Hebrew word · H5586

סָעַף

mesa'ef

to lop

To cut off branches, to lop or prune a tree. The verb occurs only here, in the intensive (Piel) form. It is clearly built on the noun family for branches: sĕʿippîm, 'boughs' (Ezek 31:6, 8), and səʿippêhā, 'its branches' (Isa 17:6; 27:10). So it means to take the limbs off a tree.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

(Piel) to cut off, lop off 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 10:33

Range of meaning

To cut off branches, to lop or prune a tree. The verb occurs only here, in the intensive (Piel) form. It is clearly built on the noun family for branches: sĕʿippîm, 'boughs' (Ezek 31:6, 8), and səʿippêhā, 'its branches' (Isa 17:6; 27:10). So it means to take the limbs off a tree.

Against the English

"Lop" (KJV, WEB, ESV, BSB) is accurate. YLT's "is lopping" keeps the participle best: after hinnēh it describes an action already starting. "Will lop" turns it into a plain future and loses the sense that it is happening right there in front of Jerusalem.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lexicons (BDB, HALOT) treat it as a verb formed from the noun 'branch'. The related nouns appear in Isaiah 17:6 and 27:10 and in Ezekiel 31, a long allegory of Assyria as a cedar of Lebanon.

Where it appears

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 10:33 מְסָעֵ֥ף [is] about to lop off

    Behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts will lop off the branches with terrifying power. The tall trees will be cut down, the lofty ones will be felled.

    Here: A participle (a verb form used like '-ing') after "look!", so it means "is lopping" or "is about to lop": the action is already under way. The verb occurs only here in the Bible. It is formed from the word for branches, so it means 'to de-branch' or cut the limbs off a tree.

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