Hebrew word · H6329

פּוּק

vaiyafek

to promote

In the causative form: to bring out, draw out, furnish (Isaiah 58:10, "pour out your soul to the hungry"); to obtain, get (Proverbs 3:13; 8:35; 12:2; 18:22); to let succeed, promote (Psalm 140:8). HALOT lists "obtain" for the Proverbs uses.

Appears 7 times in 7 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to bring out, furnish, promote, go out, issue

1a) (Hiphil)

1a1) to produce, furnish

1a2) to bring out, elicit, obtain, cause to come out from

1a3) to promote

1a4) to cause to go out to

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 Proverbs 18:22

Range of meaning

In the causative form: to bring out, draw out, furnish (Isaiah 58:10, "pour out your soul to the hungry"); to obtain, get (Proverbs 3:13; 8:35; 12:2; 18:22); to let succeed, promote (Psalm 140:8). HALOT lists "obtain" for the Proverbs uses.

Against the English

"Obtains" (BSB, KJV, ESV, NASB) and "receives" (NIV, NLT) are both fair. YLT's "bringeth out" keeps the picture of drawing something out of a source.

Used elsewhere in the period

The exact phrase wayyāpheq rātsôn mêYHWH, "and obtains favor from the LORD", occurs only here and in Proverbs 8:35 (about finding Wisdom). Proverbs 12:2 is close: "A good man obtains favor (yāphîq rātsôn) from the LORD."

From the study of Proverbs 12:2

Range of meaning

In the form used here: to bring out or draw out, to furnish or supply, to obtain or get, and also to promote or bring to success. HALOT and BDB both give "obtain" for the Proverbs passages and "offer, furnish" for Isa 58:10.

Against the English

"Obtains" (BSB, ESV, NIV, KJV "obtaineth") is accurate. YLT's "bringeth forth" keeps the root picture of drawing something out. The supplied lexical gloss "to promote" fits other uses (Ps 140:8 [Heb 9], "do not promote his scheme") but not this one.

Used elsewhere in the period

Prov 3:13 ("the one who obtains understanding"); 8:35; 18:22 (both "obtains favor from YHWH"); Isa 58:10 ("if you pour yourself out / offer yourself to the hungry"); Ps 140:8 [Heb 9], where YHWH is asked not to "bring to success" the wicked man's zemem, his plot. That last verse joins this verb with the same root as mezimmot in our verse.

From the study of Proverbs 3:13

Range of meaning

In this form: to bring out or produce, to furnish or supply, to obtain or get. Isa 58:10 uses it for drawing out or offering oneself to the hungry, and Ps 144:13 for barns that furnish produce. Ps 140:8 (Eng. 140:9) is a plea not to grant the wicked their desire. Prov 8:35, 12:2 and 18:22 use it for obtaining favor from YHWH. A different, similar-sounding root (H6328) means 'to totter'.

Against the English

BSB 'acquires', KJV 'getteth', WEB 'gets', NIV/NASB 'gain', YLT 'bringeth forth'. Most versions treat it as a plain synonym of 'find'. YLT keeps the root sense of 'bringing out' but makes it sound as if the person produces understanding from within.

Used elsewhere in the period

The word is rare in the Hebrew Bible, and its uses in Proverbs cluster around obtaining favor (8:35 is especially close: 'whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from YHWH', where 'find' and pûq are paired just as here). HALOT and BDB both list 'obtain' for these Proverbs uses.

Similar words

Where it appears

Psalms · 2

  1. Psalm 140:8 תָּ֝פֵ֗ק you promote

    Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked; do not promote their evil plans, lest they be exalted. Selah

    Here: "Do not bring it out / let it come through." Elsewhere the verb means to obtain favour or to yield produce. Here the psalmist asks God not to let the scheme come to the point where it pays off.

  2. Psalm 144:13 מְפִיקִ֥ים providing

    Our storehouses will be full, supplying all manner of produce; our flocks will bring forth thousands, tens of thousands in our fields.

    Here: 'Bringing out / supplying.' The stores are so full that they keep handing out provisions; the picture is plenty that flows outward, not grain that just sits there.

Proverbs · 4

  1. Proverbs 3:13 יָפִ֥יק [who] he obtains

    Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who acquires understanding,

    Here: A rare verb meaning to get something out, to obtain or furnish it. Proverbs uses it for obtaining favor from YHWH (8:35; 12:2; 18:22). Here it pairs with 'finds': this person brings out understanding and comes to possess it. The form describes an action not yet finished, which may suggest ongoing getting, though Hebrew poetry often alternates verb forms just for variety.

  2. Proverbs 8:35 וַיָּ֥פֶק and he obtained

    For whoever finds me finds life and obtains the favor of the LORD.

    Here: Literally 'and he draws out' or 'brings forth'. The person gains something by drawing it out of its source, here Yahweh. The 'and' form presents it as what follows from finding Wisdom: 'and so he obtains'.

  3. Proverbs 12:2 יָפִ֣יק he obtains

    The good man obtains favor from the LORD, but the LORD condemns a man who devises evil.

    Here: "Draws out, obtains." The basic picture is bringing something out or drawing it forth. The form describes what usually happens, a standing truth rather than a single event. The same verb with the same object appears in a fixed phrase in Proverbs: 8:35 and 18:22 also say someone "obtains favor from YHWH."

  4. Proverbs 18:22 וַיָּ֥פֶק and he obtained

    He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.

    Here: A rare verb meaning to draw out or get hold of. The man ends up holding favor that came out from God. The "and" links it closely to the finding, so the wife is itself the evidence of God's goodwill, not only a reward that comes afterwards.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 58:10 וְתָפֵ֤ק and you will offer

    and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will go forth in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday.

    Here: 'And [if] you bring out / hand over.' The causative form means to make something come out or to furnish it. It continues the 'if' that began in verse 9b, so this is still the condition God sets, not a separate command.

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