Hebrew word · H5299
נָפָה
benafat
height
Uncertain. It occurs only with Dor (here; Joshua 12:23; 1 Kings 4:11 'Naphath-dor') and in Joshua 17:11 ('the three nafet'). It is usually explained as 'height, ridge'. Others suggest 'district' or 'coastal dunes and ridges'.
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
sieve, winnowing implement
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
Uncertain. It occurs only with Dor (here; Joshua 12:23; 1 Kings 4:11 'Naphath-dor') and in Joshua 17:11 ('the three nafet'). It is usually explained as 'height, ridge'. Others suggest 'district' or 'coastal dunes and ridges'.
- Against the English
WEB 'heights', YLT 'elevations', KJV 'borders' (12:23 'coast'), while BSB, ESV and NIV keep it as the place name 'Naphoth-dor'.
- How it drifted
Because the meaning is unclear, translators either guess at it or leave it untranslated as a name.
- Used elsewhere in the period
In 1 Kings 4:11 'all Naphath-dor' is one of Solomon's administrative districts, so the phrase became a fixed name for Dor's hinterland.
Where it appears
Joshua · 1
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Joshua 11:2 וּבְנָפ֥וֹת and on [the] heights of
to the kings of the north in the mountains, in the Arabah south of Chinnereth, in the foothills, and in Naphoth-dor to the west;
Here: A rare word, probably 'heights, ridges'. Combined with Dor it names the higher ground around the coastal city: the Carmel slopes or the sandstone ridges along the shore. Some take it as 'district'.
Isaiah · 1
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Isaiah 30:28 בְּנָ֣פַת in a sieve of
His breath is like a rushing torrent that rises to the neck. He comes to sift the nations in a sieve of destruction; He bridles the jaws of the peoples to lead them astray.
Here: A sieve for sifting grain. This word means 'sieve' only here in the Hebrew Bible, and its sound echoes the verb 'to swing' (hănāpâ) just before it.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.