Hebrew word · H4955

מִשְׂרָפָה

ukhemisrefot

burning

A burning or a thing burned. It comes from śaraph, "to burn up." Elsewhere it is used for the honorary spice-burnings at a king's funeral (Jeremiah 34:5, "as burnings were made for your fathers"), and it forms part of the place-name Misrephoth-maim (Joshua 11:8; 13:6).

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

a burning

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 33:12

Range of meaning

A burning or a thing burned. It comes from śaraph, "to burn up." Elsewhere it is used for the honorary spice-burnings at a king's funeral (Jeremiah 34:5, "as burnings were made for your fathers"), and it forms part of the place-name Misrephoth-maim (Joshua 11:8; 13:6).

Against the English

KJV/WEB/YLT "burnings" is literal. Modern versions turn the noun into a verb ("burned"), which reads smoothly but changes "they will become burnings" into "they will be burned." The Hebrew presents the nations as if they themselves had become the kiln-load.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jeremiah 34:5 shows the word could refer to a solemn, deliberate burning connected with kings. That makes an ironic contrast possible here: Zedekiah's fathers received honourable "burnings" at death, while these nations become a different kind of "burnings."

From the study of Jeremiah 34:5

Range of meaning

"A burning": the act or result of burning. Here, as in 2 Chr 16:14 and 21:19, it is the ceremonial fire made at a king's funeral, in which spices and aromatics were burned. Elsewhere it is used of lime-burnings (Isa 33:12).

Against the English

KJV and WEB "burnings" is literal but unclear and can suggest cremation. BSB, ESV and NASB "spices were burned" bring out the custom. NIV's "funeral fire" keeps the fire but could be read as a pyre.

How it drifted

Readers who know cremation may assume "burn for you" means burning the body. Judahite kings were buried in tombs, not cremated.

Used elsewhere in the period

2 Chr 16:14: Asa was laid on a bier "filled with spices and various kinds of perfumes… and they made a very great burning for him." 2 Chr 21:19: for the disgraced Jehoram "his people made no burning for him, like the burning of his fathers". This verse uses almost the same wording. Ancient Jewish tradition preserves the practice of burning a king's bed and belongings in his honour.

Where it appears

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 33:12 מִשְׂרְפ֣וֹת burnings of

    The peoples will be burned to ashes, like thorns cut down and set ablaze.

    Here: A noun from the verb "to burn" (śaraph) for a burning or the burned-up result. It is plural and joined to the next word ("burnings of lime"). The nations will become a fire on the scale of a lime kiln, not a passing flame.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 34:5 וּֽכְמִשְׂרְפ֣וֹת and like [the] burnings of

    you will die in peace. As spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who preceded you, so people will burn spices for you and lament, ‘Alas, O master!’ For I Myself have spoken this word, declares the LORD.”

    Here: The fires lit at royal funerals, burning spices and aromatics in the dead king's honour. This is not cremation of the body. The plural points to an established custom repeated king after king.

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