חָפַר

Genesis 21:30 חָפַ֖רְתִּי I dug

He replied, “You are to accept the seven ewe lambs from my hand as my witness that I dug this well.”

Genesis 26:15 חָֽפְרוּ֙ they had dug

So the Philistines took dirt and stopped up all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham.

Here: "They dug." The supplied dictionary gloss "to search" is a secondary sense of this root (searching out, spying out). Here it plainly means digging, which was hard labour that created a lasting claim.

Genesis 26:18 וַיַּחְפֹּ֣ר׀ חָֽפְרוּ֙ and he dug, people had dug

Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died. And he gave these wells the same names his father had given them.

Genesis 26:19 וַיַּחְפְּר֥וּ and they dug

Then Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a well of fresh water there.

Genesis 26:21 וַֽיַּחְפְּרוּ֙ and they dug

Then they dug another well and quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah.

Genesis 26:22 וַיַּחְפֹּר֙ and he dug

He moved on from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. He named it Rehoboth and said, “At last the LORD has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”

Genesis 26:32 חָפָ֑רוּ they had dug

On that same day, Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. “We have found water!” they told him.

Exodus 7:24 וַיַּחְפְּר֧וּ and they dug

So all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, because they could not drink the water from the river.

Numbers 21:18 חֲפָר֣וּהָ [which] they dug it

The princes dug the well; the nobles of the people hollowed it out with their scepters and with their staffs.” From the wilderness the Israelites went on to Mattanah,

Deuteronomy 1:22 וְיַחְפְּרוּ־ so they may spy out

Then all of you approached me and said, “Let us send men ahead of us to search out the land and bring us word of what route to follow and which cities to enter.”

Deuteronomy 23:13 וְחָפַרְתָּ֣ה and you will dig

And you must have a digging tool in your equipment so that when you relieve yourself you can dig a hole and cover up your excrement.

Joshua 2:2 לַחְפֹּ֥ר to spy out

And it was reported to the king of Jericho: “Behold, some men of Israel have come here tonight to spy out the land.”

Joshua 2:3 לַחְפֹּ֥ר to spy out

So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab and said, “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, for they have come to spy out the whole land.”

Here: "To search out." The verb's basic sense is digging, and from that comes probing or ferreting out what is hidden. The men have come to dig up the land's secrets: its defenses, its weak points, its mood. The phrase is placed early for emphasis.

Job 3:21 וַֽ֝יַּחְפְּרֻ֗הוּ and they dug for it

who long for death that does not come, and search for it like hidden treasure,

Job 11:18 וְ֝חָפַרְתָּ֗ and you will be well protected

You will be secure, because there is hope, and you will look around and lie down in safety.

Here: Hard to pin down. Most likely "you will look around" (scan the area, as a watchman or the eagle in 39:29 does) and find nothing to fear. Some read "dig in / be protected", and others hear the similar-sounding verb "be ashamed" (see debates).

Job 39:21 יַחְפְּר֣וּ they paw

He paws in the valley and rejoices in his strength; he charges into battle.

Job 39:29 חָֽפַר־ it spies out

From there he spies out food; his eyes see it from afar.

Psalm 7:15 וַֽיַּחְפְּרֵ֑הוּ and he has dug it

He has dug a hole and hollowed it out; he has fallen into a pit of his own making.

Here: A second digging verb with 'it' attached: 'and he dug it out / hollowed it.' Repeating the idea with a near-synonym stresses how much effort and intent went into the trap. Here it means physical digging, not 'searching.'

Psalm 35:7 חָפְר֥וּ they have dug

For without cause they laid their net for me; without reason they dug a pit for my soul.

Here: They dug, as you dig a pit or a well. Digging a pitfall takes effort and planning, so this was deliberate scheming, not a passing insult.

Ecclesiastes 10:8 חֹפֵ֥ר [one who] digs

He who digs a pit may fall into it, and he who breaches a wall may be bitten by a snake.

Here: A participle used as a noun, "the one digging" or "a digger." It describes someone doing an ordinary job, not a villain by definition. The verb can also mean "search out," which is where the supplied dictionary gloss comes from, but here it is plain physical digging.

Jeremiah 13:7 וָאֶחְפֹּ֗ר and I dug

So I went to Perath and dug up the loincloth, and I took it from the place where I had hidden it. But now it was ruined—of no use at all.