Hebrew word · H3182

יָחֵף

yachef

barefoot

Barefoot, unshod. The word is rare: 2 Sam 15:30, Isa 20:2–4, and Jer 2:25.

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 31, 2026

What it means

1) barefoot

1a) bareness, being unshod (subst)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: Barefoot, unshod. The word is rare: 2 Sam 15:30, Isa 20:2–4, and Jer 2:25.
Against the English: 'Barefoot' is accurate. A modern reader may hear something casual or relaxed, but in the ancient world going barefoot in public meant mourning, poverty, or captivity.
How it drifted: Modern cultural associations (beaches, leisure), not a translation problem.
Used elsewhere in the period: David leaves Jerusalem barefoot and with his head covered as he flees Absalom (2 Sam 15:30), a picture of grief and humiliation. Jer 2:25 warns Judah to 'keep your foot from going unshod'. Captives in Assyrian reliefs often appear barefoot.

Range of meaning: Barefoot, unshod. Used of mourners and of people humiliated or taken captive (Isaiah 20:2–4, where 'naked and barefoot' acts out Egypt's deportation; compare Jer 2:25).
Against the English: 'Barefoot' is accurate. The danger is in how it is understood: modern readers may think of poverty, haste, or simple humility. Here it is a deliberate ritual sign.
Used elsewhere in the period: In Isaiah 20 being barefoot marks prisoners led away in shame. In Ezekiel 24:17 and 24:23, God tells the prophet to keep his sandals on, which means taking them off was normal for mourners. Removing sandals also marked holy ground (Exod 3:5), but nothing in this passage points to that sense.

Range of meaning: Barefoot, without sandals. It is a rare word (2 Samuel 15:30; Isaiah 20:2–4; Jeremiah 2:25). Going barefoot was a mark of mourning and of humiliated flight or captivity.
Against the English: 'Barefoot' is accurate. What English readers miss is that bare feet were a social signal, not a matter of comfort.
Used elsewhere in the period: David flees Absalom up the Mount of Olives weeping, head covered and barefoot (2 Samuel 15:30), a picture of a dethroned and grieving king. Ezekiel is told not to remove his sandals for his wife's death (Ezekiel 24:17), which shows that removing them was the normal mourning gesture. In Jeremiah 2:25 'keep your feet from going bare' warns against running after foreign gods until one is ruined.

2 Samuel · 1

2 Samuel 15:30 יָחֵ֑ף barefoot

But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went up. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. And all the people with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went.

Here: Without sandals. This was a sign of mourning, humiliation, or a captive's degradation (Isaiah 20:2–4). It was chosen, not caused by hurry.

Isaiah · 3

Isaiah 20:2 וְיָחֵֽף׃ ס and barefoot

the LORD had already spoken through Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, “Go, remove the sackcloth from your waist and the sandals from your feet.” And Isaiah did so, walking around naked and barefoot.

Here: Without sandals. It pairs with 'naked' to make one picture: the look of a man in mourning or a captive being marched away.
Isaiah 20:3 וְיָחֵ֑ף and barefoot

Then the LORD said, “Just as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and omen against Egypt and Cush,

Here: Without sandals, which was the mark of mourners and captives. Paired with 'naked', it completes the picture of a man being led off as a prisoner of war. The main pause of the verse falls on this word in the Hebrew accent marks.
Isaiah 20:4 וְיָחֵ֑ף and barefoot

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 barefoot.' Bare feet marked mourning and helplessness (as with David fleeing in 2 Sam 15:30) and made a long forced march harsher still.

Jeremiah · 1

Jeremiah 2:25 מִיָּחֵ֔ף from barefoot

You should have kept your feet from going bare and your throat from being thirsty. But you said, ‘It is hopeless! For I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.’

Here: 'From (being) barefoot.' Run far enough and the sandals wear through. Going barefoot was also a picture of shame, mourning and captivity (2 Sam 15:30; Isa 20:2–4).

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