Hebrew word · H5848

עָטַף

ha'atufim

to enfeeble

Two senses are attested, possibly from two separate roots. (1) To wrap, cover, envelop (Ps 65:13, valleys 'covered' with grain; Ps 73:6, violence 'covers' them like a garment). The form here (hithpael) means 'to become faint, grow weak'.

Appears 16 times in 15 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to be feeble, be faint, grow weak

1a) (Qal) to be feeble, be faint

1b) (Niphal) to faint

1c) (Hiphil) to show feebleness

1d) (Hithpael) to faint, faint away

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 Psalm 77:3

Range of meaning

Two senses are attested, possibly from two separate roots. (1) To wrap, cover, envelop (Ps 65:13, valleys 'covered' with grain; Ps 73:6, violence 'covers' them like a garment). (2) To be feeble, faint, weak (Gen 30:42, feeble flocks; Lam 2:11–12, 19, children fainting from hunger; Ps 107:5; Jonah 2:7, 'when my life was fainting away'). The form here (hithpael) means 'to become faint, grow weak'.

Against the English

BSB/NIV 'grew faint' and ESV 'faints' follow sense (2). KJV/WEB 'was overwhelmed' may echo sense (1), as if muffled or covered over. YLT 'feeble is my spirit' is accurate.

Used elsewhere in the period

The phrase hitʿaṭṭēp rûḥ / nepeš ('spirit/soul grows faint') is a fixed lament idiom: Ps 107:5; 142:3; 143:4; Jonah 2:7; Lam 2:12.

From the study of Psalm 61:2

Range of meaning

Lexicons (BDB, HALOT) list either separate words or separate senses spelled ʿ-ṭ-p: (1) 'to wrap, cover oneself' (Ps 73:6, 'violence covers them like a garment'; Ps 65:13, valleys 'covered' with grain); (2) 'to turn aside' (Job 23:9); (3) 'to be feeble, faint, weak'. Our verse uses sense (3), which is used of hunger and exhaustion (Lam 2:11, 12, 19; Ps 107:5), of a life slipping away (Jonah 2:7), and of a spirit failing under distress (Ps 77:3; 142:3; 143:4; 102:1 heading, 'a prayer of the afflicted when he is faint').

Against the English

KJV and WEB: 'overwhelmed'. BSB, ESV, NASB: 'faint'. NIV: 'grows faint'. YLT: 'in the feebleness of'. 'Overwhelmed' today usually means emotionally swamped by too much pressure. The Hebrew pictures strength ebbing away until one is close to collapse.

How it drifted

In 1611 'overwhelm' still kept its root sense of being overturned or submerged, perhaps influenced by the 'cover/wrap' sense of the same Hebrew letters. Modern use has narrowed it to feeling stressed.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lam 2:19: children 'who faint (ʿăṭûpîm) from hunger at the head of every street'. Ps 107:5: travelers hungry and thirsty, 'their soul fainted within them'. Jonah 2:7 (Heb. 2:8): 'when my life was fainting away I remembered the LORD'. The Septuagint here uses akēdiasai, 'to be in anguish, to be listless', the word from which later monastic writers took acedia.

From the study of Isaiah 57:16

Range of meaning

Two words share this spelling. (1) To be feeble or faint, to grow weak, to swoon. It is used of a spirit overwhelmed (Ps 61:2; 102 title; 142:3), of starving children fainting in the streets (Lam 2:11–12, 19), and of weak animals (Gen 30:42). (2) To wrap or envelop (Ps 65:13; 73:6).

Against the English

"Fail" (KJV), "faint" (WEB) and "grow weak" (BSB) all follow meaning (1). They are accurate, though the Hebrew image is one of collapse, like a person passing out.

Used elsewhere in the period

The title of Psalm 102 reads "a prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint (yaʿăṭōp̄)", which is the very same verb form as here. Some medieval Jewish readers, Rashi among them, used meaning (2): the spirit from God is "wrapped" in the body.

Where it appears

Genesis · 2

  1. Genesis 30:42 וּבְהַעֲטִ֥יף הָעֲטֻפִים֙ and when was feeble, the enfeebled ones

    But if the animals were weak, he did not set out the branches. So the weaker animals went to Laban and the stronger ones to Jacob.

Job · 1

  1. Job 23:9 יַעְטֹ֥ף he turns

    When He is at work in the north, I cannot behold Him; when He turns to the south, I cannot see Him.

Psalms · 8

  1. Psalm 61:2 בַּעֲטֹ֣ף when grows faint

    From the ends of the earth I call out to You whenever my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

    Here: 'When [it] grows faint.' The same verb is used for children fainting from hunger in the streets (Lam 2:11–12, 19) and for Jonah's life ebbing away (Jonah 2:7). It pictures strength draining out, not a mood.

  2. Psalm 65:13 יַֽעַטְפוּ־ they cover themselves

    The pastures are clothed with flocks, and the valleys are decked with grain. They shout in triumph; indeed, they sing.

    Here: To wrap yourself in something like a cloak (compare Ps 73:6; 109:19). The valleys wrap themselves in grain the way a person pulls a mantle around the body. The clothing picture continues.

  3. Psalm 73:6 יַעֲטָף־ it covers

    Therefore pride is their necklace; a garment of violence covers them.

    Here: "It wraps / covers". The form describes something ongoing or habitual. Its subject is "a garment of violence": violence wraps all the way around them, like a cloak pulled close.

  4. Psalm 77:3 וְתִתְעַטֵּ֖ף for it may faint away

    I remembered You, O God, and I groaned; I mused and my spirit grew faint. Selah

    Here: 'And it grows faint.' The verb pictures strength draining away, the way it is used of starving children fainting in the streets (Lam 2:11–12). Its subject is 'my spirit'. The more he ponders, the weaker he gets.

  5. Psalm 107:5 תִּתְעַטָּֽף׃ it was fainting away

    They were hungry and thirsty; their soul fainted within them.

  6. Psalm 142:3 בְּהִתְעַטֵּ֬ף when faints away

    Although my spirit grows faint within me, You know my way. Along the path I travel they have hidden a snare for me.

    Here: "In the fainting of…": the preposition 'in/when' plus a verb form describing a state the subject sinks into. It sets the scene: at the moment his strength runs out. The same phrase is used of Jonah in the fish (Jonah 2:7) and in Psalm 77:3.

  7. Psalm 143:4 וַתִּתְעַטֵּ֣ף and it has fainted away

    My spirit grows faint within me; my heart is dismayed inside me.

    Here: The opening 'and' with this verb form continues the story of verse 3: the enemy pursued, crushed and buried me in darkness, and so my spirit gave out. The reflexive form pictures the life-force sinking into itself, swooning, the way a starving child or a thirsty traveller faints.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 57:16 יַֽעֲט֔וֹף it will grow faint

    For I will not accuse you forever, nor will I always be angry; for then the spirit of man would grow weak before Me—the breath of life I have made.

    Here: "Would faint, give out." Elsewhere the verb describes a spirit sinking in distress (Ps 77:3; 142:3) and children fainting from hunger (Lam 2:11–12). A homonym (a separate word spelled the same) means "to wrap, cover", which explains some ancient readings.

Lamentations · 3

  1. Lamentations 2:11 בֵּֽעָטֵ֤ף because faint

    My eyes fail from weeping; I am churning within. My heart is poured out in grief over the destruction of the daughter of my people, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city.

    Here: "In the fainting of" / "as ... faint": an infinitive with "in," naming the scene the speaker is watching while it happens, which is also the reason for the grief. The verb pictures going limp and weak from hunger.

  2. Lamentations 2:12 בְּהִֽתְעַטְּפָ֤ם when faint away they

    They cry out to their mothers: “Where is the grain and wine?” as they faint like the wounded in the streets of the city, as their lives fade away in the arms of their mothers.

  3. Lamentations 2:19 הָעֲטוּפִ֥ים the ones enfeebled

    Arise, cry out in the night from the first watch of the night. Pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to Him for the lives of your children who are fainting from hunger on the corner of every street.

    Here: "The ones growing faint." This is the slow weakening of starvation, life ebbing away, not a brief swoon. The same root is used in 2:11–12 of children fainting in the city squares.

Jonah · 1

  1. Jonah 2:7 בְּהִתְעַטֵּ֤ף when fainted away

    As my life was fading away, I remembered the LORD. My prayer went up to You, to Your holy temple.

    Here: 'In the fainting away of…' A preposition with a verb-noun describing the moment of collapse. The same expression is used for exhaustion, hunger and dying (Ps 107:5; 142:3; 143:4; Lam 2:12). It sets the time of the prayer: right at the edge of death.

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