Hebrew word · H4114

מַהְפֵּכָה

kemahpekhat

overthrow

Overthrow, upheaval, from the verb haphakh, 'to turn, to turn over'. It appears only six times, and almost always about Sodom and Gomorrah (Deuteronomy 29:23 [22 Heb.]; Isaiah 1:7 [disputed]; 13:19; Jeremiah 49:18; 50:40; Amos 4:11).

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) overthrow, destruction

1a) always of Sodom and Gomorrah

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 13:19

Range of meaning

Overthrow, upheaval, from the verb haphakh, 'to turn, to turn over'. It appears only six times, and almost always about Sodom and Gomorrah (Deuteronomy 29:23 [22 Heb.]; Isaiah 1:7 [disputed]; 13:19; Jeremiah 49:18; 50:40; Amos 4:11).

Against the English

BSB recasts it with a verb: 'will be overthrown by God like Sodom'. KJV, WEB and NASB 'as when God overthrew'. Either way, English loses the sense that this was a fixed proverbial phrase.

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis 19:25, 29 uses the verb haphakh for what happened to the cities. Exactly the same phrase, 'like God's overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah', appears in Amos 4:11 and Jeremiah 50:40. Jeremiah also applies it to Babylon and follows it with the same 'no one will live there' line. Deuteronomy 29:23 describes such a land as burned with sulfur and salt, unsown, with nothing growing.

From the study of Isaiah 1:7

Range of meaning

'Overturning, overthrow, upheaval', from haphak ('to turn, turn upside down'). The verb is the key word in Genesis 19:21, 25, 29 for God 'overthrowing' Sodom and the cities of the plain.

Against the English

'Overthrown' (KJV, WEB, YLT, ESV, NASB) is accurate, but a modern reader hears 'overthrowing a government'. BSB's 'demolished' gets the physical ruin but loses the Sodom echo completely.

How it drifted

English 'overthrow' now mostly means political overthrow. The Hebrew word carries the specific memory of a city wiped out by God.

Used elsewhere in the period

Six occurrences. The other five all concern Sodom and Gomorrah: Deuteronomy 29:23 [Hebrew 29:22]; Isaiah 13:19; Jeremiah 49:18; 50:40; Amos 4:11 ('as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah'). Deuteronomy 29:23 is itself a covenant-curse passage describing a land 'burned out, like the overthrow of Sodom'.

From the study of Jeremiah 50:40

Range of meaning

An 'overturning' or 'upheaval'. It comes from the root h-p-k, 'to turn, turn over, turn upside down'. The noun is rare and is used almost only for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Deut 29:22 [Eng. 23]; Isa 1:7 [probably]; 13:19; Jer 49:18; 50:40; Amos 4:11). The verb h-p-k is the key word of Genesis 19 (vv. 21, 25, 29: 'he overturned those cities').

Against the English

English 'overthrow' usually now suggests removing a government or ruler. The Hebrew picture is physical and total: a place turned upside down, its ground and life wiped out, as at Sodom.

How it drifted

'Overthrow' in older English (KJV, 1611) could still mean 'to throw over, demolish'. Modern usage has narrowed toward political coups.

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis 19 uses the verb for Sodom. The noun phrase 'like the overturning of God [of] Sodom and Gomorrah' is a stock formula in Isa 13:19 (also about Babylon), Amos 4:11 and Jer 49:18 (about Edom). The Greek translation (LXX) uses katastrephō / katastrophē, 'turn down, ruin', which gives English 'catastrophe'.

Where it appears

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 29:23 כְּֽמַהְפֵּכַ֞ת like [the] overthrow of

    All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His fierce anger.

    Here: 'Like the overturning of'. The word is a set phrase in the Bible, used almost only of Sodom and Gomorrah's destruction. It names the most extreme disaster Israel's tradition knew.

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 1:7 כְּמַהְפֵּכַ֥ת [is] like [the] overthrow of

    Your land is desolate; your cities are burned with fire. Foreigners devour your fields before you—a desolation demolished by strangers.

    Here: 'Like the overthrow of…'. The noun comes from 'to turn upside down'. Everywhere else in the Bible it names God's destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, so hearers would catch that echo, which the prophet makes explicit in verses 9–10.

  2. Isaiah 13:19 כְּמַהְפֵּכַ֣ת like [the] overthrow of

    And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.

    Here: Literally 'like the turning-upside-down'. The noun is almost a technical term for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. It means total, sudden ruin sent from heaven, after which the land never recovers.

Jeremiah · 2

  1. Jeremiah 49:18 כְּֽמַהְפֵּכַ֞ת like [the] overthrow of

    As Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown along with their neighbors,” says the LORD, “no one will dwell there; no man will abide there.

  2. Jeremiah 50:40 כְּמַהְפֵּכַ֨ת like [the] overthrow of

    As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah along with their neighbors,” declares the LORD, “no one will dwell there; no man will abide there.

    Here: "Like the overturning of": the comparison particle kə- plus a noun from the root 'to turn over'. It names a ground-up upheaval, the word the Bible keeps almost entirely for what happened to Sodom.

Amos · 1

  1. Amos 4:11 כְּמַהְפֵּכַ֤ת like [the] overthrow of

    “Some of you I overthrew as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a firebrand snatched from a blaze, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.

    Here: "Like the overturning of." This noun appears only a few times in the Hebrew Bible, and almost always for the destruction of Sodom. It was a set phrase for total, God-sent ruin.

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