Hebrew word · H2646
חֻפָּה
chupah
canopy
A covering or canopy, probably from a root meaning 'to cover'. In its two other biblical uses it is the chamber or canopy of a bridegroom and bride (Ps 19:5, 'like a bridegroom coming out of his chuppah'; Joel 2:16, 'let the bride come out of her chuppah').
Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) chamber, room, canopy, closet
1a) canopy
1b) chamber
1c) divine protection (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
- Range of meaning
A covering or canopy, probably from a root meaning 'to cover'. In its two other biblical uses it is the chamber or canopy of a bridegroom and bride (Ps 19:5, 'like a bridegroom coming out of his chuppah'; Joel 2:16, 'let the bride come out of her chuppah').
- Against the English
BSB, WEB, ESV and NIV say 'canopy'. KJV's 'defence' captures the protective function but loses the picture of an overhead covering and any festive or bridal note. YLT's 'safe-guard' is similar.
- How it drifted
KJV's 'defence' makes modern readers think of military defence or walls. The Hebrew pictures a roof-like covering, with a bridal-chamber flavour in its other uses.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Psalm 19:5; Joel 2:16. In later Jewish usage (rabbinic period onward) chuppah became the term for the wedding canopy and the wedding ceremony. That ritual is post-biblical and should not be read straight back into Isaiah.
- Range of meaning
Covering or canopy. It occurs only three times in the Hebrew Bible: here, Ps 19:5 (the sun 'like a bridegroom coming out of his ḥuppâ') and Isa 4:5 (a ḥuppâ, a protective canopy, over Zion's glory). In weddings it means the covered or curtained bridal chamber or bower.
- Against the English
BSB, WEB and most modern versions have 'chamber'. KJV and YLT have 'closet'. Readers who know Jewish weddings may picture the ceremonial four-pole canopy that the couple stands under.
- How it drifted
The four-pole canopy used during the ceremony is a later development. In rabbinic times (the Mishnah, c. 200 CE) ḥuppâ still meant the bridal chamber where the marriage was consummated. The portable canopy at the ceremony is mostly medieval. KJV 'closet' meant a private inner room in 1611, not a storage cupboard.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Ps 19:5 uses the same picture of a groom coming out of his ḥuppâ, full of joy and strength. Mishnah Ketubbot uses the word for the bridal chamber. LXX here has pastos, the bridal chamber or bed-chamber.
Where it appears
Psalms · 1
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Psalm 19:5 מֵחֻפָּת֑וֹ from chamber his
Like a bridegroom emerging from his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course,
Isaiah · 1
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Isaiah 4:5 חֻפָּֽה׃ a canopy
Then the LORD will create over all of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud of smoke by day and a glowing flame of fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a canopy,
Here: 'A canopy', an overhead covering. Its only other biblical uses are for a bridegroom's or bride's chamber (Ps 19:5; Joel 2:16), so it carries a note of intimate, festive shelter as well as protection.
Joel · 1
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Joel 2:16 מֵחֻפָּתָֽהּ׃ from chamber her
Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the aged, gather the children, even those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.
Here: 'From her covered chamber', the canopied or curtained bridal space where the couple spent their first days. It is not the canopy of a later Jewish wedding ceremony but the private marriage bower.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.