Hebrew word · H6335

פּוּשׁ

ufashu

to leap

To paw the ground, prance, frisk or spring about. It is used of lively, well-fed animals. A rare word, found only a few times.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated November 01, 2026

What it means

1) to spring about

1a) (Qal) to frisk, act proudly (fig.)

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 paw the ground, prance, frisk or spring about. It is used of lively, well-fed animals. A rare word, found only a few times.
Against the English: BSB, WEB, ESV and NASB give 'leap' or 'skip'. KJV ('grow up') and YLT ('increased') follow an older interpretation that took it as 'grow' or 'grow fat'.
How it drifted: Because the verb is rare, early translators guessed from the context of fattened calves. Comparing Jeremiah 50:11 and Habakkuk 1:8 points to energetic movement.
Used elsewhere in the period: Jer 50:11, a heifer frisking or stamping on the grass; Hab 1:8, horses or horsemen springing forward. The LXX has skirtaō ('leap, skip'); the Vulgate has salietis ('you will leap').

Range of meaning: To leap, frisk, paw the ground or gallop proudly, as in Malachi 4:2 (3:20 Heb.), calves let out of the stall, and Jeremiah 50:11, a frisking heifer. A related use (Nahum 3:18, passive form) means 'be scattered, spread out'.
Against the English: KJV: 'spread themselves' (the 'scatter' sense). WEB and ESV: 'press proudly on' (the prancing sense). BSB: 'charge ahead'. NASB: 'come galloping'. YLT: 'increased', a guess. The variety reflects real uncertainty about a rare verb.
Used elsewhere in the period: The word occurs only a few times in the Hebrew Bible, and lexicons (BDB, HALOT) separate 'spring about, paw' from 'be scattered'. The Vulgate has diffundentur, 'they will be spread out', following the 'scatter' sense. The Septuagint has exippasontai, 'they will ride out'.

Range of meaning: To paw the ground, spring or frisk about, gallop. It is used of animals full of energy. It occurs only a few times: Malachi 4:2 (Hebrew 3:20, calves leaping from the stall), Habakkuk 1:8 (the Chaldeans' cavalry galloping), and here.
Against the English: BSB 'frolic,' WEB 'are wanton' and NASB 'skip about' catch the movement. The KJV 'are grown fat' and YLT 'increasest' guess at a different sense, swelling or spreading. They seem to have linked the word to other rare roots. Older interpreters were unsure of it.
How it drifted: The KJV/YLT reading comes from early uncertainty about this rare verb, not from later change in English. The comparison with Malachi and Habakkuk settles the sense as leaping or galloping.
Used elsewhere in the period: Malachi 3:20 has 'you will go out and paw/leap like stall-calves.' Habakkuk 1:8 has 'its horsemen gallop.' The Septuagint here has skirtaō, 'leap, frisk,' the same verb it uses in Malachi.

Jeremiah · 1

Jeremiah 50:11 תָפ֙וּשׁוּ֙ you are skipping about

“Because you rejoice, because you sing in triumph—you who plunder My inheritance—because you frolic like a heifer treading grain and neigh like stallions,

Here: The lively stamping and leaping of a well-fed young animal, used of calves let out of the stall in Malachi 4:2 (Hebrew 3:20). It pictures unchecked, high-spirited swagger.

Nahum · 1

Nahum 3:18 נָפֹ֧שׁוּ they are scattered

O king of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your officers sleep. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them.

Habakkuk · 1

Habakkuk 1:8 וּפָ֖שׁוּ and they paw [the] ground

Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves of the night. Their horsemen charge ahead, and their cavalry comes from afar. They fly like a vulture, swooping down to devour.

Here: This is a rare verb. Elsewhere it describes calves leaping out of the stall (Malachi 4:2 [3:20 Heb.]) and a frisking heifer (Jeremiah 50:11). Here it describes horses or riders surging and prancing forward. A related form means 'be scattered', which explains the KJV's 'spread themselves'.

Malachi · 1

Malachi 4:2 וּפִשְׁתֶּ֖ם and you will skip

“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall.

Here: A rare verb for lively animals stamping, prancing and springing about (Jer 50:11 of a heifer; Hab 1:8 of horses). The picture is exuberant release. Older English 'grow up' reflects a different old interpretation.

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