Hebrew word · H6330

פּוּקָה

lefukah

staggering

Appears only here in the Hebrew Bible. It comes from the root פוק, 'to totter, reel, wobble'. The root is used of idols nailed down so they 'will not totter' (Jer 10:4) and of drunk priests and prophets who 'reel in giving judgment' (Isa 28:7).

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated November 08, 2026

What it means

1) tottering, staggering, stumbling

1a) of qualm of conscience (fig.)

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 1 Samuel 25:31

Range of meaning: Appears only here in the Hebrew Bible. It comes from the root פוק, 'to totter, reel, wobble'. The root is used of idols nailed down so they 'will not totter' (Jer 10:4) and of drunk priests and prophets who 'reel in giving judgment' (Isa 28:7). The noun means 'a tottering, a staggering', or the thing that causes one. HALOT and BDB give 'tottering, stumbling' and, by extension, a qualm or cause of staggering.
Against the English: KJV/WEB 'grief', BSB 'remorse', ESV 'cause of grief', NIV 'staggering burden'. 'Grief' and 'remorse' name the feeling. The Hebrew gives a physical picture: a man who loses his footing.
How it drifted: Translators had to guess from the root and the context because the word occurs only once. The Latin Vulgate's 'singultus' (a sob or hiccup) may have pushed later English toward words for emotion like 'grief'.
Used elsewhere in the period: Only here. The verb root occurs at Isa 28:7, Jer 10:4, and possibly Isa 28:7's 'they stagger in judgment', which is a striking parallel because it links reeling with a failure of justice.

Where it appears

1 Samuel · 1

1 Samuel 25:31 לְפוּקָה֩ <into> staggering

then my lord will have no remorse or guilt of conscience over needless bloodshed and revenge. And when the LORD has dealt well with my lord, may you remember your servant.”

Here: The word appears only here in the Bible. It comes from a root meaning to reel or totter, so it pictures something that makes a man stagger. A memory of bloodshed would knock him off balance.

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