Hebrew word · H3718
כֶּ֫פֶל
kiflayim
double
From kafal, "to fold over, double". kefel is a doubling or fold. The dual kiflayim means "twofold, double". It is rare: Job 11:6 (wisdom is "double" / two-sided), Job 41:13 [Heb 41:5] (the "double" of its bridle or jaws), Isa 40:2.
Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
double, a doubling
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
- Range of meaning
From kafal, "to fold over, double". kefel is a doubling or fold. The dual kiflayim means "twofold, double". It is rare: Job 11:6 (wisdom is "double" / two-sided), Job 41:13 [Heb 41:5] (the "double" of its bridle or jaws), Isa 40:2.
- Against the English
Most versions say "double". NLT reads it as "punished her twice over", which settles a debated point.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Related ideas use a different word, mishneh, "second/double": Jer 16:18 ("I will repay double their iniquity"); Jer 17:18 ("double destruction"); Isa 61:7 ("instead of your shame, a double portion"). Exodus law requires a thief to repay double (Exod 22:4, 7, 9; Hebrew shnayim).
- Range of meaning
Dual of kefel, 'a doubling, a fold'. It comes from the verb kafal, 'to fold over, to double' (Exod 26:9, doubling a curtain). The meanings are 'double, twofold, a double layer'.
- Against the English
KJV 'double to that which is', YLT 'foldings', BSB/WEB/NIV 'has two sides'. Others: 'manifold', 'many-sided', 'not simple'. Every rendering is an interpretation, because the Hebrew line is compressed and hard.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Isaiah 40:2: Jerusalem 'has received from the LORD's hand double (kiflayim) for all her sins'. Job 41:13 (Heb. 41:5): the 'double' layer of Leviathan's armour or bridle. The image is of something folded, with a second layer behind the first.
Where it appears
Job · 2
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Job 11:6 כִפְלַ֪יִם double
and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides. Know then that God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves.
Here: A dual form (Hebrew has a special form for 'two of something') of a word for something folded over. The picture is of wisdom with a hidden fold or second layer. The exact sense is debated, and some scholars re-read the word as 'wonders'.
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Job 41:13 בְּכֶ֥פֶל in [the] doubling of
Who can strip off his outer coat? Who can approach him with a bridle?
Isaiah · 1
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Isaiah 40:2 כִּפְלַ֖יִם double
“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her forced labor has been completed; her iniquity has been pardoned. For she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her sins.”
Here: "Double", from a root meaning to fold over. It has a dual ending (the Hebrew form for a pair): "twice over". What it means exactly is debated: double punishment, a matching full equivalent, or double compensation. In any case it says the debt is more than covered.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.