:14 וּדְחוּפִ֖ים and hurried

    The couriers rode out in haste on their royal horses, pressed on by the command of the king. And the edict was also issued in the citadel of Susa.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.