Hebrew word · H5188

נְטִיפָה

vehanetifot

pendant

A drop-shaped ornament, from the root נָטַף (nāṭap), "to drip, drop". It means a pendant: an earring, or a drop hanging from a necklace. The word occurs only twice, here and in Judges 8:26.

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

What it means

1) drop

1a) pendant, ornament

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 3:19

Range of meaning

A drop-shaped ornament, from the root נָטַף (nāṭap), "to drip, drop". It means a pendant: an earring, or a drop hanging from a necklace. The word occurs only twice, here and in Judges 8:26.

Against the English

BSB "pendants" and WEB "earrings" both fit the evidence. YLT's "drops" keeps the root picture. KJV's "chains" goes furthest from the Hebrew: the word is about the drop shape, not about linked chains, though the drops may have hung from a chain.

How it drifted

KJV followed older guesses based on context. Later lexicons tied the word to the root "drip" and to what archaeology has found.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Judges 8:26 the spoil Gideon takes from the Midianite kings includes "the crescents and the pendants (neṭîpôt) and the purple garments". That is the same pairing with crescents (śahărōnîm) found here in Isaiah 3:18–19. Iron Age sites in the Levant have produced many drop- and teardrop-shaped earrings and pendants in gold, silver and bronze (see Platt 1979).

Where it appears

Judges · 1

  1. Judges 8:26 וְהַנְּטִפ֜וֹת and the pendants

    The weight of the gold earrings he had requested was 1,700 shekels, in addition to the crescent ornaments, the pendants, the purple garments of the kings of Midian, and the chains from the necks of their camels.

    Here: 'The drops': teardrop-shaped pendants or ear-drops, from the verb natap 'to drip'. Also in Isaiah 3:19.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 3:19 הַנְּטִיפ֥וֹת the pendants

    their pendants, bracelets, and veils;

    Here: Literally "the drops". It comes from the verb meaning to drip. These are drop-shaped ornaments, most likely earrings or pendants hanging from the ears or a necklace. The word "the" marks them as known items, as if someone were reading out an inventory.

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