Hebrew word · H5585

סָעִיף

se'if

cleft

Lexicons list two senses: (1) a cleft or fissure in rock (Judg 15:8, 11; Isa 2:21; 57:5), and (2) a branch or bough (Isa 17:6; 27:10). HALOT treats them as separate homonyms, while BDB lists both under one root ('divide, split'). The sense of a branch splitting off from a trunk links them.

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

What it means

1) cleft, branch

1a) cleft (of a crag)

1b) branches, boughs

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 27:10

Range of meaning

Lexicons list two senses: (1) a cleft or fissure in rock (Judg 15:8, 11; Isa 2:21; 57:5), and (2) a branch or bough (Isa 17:6; 27:10). HALOT treats them as separate homonyms, while BDB lists both under one root ('divide, split'). The sense of a branch splitting off from a trunk links them.

Against the English

All the major versions have 'branches' here, which is right. YLT's 'its branches' keeps the feminine 'its' that points back to the city.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 17:6 has the gleaning image: 'four or five on the branches of a fruitful tree'. Isaiah 17 shares much of its imagery with this passage (17:2 has abandoned cities given over to flocks that lie down).

From the study of Judges 15:8

Range of meaning

Seʿif means a cleft, fissure or crevice in rock (Isa 2:19, 21; 57:5). It is related to words for branching or splitting, as with the branches of a tree (Isa 17:6). Selaʿ means a crag, cliff or rocky height, typical of Judah's limestone hill country, full of caves and clefts.

Against the English

KJV 'in the top of the rock' is wrong: the word means a cleft, not a summit. YLT, ESV and NASB give 'cleft'. BSB, WEB and NIV give 'cave', a fair interpretation, since the clefts of Judah's hills are often cave-like.

How it drifted

KJV's 'top' reflects an older guess about the word. Modern lexicons (BDB, HALOT) agree on 'cleft'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 2:21 pictures people hiding 'in the clefts of the crags' (bisʿifei ha-selaʿim) when God arises in judgment. The same pairing of words is used for a hiding place. Caves in Judah's hills served as refuges for fugitives, as David's story shows (1 Sam 22:1; 24:3).

Where it appears

Judges · 2

  1. Judges 15:8 בִּסְעִ֖יף in [the] cleft of

    And he struck them ruthlessly with a great slaughter, and then went down and stayed in the cave at the rock of Etam.

    Here: 'In the cleft or crevice of.' The word means a split, a fissure in rock (Isa 2:21; 57:5), or a branch splitting off a tree (Isa 17:6; 27:10). It is a hollow or cave-like crack, not a summit.

  2. Judges 15:11 סְעִיף֮ [the] cleft of

    In response, three thousand men of Judah went to the cave at the rock of Etam, and they asked Samson, “Do you not realize that the Philistines rule over us? What have you done to us?” “I have done to them what they did to me,” he replied.

Isaiah · 4

  1. Isaiah 2:21 וּבִסְעִפֵ֖י and in [the] clefts of

    They will flee to caverns in the rocks and crevices in the cliffs, away from the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty, when He rises to shake the earth.

  2. Isaiah 17:6 בִּסְעִפֶ֙יהָ֙ on branches its

    Yet gleanings will remain, like an olive tree that has been beaten—two or three berries atop the tree, four or five on its fruitful branches,” declares the LORD, the God of Israel.

  3. Isaiah 27:10 סְעִפֶֽיהָ׃ branches its

    For the fortified city lies deserted—a homestead abandoned, a wilderness forsaken. There the calves graze, and there they lie down; they strip its branches bare.

    Here: 'Its branches': the boughs of trees and shrubs growing in the ruins. 'Its' is feminine and refers back to the city. This tree imagery leads into verse 11, where the branches dry out and women break them off for firewood.

  4. Isaiah 57:5 סְעִפֵ֥י [the] clefts of

    who burn with lust among the oaks, under every luxuriant tree, who slaughter your children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?

    Here: 'Clefts of': cracks and overhangs in rock faces. In Judg 15:8 and Isa 2:21 they are places to hide. Here they are places of secret rites, possibly linked with the underworld.

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