Hebrew word · H5596

סָפַח

mesapeach

to attach

A rare verb: to attach, add to, join to a group. In the reflexive form used here: to attach oneself, be added. Eli's descendants beg, "Attach me (səpāḥēnî) to one of the priestly offices" (1 Sam 2:36).

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

What it means

1) to join, attach to, join together

1a) (Qal) to join, attach to

1b) (Niphal) to attach oneself

1c) (Piel) joining (participle)

1d) (Pual) to be joined together, hold oneself together

1e) (Hithpael) to join oneself

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 14:1

Range of meaning

A rare verb: to attach, add to, join to a group. In the reflexive form used here: to attach oneself, be added. Eli's descendants beg, "Attach me (səpāḥēnî) to one of the priestly offices" (1 Sam 2:36). David complains that he has been driven "from attaching myself (mēhistappēaḥ) to the inheritance of the LORD" (1 Sam 26:19).

Against the English

KJV "cleave" sounds like marriage language (Gen 2:24 uses a different word, dābaq). BSB/WEB "unite with" and ESV "attach themselves to" are fair. NIV and NLT turn "house of Jacob" into "descendants" or "people," which loses the household picture.

Used elsewhere in the period

1 Sam 2:36; 26:19 (both about belonging to a priestly household or a share in the LORD's inheritance). The Septuagint here has prostethēsontai, "they will be added."

From the study of 1 Samuel 26:19

Range of meaning

To join, attach, add. Reflexive forms mean 'to attach oneself, be joined, belong'. Qal: 1 Sam 2:36, 'attach me to one of the priestly offices'. Niphal: Isa 14:1, foreigners 'will join themselves to the house of Jacob'.

Against the English

KJV 'abiding in' suggests simply staying. BSB 'sharing in', ESV and NIV 'share in', NASB 'attachment with', WEB 'cling to', YLT 'being admitted into'. The Hebrew is about belonging, being bound to and counted within, more than residence alone.

Used elsewhere in the period

1 Sam 2:36; Isa 14:1; Job 30:7 (a different sense: huddled together). BDB: 'attach oneself to'; HALOT: 'to join, attach oneself'.

From the study of Habakkuk 2:15

Range of meaning

The well-attested root means 'to join, attach, add' (Isaiah 14:1, foreigners 'will attach themselves'; 1 Samuel 2:36, 'attach me to a priestly post'). A second root, or a stretched sense, 'to pour, flow,' has been proposed from a related noun for torrents or outflow (Job 14:19). Its meaning in Habakkuk 2:15 is genuinely disputed.

Against the English

Most English versions say 'pouring' (BSB, WEB, ESV, YLT). NASB's 'mix in' follows the 'add/attach' root: adding poison to the drink. KJV's 'puttest thy bottle to him' is an attempt at 'attach': pressing the flask to his lips.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lexicons (BDB, HALOT) divide over whether Habakkuk 2:15 belongs under 'attach' or a separate 'pour' root. Several modern commentators instead emend to missap, 'from the bowl,' comparing Zechariah 12:2, 'a bowl (sap) of reeling.' The supplied source data lists it under 'to attach' (H5596A) while glossing 'pouring out' in context, which reflects exactly this uncertainty.

Where it appears

1 Samuel · 2

  1. 1 Samuel 2:36 סְפָחֵ֥נִי attach me

    And everyone left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a morsel of bread, pleading, “Please appoint me to some priestly office so that I can eat a piece of bread.”’”

  2. 1 Samuel 26:19 מֵהִסְתַּפֵּ֜חַ from having a share

    Now please, may my lord the king hear the words of his servant: If the LORD has stirred you up against me, then may He accept an offering. But if men have done it, may they be cursed in the presence of the LORD! For today they have driven me away from sharing in the inheritance of the LORD, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’

    Here: 'From attaching myself / belonging'. The verb form is reflexive, 'to join oneself to'. The same root appears in 1 Sam 2:36: 'attach me to one of the priestly offices'. David is being cut off from belonging to YHWH's holding.

Job · 1

  1. Job 30:7 יְסֻפָּֽחוּ׃ they are joined together

    They cried out among the shrubs and huddled beneath the nettles.

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 3:17 וְשִׂפַּ֣ח and he will make scabby

    the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will make their foreheads bare.”

  2. Isaiah 14:1 וְנִסְפְּח֖וּ and they will attach themselves

    For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob; once again He will choose Israel and settle them in their own land. The foreigner will join them and unite with the house of Jacob.

    Here: A rare verb for being added or attached to something larger. It is used of joining a priestly household (1 Sam 2:36) and of having a share in the LORD's inheritance (1 Sam 26:19). The foreigners do not just live nearby; they become part of the household.

Habakkuk · 1

  1. Habakkuk 2:15 מְסַפֵּ֥חַ [you are] pouring out

    Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin until they are drunk, in order to gaze at their nakedness!

    Here: An uncertain word. From the root 'attach, add to,' it would mean 'adding / mixing in' your poison or wrath to the drink. Many translators take it as 'pouring out.' Either way it is the host's active doctoring or forcing of the drink.

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