Hebrew word · H5968

עָלַף

vatit'alaf

to faint

To cover or wrap (Gen 38:14 and Song 5:14 use related forms for wrapping or overlaying).

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 25, 2026

What it means

1) to cover

1a) (Pual) covered, encrusted (participle)

1b) (Hithpael) to enwrap oneself, disguise oneself, faint

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: To cover or wrap (Gen 38:14 and Song 5:14 use related forms for wrapping or overlaying). From that comes the idea of being 'covered over', meaning swooning or wilting under heat, thirst or exhaustion: Amos 8:13, 'the young women and young men shall faint for thirst'; Jonah 4:8, Jonah 'fainted' in the scorching wind; Ezek 31:15, the trees of the field 'wilted'.
Against the English: Most versions say 'fainted'. YLT's 'wrapped up' keeps the root picture but sounds odd in English. Today 'fainted' suggests a short blackout and getting back up. The Hebrew picture is closer to collapsing and withering, the way men fall during a siege famine.
How it drifted: English 'faint' has weakened over time to mean a brief loss of consciousness. In older English, 'faint' meant being utterly spent.
Used elsewhere in the period: The closest parallel is in Lamentations, which mourns the same disaster, the fall of Jerusalem in 587/586 BC: 'your children, who faint (a related verb, ʿāṭaph) for hunger at the head of every street' (Lam 2:19; compare 2:11–12). Isaiah 51:20 seems to echo that lament on purpose.

Range of meaning: Two attested senses. (1) "Cover, wrap, veil oneself" (Gen 38:14, Tamar "wrapped herself" in a veil, the same verb form). (2) "Faint, swoon, be overcome" (Amos 8:13, maidens "faint" from thirst; Isa 51:20, sons "have fainted"; Ezek 31:15). The two may be linked by the idea of being "covered over" or blacking out.
Against the English: Most versions: "grew faint/fainted." YLT alone: "wrappeth himself up."
Used elsewhere in the period: LXX ὠλιγοψύχησεν, "he lost heart / grew faint-spirited." Vulgate aestuabat, "he was sweltering, burning with heat." Both ancient versions read it as physical or emotional collapse, not wrapping.

Genesis · 1

Genesis 38:14 וַתִּתְעַלָּ֔ף and she wrapped herself up

she removed her widow’s garments, covered her face with a veil to disguise herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah. For she saw that although Shelah had grown up, she had not been given to him as a wife.

Song of Songs · 1

Song of Songs 5:14 מְעֻלֶּ֖פֶת covered

His arms are rods of gold set with beryl. His body is polished ivory bedecked with sapphires.

Here: "Covered over" or "overlaid", i.e. adorned or inlaid. The same root describes Tamar wrapping herself in a veil (Gen 38:14). The supplied gloss "to faint" is a separate sense of the root and does not fit here.

Isaiah · 1

Isaiah 51:20 עֻלְּפ֥וּ they have become faint

Your sons have fainted; they lie at the head of every street, like an antelope in a net. They are full of the wrath of the LORD, the rebuke of your God.

Here: 'They have been overcome / have swooned.' The root means to be wrapped or covered over (the YLT tries to keep this with 'wrapped up'). It is used for collapsing from heat, thirst or hunger. The verb form is passive: something has done this to them.

Amos · 1

Amos 8:13 תִּ֠תְעַלַּפְנָה they will become faint

In that day the lovely young women—the young men as well—will faint from thirst.

Jonah · 1

Jonah 4:8 וַיִּתְעַלָּ֑ף and he became faint

As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint and wished to die, saying, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

Here: Most likely "he grew faint, swooned" from heatstroke, as in Amos 8:13 (fainting from thirst). The same verb form can also mean "cover or wrap oneself" (Gen 38:14), which is how YLT takes it: Jonah wraps himself up against the sun.

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