Hebrew word · H1920

הָדַף

yehdafenu

to thrust

To push, shove, thrust, drive away. Used of shoving a person, sometimes fatally (Numbers 35:20, 22), driving enemies out of the land (Deuteronomy 6:19; 9:4; Joshua 23:5), deposing an official (Isaiah 22:19), and sheep shoving with flank and shoulder (Ezekiel 34:21).

Appears 11 times in 11 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to thrust, push, drive, cast away, cast out, expel, thrust away

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to thrust, push

1a2) to drive out, thrust out

1a3) to depose

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 10:3

Range of meaning

To push, shove, thrust, drive away. Used of shoving a person, sometimes fatally (Numbers 35:20, 22), driving enemies out of the land (Deuteronomy 6:19; 9:4; Joshua 23:5), deposing an official (Isaiah 22:19), and sheep shoving with flank and shoulder (Ezekiel 34:21).

Against the English

BSB has 'denies' and NLT 'refuses to satisfy', both mild and passive. NIV and ESV have 'thwarts' and NASB 'reject'. KJV 'casteth away', WEB 'thrusts away' and YLT 'thrusteth away' keep the physical force best.

Used elsewhere in the period

Always a forceful bodily or military action in the Hebrew Bible. It is never just 'saying no'.

From the study of Job 18:18

Range of meaning

To push, shove, thrust; to push away or drive out. It is used of physical violence (shoving someone so that he dies, Numbers 35:20, 22), of driving people out of land or office (Deuteronomy 6:19; 9:4; Isaiah 22:19 'I will thrust you from your office'), and of rejecting someone (Proverbs 10:3, the LORD 'thrusts away' the craving of the wicked).

Against the English

'Driven' (KJV, BSB, NIV) is accurate but sounds mild, like herding. 'Thrust' (ESV, YLT) keeps the force of a shove better. Most English versions make it passive ('he is driven'), which hides the Hebrew 'they thrust him' with no subject named.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Hebrew Bible it is mostly used of forcible expulsion: enemies driven from the land before Israel, and an official thrown out of his post (Isaiah 22:19). The Septuagint usually renders it with Greek verbs meaning 'push away' or 'drive out' (e.g. apōtheō, exōtheō).

From the study of 2 Kings 4:27

Range of meaning

"To push, shove, thrust away; to drive out." Used of shoving someone with intent to kill (Numbers 35:20, 22), of God driving enemies out before Israel (Deuteronomy 6:19; 9:4), and of God thrusting aside the craving of the wicked (Proverbs 10:3).

Against the English

KJV/WEB "to thrust her away" and BSB "to push her away" are both accurate. The Hebrew is physical and rough. It does not mean a polite request to move along.

Used elsewhere in the period

Numbers 35:20–22; Deuteronomy 6:19; 9:4; Joshua 23:5; Ezekiel 34:21 (sheep shoving with flank and shoulder).

Where it appears

Numbers · 2

  1. Numbers 35:20 יֶהְדָּפֶ֑נּוּ he will push him

    Likewise, if anyone maliciously pushes another or intentionally throws an object at him and kills him,

  2. Numbers 35:22 הֲדָפ֑וֹ he pushed him

    But if anyone pushes a person suddenly, without hostility, or throws an object at him unintentionally,

Deuteronomy · 2

  1. Deuteronomy 6:19 לַהֲדֹ֥ף to drive out

    driving out all your enemies before you, as the LORD has said.

  2. Deuteronomy 9:4 בַּהֲדֹ֣ף when drives out

    When the LORD your God has driven them out before you, do not say in your heart, “Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land.” Rather, the LORD is driving out these nations before you because of their wickedness.

    Here: 'When [Yahweh] thrusts out.' It is a physical, forceful verb, a shove. The temptation is placed after the victory, when success makes self-congratulation easy.

Joshua · 1

  1. Joshua 23:5 יֶהְדֳּפֵ֣ם he will drive out them

    The LORD your God will push them out of your way and drive them out before you, so that you can take possession of their land, as the LORD your God promised you.

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 4:27 לְהָדְפָ֗הּ to drive away her

    When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she clung to his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for her soul is in deep distress, and the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me.”

    Here: "To push her away." A physical, forceful verb. Elsewhere it is used for shoving someone or driving out enemies.

Job · 1

  1. Job 18:18 יֶ֭הְדְּפֻהוּ people drive him

    He is driven from light into darkness and is chased from the inhabited world.

    Here: "They shove him." A physical word for pushing someone off or away, used elsewhere of shoving a person to his death (Numbers 35:20) and of God driving enemies out of the land (Deuteronomy 6:19). The 'they' names no one, which in Hebrew is a common way of saying 'he is shoved'; the focus is on what happens to him, not on who does it.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 10:3 יֶהְדֹּֽף׃ he rejects

    The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry, but He denies the craving of the wicked.

    Here: A physical verb: to shove someone away or drive them out (used for pushing a person in Numbers 35:20 and for driving out enemies in Deuteronomy 6:19). Yahweh does more than decline the wicked's craving. He shoves it away. It is the same 'he does this as a rule' tense as the first verb.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 22:19 וַהֲדַפְתִּ֖יךָ and I will push you

    I will remove you from office, and you will be ousted from your position.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 46:15 הֲדָפֽוֹ׃ he will push him

    Why have your warriors been laid low? They cannot stand, for the LORD has thrust them down.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 34:21 תֶּהְדֹּ֔פוּ you push

    Since you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak ones with your horns until you have scattered them abroad,

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