Hebrew word · H2834

חָשַׂף

chasof

to strip

To strip off a covering and so expose what was under it. It is used of stripping bark from trees (Joel 1:7), stripping a forest bare (Ps 29:9), uncovering the legs or skirt in disgrace (Isa 47:2; Jer 13:26), baring an arm (Isa 52:10; Ezek 4:7), and scooping water from a cistern (Isa 30:14).

Appears 11 times in 10 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to strip, strip off, lay bare, make bare, draw out

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to strip off

1a2) to strip, lay bare

1a3) to draw (water), skim, take from the surface

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 Isaiah 52:10

Range of meaning

To strip off a covering and so expose what was under it. It is used of stripping bark from trees (Joel 1:7), stripping a forest bare (Ps 29:9), uncovering the legs or skirt in disgrace (Isa 47:2; Jer 13:26), baring an arm (Isa 52:10; Ezek 4:7), and scooping water from a cistern (Isa 30:14). The basic idea is removing a cover.

Against the English

'Made bare' (KJV) and 'bared' (BSB, ESV, NASB) keep the physical picture. 'Lay bare' (NIV) is similar but puts the action in the future. NLT drops the image and has 'demonstrated his holy power'. That gives the point but loses the sight of an arm being uncovered for action.

How it drifted

Today 'bare' can suggest nakedness or being exposed and vulnerable. The Hebrew picture is the opposite: a fighter rolling back his robe so his arm is free to strike.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Ezekiel 4:7 the prophet is told to set his face against besieged Jerusalem 'with your arm bared' as a sign of hostile action. Ancient Near Eastern art often shows the king or warrior-god with his arm raised to strike. The best-known example is the Egyptian pharaoh smiting his enemies. The Greek Septuagint renders the verb with a word for 'uncover, reveal' (apokalyptō), which stresses the showing as well as the action.

From the study of Haggai 2:16

Range of meaning

To strip bare or lay bare: an arm (Isa 52:10), a skirt or legs (Isa 47:2), bark from a tree (Joel 1:7), a forest (Ps 29:9). In Isaiah 30:14 it means to scoop or skim water from a cistern.

Against the English

"Draw out" (KJV, BSB, WEB) or "draw" (ESV, NIV) is correct here. It loses the sense of emptying something down to the bottom.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 30:14 is the closest parallel: a shard too small "to skim water from a cistern". BDB and HALOT both give "skim, draw off" as a sense of the root.

From the study of Isaiah 47:2

Range of meaning

To strip off, peel away, lay bare: bark stripped off a tree (Joel 1:7), water skimmed from a cistern (Isa 30:14), skirts stripped up (Jer 13:26), a forest stripped bare (Ps 29:9), an arm bared for action (Isa 52:10).

Against the English

'Strip off' (BSB), 'lift up' (WEB), 'draw up' (YLT), 'make bare' (KJV). 'Lift up' and 'draw up' are milder than the Hebrew, which is about exposing what lies underneath.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isa 20:4 uses this root for Egyptian captives led off by Assyria 'naked and barefoot, with buttocks bared', and Assyrian reliefs show deportees stripped. Jer 13:22, 26 uses it for Jerusalem's shaming as a woman whose skirts are stripped up.

Where it appears

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 29:9 וַֽיֶּחֱשֹׂ֪ף and it stripped bare

    The voice of the LORD twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in His temple all cry, “Glory!”

Isaiah · 4

  1. Isaiah 20:4 וַחֲשׂוּפַ֥י and [ones] uncovered of

    so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old alike, naked and barefoot, with bared buttocks—to Egypt’s shame.

    Here: 'And stripped of…' From a verb meaning to strip off or lay bare. Here it describes people whose clothing has been pulled away. The form is unusual but the sense is clear.

  2. Isaiah 30:14 וְלַחְשֹׂ֥ף and to scoop

    It will break in pieces like a potter’s jar, shattered so that no fragment can be found. Not a shard will be found in the dust large enough to scoop the coals from a hearth or to skim the water from a cistern.”

    Here: Elsewhere this verb means to strip something bare (bark, a skirt, an arm). Here it means to skim or scoop water from the surface, a use found only in this verse.

  3. Isaiah 47:2 חֶשְׂפִּי־ strip off

    Take millstones and grind flour; remove your veil; strip off your skirt, bare your thigh, and wade through the streams.

    Here: A harsh verb for stripping something off so what is underneath is exposed (used of bark peeled off trees, Joel 1:7, and of captives led away with buttocks bared, Isa 20:4).

  4. Isaiah 52:10 חָשַׂ֤ף he has bared

    The LORD has bared His holy arm in the sight of all the nations; all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.

    Here: To pull back a covering so that something is exposed. Here it pictures a warrior throwing back his cloak or sleeve to free his fighting arm. The Hebrew uses the completed-action form ('has bared'): the prophet speaks of what God is about to do as if it were already done.

Jeremiah · 2

  1. Jeremiah 13:26 חָשַׂ֥פְתִּי I will strip off

    So I will pull your skirts up over your face, that your shame may be seen.

  2. Jeremiah 49:10 חָשַׂ֣פְתִּי I will strip bare

    But I will strip Esau bare; I will uncover his hiding places, and he will be unable to conceal himself. His descendants will be destroyed along with his relatives and neighbors, and he will be no more.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 4:7 חֲשׂוּפָ֑ה [will be ] bared

    You must turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared, and prophesy against it.

Joel · 2

  1. Joel 1:7 חָשֹׂ֤ף חֲשָׂפָהּ֙ completely <strip bare>, it has stripped bare it

    It has laid waste My grapevine and splintered My fig tree. It has stripped off the bark and thrown it away; the branches have turned white.

Haggai · 1

  1. Haggai 2:16 לַחְשֹׂף֙ to draw

    from that time, when one came expecting a heap of twenty ephahs of grain, there were but ten. When one came to the winepress to draw out fifty baths, there were but twenty.

    Here: "To draw off": the verb usually means to strip something bare. Here it means to empty or ladle the vat down to the bottom, as in Isaiah 30:14, "to skim water from a cistern".

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