Hebrew word · H5398

נָשַׁף

nashaf

to blow

To blow or puff, a sudden breath or gust. Related to the noun נֶשֶׁף (nesheph), 'twilight' or 'dusk', probably as 'the breezy time' of day (compare Gen 3:8, 'the cool [ruach] of the day').

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

What it means

(Qal) to blow

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 Exodus 15:10

Range of meaning

To blow or puff, a sudden breath or gust. Related to the noun נֶשֶׁף (nesheph), 'twilight' or 'dusk', probably as 'the breezy time' of day (compare Gen 3:8, 'the cool [ruach] of the day').

Against the English

'Blew' is accurate. What English cannot easily show is how rare and vivid the word is. It is not the common verb for wind blowing. It is a breath-word, which keeps the picture personal.

Used elsewhere in the period

The verb appears only twice in the Hebrew Bible: here and in Isaiah 40:24 ('he blows on them and they wither, and the storm carries them off like stubble'). Both times God does the blowing and powerful humans are wiped out. Isaiah may be echoing this song.

From the study of Isaiah 40:24

Range of meaning

To blow, puff or breathe out. It is related to neshef, 'twilight', perhaps 'the breezy time' of evening.

Against the English

Most versions give 'blows on them'. WEB and NASB add 'merely' (from gam, 'also'), which brings out how little effort it takes. That is a fair reading of the tone.

Used elsewhere in the period

The only other occurrence is Exodus 15:10, in the Song of the Sea: 'You blew with your wind; the sea covered them.' The same song says God's fury 'consumed them like stubble' (Exodus 15:7, qash). Isaiah 40:7 makes a related point with a different verb: 'the breath (ruach) of the LORD blows on it'.

Where it appears

Exodus · 1

  1. Exodus 15:10 נָשַׁ֥פְתָּ you blew

    But You blew with Your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.

    Here: A rare verb for a puff or gust of breath, found only here and in Isaiah 40:24, where God blows on rulers and they wither. It is completed past action and opens the verse with no 'and' or 'but': one breath from God answers the enemy's whole boast in verse 9.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 40:24 נָשַׁ֤ף he blows

    No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner have their stems taken root in the ground, than He blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like stubble.

    Here: 'He blew.' The subject is God, the one 'enthroned above the circle of the earth' (v. 22). The word is a breath or puff, not a hurricane. The only other place the verb occurs is Exodus 15:10, where God blows on Pharaoh's army.

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