Hebrew word · H2952

טָפַף

vetafof

to mince

Found only here. Usually explained as 'to trip along, take short quick steps'. It is often linked to ṭap, 'little children', who toddle with small steps. Some connect it to a root for tapping or skipping.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

(Qal) to skip, trip, take quick little steps

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 3:16

Range of meaning

Found only here. Usually explained as 'to trip along, take short quick steps'. It is often linked to ṭap, 'little children', who toddle with small steps. Some connect it to a root for tapping or skipping.

Against the English

KJV/ESV/NASB 'mincing', BSB 'prancing and skipping', WEB 'walking daintily', NIV a hip-swaying strut. 'Prancing and skipping' and 'swaying hips' add bounce or sensuality that the Hebrew does not clearly specify. 'Daintily' or 'with small tripping steps' is closer.

How it drifted

'Mince' in older English meant to walk with short, affectedly delicate steps, which is accurate. In modern usage it can carry a mocking implication of effeminacy that is foreign to the text.

Used elsewhere in the period

No other biblical use. The Septuagint paraphrases ('dragging their tunics… playing with their feet'). Many commentators (Wildberger, Oswalt, and the IVP Background Commentary) suggest the short steps came from 'step-chains' linking the anklets, which are listed as ṣəʿādôt in 3:20. Anklets are well attested in Iron Age Levantine burials and art.

Where it appears

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 3:16 וְטָפֹף֙ and mincing along

    The LORD also says: “Because the daughters of Zion are haughty—walking with heads held high and wanton eyes, prancing and skipping as they go, jingling the bracelets on their ankles—

    Here: Found only here. Probably short, quick, dainty steps; it may be related to ṭap, 'little ones/toddlers.' The gait may have been caused or exaggerated by the chains between their anklets (3:20).

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