Hebrew word · H1849

דָּפַק

udefakum

to beat

To beat, knock or drive hard. It is used of driving flocks too hard (Gen 33:13) and of a mob pounding on a door (Judg 19:22).

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 24, 2026

What it means

1) to beat, knock

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to beat, drive severely

1a2) to knock

1b) (Hithpael) to beat violently

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

Range of meaning: To beat, knock or drive hard. It is used of driving flocks too hard (Gen 33:13) and of a mob pounding on a door (Judg 19:22).
Against the English: 'Knocking' is accurate but can sound polite. The Hebrew carries urgency and force.
Used elsewhere in the period: Rare in the Hebrew Bible (Gen 33:13; Judg 19:22; Song 5:2). The Septuagint renders it with krouei, 'strikes, knocks', the same verb later used in Rev 3:20 ('I stand at the door and knock').

Range of meaning: To beat, knock, or drive hard. It is rare. In Gen 33:13 it means driving flocks too hard; in Song 5:2 the beloved 'knocks'. Here it is in the Hithpael, a form that often means repeated or reciprocal action, so: 'pounding repeatedly', 'pressing and shoving' against the door.
Against the English: KJV and WEB have 'beat at the door', BSB 'pounding on the door', YLT 'beating on the door'. All are fair. A gentler word like 'knocking' would lose the violence.
Used elsewhere in the period: This is the only place the Hithpael form occurs. Gen 19:9 describes the Sodom mob 'pressing hard' against Lot and coming near to break the door, using a different verb (patsar) for a parallel scene.

Genesis · 1

Genesis 33:13 וּדְפָקוּם֙ and people will drive hard them

But Jacob replied, “My lord knows that the children are frail, and I must care for sheep and cattle that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard for even a day, all the animals will die.

Judges · 1

Judges 19:22 מִֽתְדַּפְּקִ֖ים beating violently

While they were enjoying themselves, suddenly the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they said to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house, so we can have relations with him!”

Here: A participle in an intensive, repeated form: 'beating and pushing against' the door, again and again. This is a mob trying to force the door, not someone knocking.

Song of Songs · 1

Song of Songs 5:2 דוֹפֵ֗ק knocking

I sleep, but my heart is awake. A sound! My beloved is knocking: “Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night.”

Here: A forceful verb, 'beating, pounding'. The men of Gibeah 'beat on the door' with it in Judges 19:22. He is not tapping politely. He is pressing to be let in.

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