Hebrew word · H1812

דֶּ֫לֶף

delef

dripping

Delef: a drip or leak, from the verb dālap̄, 'to drip, leak'. Tōrēd: the active participle of ṭārad, 'to chase, pursue, drive on', which by extension means 'continuous'. Together: 'a dripping that keeps coming', one drop chasing another.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) a dropping, dripping

1a) of contentious wife (fig.)

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 Proverbs 19:13

Range of meaning

Delef: a drip or leak, from the verb dālap̄, 'to drip, leak'. Tōrēd: the active participle of ṭārad, 'to chase, pursue, drive on', which by extension means 'continuous'. Together: 'a dripping that keeps coming', one drop chasing another.

Against the English

Most versions say 'continual/constant dripping'. ESV adds 'of rain' and NIV adds 'of a leaky roof', both making the roof explicit. BSB adds 'like', turning the Hebrew's blunt metaphor ('quarrels are a drip') into a softer comparison.

How it drifted

A modern reader pictures a dripping tap: annoying, but small. The original picture is a roof failing in the rainy season.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exactly the same phrase appears in Proverbs 27:15: 'a continual dripping on a day of downpour and a contentious woman are alike.' The verb: Ecclesiastes 10:18 ('through idle hands the house leaks'); Job 16:20 (the eye 'drips' tears); Psalm 119:28 (the soul 'drips away' in grief).

From the study of Proverbs 27:15

Range of meaning

A drip or leak. It comes from the verb דָּלַף (dalaf), 'to drip, leak, trickle', which is used of a roof leaking and, by extension, of eyes 'dripping' tears or a soul 'melting/weeping' with sorrow.

Against the English

KJV 'dropping' is the older English word for 'dripping'. Modern versions say 'dripping'. NIV spells out the source: 'a leaky roof'.

How it drifted

KJV's 'dropping' has become archaic. A modern reader may not realise it means water dripping.

Used elsewhere in the period

The noun appears only in Prov 19:13 and 27:15, both times as 'relentless dripping' and both about a quarrelsome wife. The verb is used in Eccl 10:18: 'through slack hands the house leaks (yidlof)', a leaking roof as the result of neglect. It also appears in Job 16:20 (the eye drips tears) and Ps 119:28 (my soul drips/weeps from grief).

Where it appears

Proverbs · 2

  1. Proverbs 19:13 וְדֶ֥לֶף and [are] a dripping

    A foolish son is his father’s ruin, and a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping.

    Here: The drip through a leaking roof. The noun occurs only here and in Proverbs 27:15, where the same phrase is tied to 'a day of heavy rain'.

  2. Proverbs 27:15 דֶּ֣לֶף a dripping

    A constant dripping on a rainy day and a contentious woman are alike—

    Here: The drip of water coming through a leaking roof. The verse opens on a sound and a picture every Israelite householder knew: water working its way through the clay roof and dropping into the room.

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