זָקַף

From the study of Psalm 145:14

Range of meaning

To raise up or make upright. In the Hebrew Bible it occurs only here and in Ps 146:8. Its Aramaic cousin appears in Ezra 6:11 for being 'raised up' on a beam. The verb is common in later Hebrew and Aramaic for standing something upright or straightening a bent person.

Against the English

'Lifts up' and 'raises up' are fine renderings. 'Straightens' captures the precise contrast with 'bent down' even better.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ps 146:8: 'Yahweh straightens up (zoqef) the bent-down (kefufim).' The phrase is repeated almost word for word. That suggests it was a fixed formula about Yahweh in the worship of the Second Temple period. In Jewish morning prayer the blessing 'who raises up the bowed down' (zoqef kefufim) draws directly on these psalms.

From the study of Psalm 146:8

Range of meaning

To raise up, straighten, set upright. As a Hebrew verb it appears only in Ps 145:14 ('the LORD upholds all who fall and raises up all who are bowed down,' zoqef le-khol ha-kefufim) and here. In Aramaic (Ezra 6:11) and later Hebrew it means to stand something upright, such as a pole or a person.

Against the English

'Raises up' (KJV, WEB) and 'lifts' (BSB) are accurate. 'Straightens' or 'sets upright' gets closer to the picture: not lifting someone up into the air, but unbending a stooped body.

Used elsewhere in the period

The phrase 'zoqef kefufim' in Ps 145:14 and 146:8 is almost a fixed title for God. Later Jewish prayer adopted it: the Talmud (b. Berakhot 60b) assigns 'who straightens the bent' as the blessing to say on standing up in the morning, next to 'who opens the blind' and 'who frees the bound,' all taken from Ps 146:7–8.