Hebrew word · H2222
זַרְזִיף
zarzif
drip
It occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible, so its meaning is uncertain. It is usually explained as a doubled form of a root meaning 'to drip, trickle', known from later Aramaic, giving 'dripping, drenching, watering'.
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
drop, dripping, a soaking, a saturation
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
- Range of meaning
It occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible, so its meaning is uncertain. It is usually explained as a doubled form of a root meaning 'to drip, trickle', known from later Aramaic, giving 'dripping, drenching, watering'.
- Against the English
Most versions say 'that water the earth', which smooths the word into a verb. YLT's 'sprinkling' may be too light next to the heavy rəbîbîm.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The Septuagint has 'like drops dripping on the earth' (stagōn hē stazousa) and the Vulgate 'like drops dripping on the earth' (stillicidia stillantia). Both suggest translators read a 'dripping' word here. Some modern scholars correct it to a verb ('they drench the land'). HALOT and BDB both mark the meaning as inferred.
Where it appears
Psalms · 1
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Psalm 72:6 זַרְזִ֥יף dropping of
May he be like rain that falls on freshly cut grass, like spring showers that water the earth.
Here: This word occurs only here in the Bible. From context and related Aramaic words it seems to mean the dripping or soaking that waters the land. It describes what the showers do. The exact shade of meaning is uncertain.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.