Hebrew word · H3713
כְּפוֹר
kefor
bowl
Hoarfrost, the white frost that forms on cold, clear nights. It appears only in poetry and description outside this verse: 'He scatters the frost like ashes' (Ps 147:16), 'the frost of heaven, who gave it birth?' (Job 38:29).
Appears 12 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
bowl, basin
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 Exodus 16:14
- Range of meaning
Hoarfrost, the white frost that forms on cold, clear nights. It appears only in poetry and description outside this verse: 'He scatters the frost like ashes' (Ps 147:16), 'the frost of heaven, who gave it birth?' (Job 38:29).
- Against the English
KJV/YLT: 'hoar frost'. Others: 'frost'. Both are accurate.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Desert nights in Sinai and the Negev can be cold enough for ground frost, so the comparison would have been familiar.
From the study of Psalm 147:16
- Range of meaning
Hoarfrost or rime, the frozen dew that forms on the ground and plants. A different word with the same spelling means 'bowl' (H3713A, e.g. Ezra 1:10). The word appears only a few times: Exod 16:14; Job 38:29; Ps 147:16.
- Against the English
KJV has 'hoarfrost', which is exact but old-fashioned. Most modern versions have 'frost'. NLT adds 'upon the ground', which brings out how frost lies on the surface.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Job 38:29: 'the frost (kəfōr) of heaven, who gave it birth?' There it is among the wonders only God brings about. Exod 16:14 compares the manna to it ('fine as frost on the ground'). The Greek Septuagint here has homichlē, 'mist', and the Latin Vulgate (Gallican Psalter) follows with nebula. Jerome's Latin translation made from the Hebrew has pruina, 'hoarfrost'.
- Range of meaning
Hoarfrost or rime: the white crystalline frost that appears on surfaces after a cold, clear night. It is a different word from the identical-looking kəpôr meaning "bowl" (H3713A).
- Against the English
KJV "hoary frost" and YLT "hoar-frost" are precise, but "hoary" now usually means "very old". WEB "gray frost" and BSB "frost" are clearer, though they lose the specific picture of white rime.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Exodus 16:14 (manna lay on the ground "fine as hoarfrost"). Psalm 147:16 ("he scatters hoarfrost like ashes"). LXX pachnē, "rime, hoarfrost". Vulgate gelu, "frost".
Where it appears
Exodus · 1
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Exodus 16:14 כַּכְּפֹ֖ר like <the> frost
When the layer of dew had evaporated, there were thin flakes on the desert floor, as fine as frost on the ground.
Here: 'Like the frost': the thin white crystalline film that forms on the ground on cold nights (Ps 147:16; Job 38:29). The comparison gives its fineness, its thinness and its whitish look (compare v.31, 'white').
1 Chronicles · 6
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1 Chronicles 28:17 וְלִכְפוֹרֵ֨י לִכְפ֣וֹר וּכְפ֔וֹר וְלִכְפוֹרֵ֥י לִכְפ֥וֹר וּכְפֽוֹר׃ and for [the] bowls of, for a bowl, and a bowl
the weight of the pure gold for the forks, sprinkling bowls, and pitchers; the weight of each gold dish; the weight of each silver bowl;
Ezra · 3
Job · 1
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Job 38:29 וּכְפֹ֥ר and [the] frost of
From whose womb does the ice emerge? Who gives birth to the frost from heaven,
Here: Hoarfrost is the fine white powdery frost found on the ground at dawn. It is the same word used for manna, which looked "fine as hoarfrost" (Exodus 16:14). It is linked grammatically to the next word: "frost of the sky".
Psalms · 1
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Psalm 147:16 כְּ֝פ֗וֹר frost
He spreads the snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes;
Here: The fine white frost that forms on the ground on clear, cold nights. In Exodus 16:14 the manna is described as 'fine as frost on the ground.' Its position first in the clause puts weight on it: 'frost, like ash, he scatters.'
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.