סֵעֵף

From the study of Psalm 119:113

Range of meaning

A rare adjective from the root s-‘-p, which has to do with splitting or branching. Related nouns: סְעִפָּה / סַעֲפָּה, a bough or branch (Ezek 31:6, 8), and סְעִף, a cleft in a rock or a branch (Judg 15:8; Isa 2:21; 17:6; 57:5). The adjective describes someone 'branched' or divided, going two ways at once. BDB glosses it 'divided, half-hearted'; HALOT gives 'divided, ambivalent' (people of divided loyalty). This is its only certain occurrence in the Hebrew Bible.

Against the English

BSB, WEB, NIV and ESV say 'double-minded'. NLT gives 'divided loyalties'. YLT says 'doubting ones'. KJV says 'vain thoughts', with 'vain' printed in italics because the translators supplied it. 'Double-minded' gets the split right, but modern readers can hear it as 'indecisive' or 'wishy-washy'. The Hebrew picture is a road or branch that forks, and the person tries to go both ways. The issue is divided allegiance, not mental hesitation.

How it drifted

KJV's 'thoughts' comes from linking this word with the similar-sounding שְׂעִפִּים, 'disquieting thoughts' (Job 4:13; 20:2), which is spelled with a different s-letter. Medieval Jewish interpreters also drew on that link. Most modern lexicons treat the word as describing people, partly because the verses around it are about people (v. 115 'evildoers', v. 118 'all who stray', v. 119 'the wicked of the earth').

Used elsewhere in the period

The closest parallel is 1 Kings 18:21. Elijah asks Israel, 'How long will you limp on the two סְעִפִּים?' The word there is usually rendered 'opinions', but it may picture two branches, crutches or forking paths. In both places the root describes a people trying to hold on to YHWH and Baal at once. The Septuagint (Ps 118:113) translates the word παρανόμους, 'lawless ones', which interprets it rather than rendering the image. Later Greek-speaking Jews and Christians used δίψυχος, 'two-souled' (James 1:8; 4:8; the Shepherd of Hermas), for a similar idea, though that word is not used here.