אֶ֫פֶס

Numbers 13:28 אֶ֚פֶס nevertheless

Nevertheless, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified. We even saw the descendants of Anak there.

Numbers 22:35 וְאֶ֗פֶס and only

But the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you are to speak only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

Numbers 23:13 אֶ֚פֶס only

Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the outskirts of their camp—not all of them. And from there, curse them for me.”

Deuteronomy 15:4 אֶ֕פֶס nevertheless

There will be no poor among you, however, because the LORD will surely bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance,

Deuteronomy 32:36 וְאֶ֖פֶס and there not

For the LORD will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and no one remains, slave or free.

Here: 'And there is an end of...' or 'and there is none...'. It is a strong negative: nothing is left.

Deuteronomy 33:17 אַפְסֵי־ [the] ends of

His majesty is like a firstborn bull, and his horns are like those of a wild ox. With them he will gore the nations, even to the ends of the earth. Such are the myriads of Ephraim, and such are the thousands of Manasseh.”

Here: The farthest limits, where something runs out. The phrase marks the full extent of the reach.

Judges 4:9 אֶ֚פֶס nevertheless

“I will certainly go with you,” Deborah replied, “but the road you are taking will bring you no honor, because the LORD will be selling Sisera into the hand of a woman.” So Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh,

1 Samuel 2:10 אַפְסֵי־ [the] ends of

Those who oppose the LORD will be shattered. He will thunder from heaven against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth and will give power to His king. He will exalt the horn of His anointed.”

Here: From a root meaning 'to cease': the places where land runs out. 'The ends of the earth' means the whole inhabited world out to its farthest edges.

2 Samuel 9:3 הַאֶ֨פֶס ¿ [is] there not

So the king asked, “Is there anyone left of the house of Saul to whom I can show the kindness of God?” Ziba answered, “There is still Jonathan’s son, who is lame in both feet.”

Here: A question marker joined to a word meaning "cessation, nothing." Together they mean "Is there really no longer...?" The negative wording makes the search sound urgent: has Saul's line run out?

2 Samuel 12:14 אֶ֗פֶס nevertheless

Nevertheless, because by this deed you have shown utter contempt for the word of the LORD, the son born to you will surely die.”

Here: The basic sense is 'end' or 'nothing more'. Together with kî it means 'only' or 'nevertheless'. It limits the pardon just announced in v.13: David will not die, but something remains.

2 Kings 14:26 וְאֶ֤פֶס וְאֶ֣פֶס and there not

For the LORD saw that the affliction of the Israelites, both slave and free, was very bitter. There was no one to help Israel,

Job 7:6 בְּאֶ֣פֶס with not

My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope.

Here: "In the absence of, for lack of." The noun means a point where something stops or runs out. With the preposition it means "with no..." or "when there is no more...".

Psalm 2:8 אַפְסֵי־ [the] ends of

Ask Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance, the ends of the earth Your possession.

Here: "The ends of": from a root meaning "to cease, come to nothing", the points where land runs out. The plural means the farthest edges in every direction.

Psalm 22:27 אַפְסֵי־ [the] ends of

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD. All the families of the nations will bow down before Him.

Here: 'The ends of.' The root means the point where something stops. These are the farthest edges of the inhabited world, the places furthest from Jerusalem.

Psalm 59:13 לְאַפְסֵ֖י to [the] ends of

Consume them in wrath; consume them till they are no more, so it may be known to the ends of the earth that God rules over Jacob. Selah

Here: "To the ends of." The word means the outer limit, the place where land runs out. It can also mean 'nothing' or 'no more', which gives the verse a quiet echo with 'they are not' earlier in the line.

Psalm 67:7 אַפְסֵי־ [the] ends of

God blesses us, that all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.

Here: "The ends of." From a root meaning "to cease, come to nothing," it names the farthest edges where the land runs out. Here it stands for the most distant peoples.

Psalm 72:8 אַפְסֵי־ [the] ends of

May he rule from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.

Here: From a root meaning "to cease, come to an end". These are the points where the land runs out. The plural pictures the farthest edges in every direction.

Psalm 98:3 אַפְסֵי־ [the] ends of

He has remembered His love and faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Here: From a root meaning 'to come to an end, cease'. The 'ends' are the far edges where the land runs out, the most distant peoples imaginable.

Proverbs 14:28 וּבְאֶ֥פֶס and in not

A large population is a king’s splendor, but a lack of subjects is a prince’s ruin.

Proverbs 26:20 בְּאֶ֣פֶס with not

Without wood, a fire goes out; without gossip, a conflict ceases.

Here: With the preposition be-, "when there is an end of / for lack of." Efes is the point where something runs out, the same word used for "the ends of the earth." Here it pictures the woodpile running out.

Proverbs 30:4 אַפְסֵי־ [the] ends of

Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His hands? Who has bound up the waters in His cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is the name of His Son—surely you know!

Here: 'The ends of', where the land runs out. A fixed phrase for the farthest limits of the inhabited world (Ps 2:8; 22:27).

Isaiah 5:8 אֶ֣פֶס there not

Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field until no place is left and you live alone in the land.

Here: 'The end of' or 'no more'. With the next word it means 'there is no room left at all', both literally and for anyone else.

Isaiah 34:12 אָֽפֶס׃ nothing

No nobles will be left to proclaim a king, and all her princes will come to nothing.

Isaiah 40:17 מֵאֶ֥פֶס from nothingness

All the nations are as nothing before Him; He regards them as nothingness and emptiness.

Isaiah 41:12 וּכְאֶ֖פֶס and as nothing

You will seek them but will not find them. Those who wage war against you will come to nothing.

Isaiah 41:29 אֶ֖פֶס [are] nothing

See, they are all a delusion; their works amount to nothing; their images are as empty as the wind.

Isaiah 45:6 אֶ֖פֶס nothing

so that all may know, from where the sun rises to where it sets, that there is none but Me; I am the LORD, and there is no other.

Here: Literally 'end, zero, nothing at all'. 'That there is nothing apart from me' is stronger than the polite English 'none besides me': outside YHWH the category of god comes to zero.

Isaiah 45:14 אֶ֥פֶס there not

This is what the LORD says: “The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, along with the Sabeans, men of stature, will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge behind you; they will come over in chains and bow down to you. They will confess to you: ‘God is indeed with you, and there is no other; there is no other God.’”

Here: A strong word for 'nothing at all'. 'Nothing (else), gods' means the other gods amount to zero.

Isaiah 45:22 אַפְסֵי־ [the] ends of

Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.

Here: "The ends of": the point where the land runs out. The same word means "nothing / none besides" in the chapter's repeated claim that there is no god apart from the LORD (45:6, 14). The farthest edges of the world are being called to the only God there is.

Isaiah 46:9 וְאֶ֥פֶס and there not

Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me.

Here: A noun meaning 'end, cessation, nothing' that works here as a strong negative: 'and there is nothing'. Isaiah uses the same word for how the nations and idols count before God (40:17; 41:12, 29).

Isaiah 47:8 וְאַפְסִ֣י and only I

So now hear this, O lover of luxury who sits securely, who says to herself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or know the loss of children.’

Here: From efes, "end, nothing, none." Here it means "and there is none (besides)." The final -i is grammatically debated (see Debates), but the sense is clear. It repeats God's own formula from Isa 45–46: "there is none besides me."

Isaiah 47:10 וְאַפְסִ֥י and only I

You were secure in your wickedness; you said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge led you astray; you told yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’

Here: Roughly 'and apart from me, nothing.' The root means 'end, zero'. Babylon declares every rival to be nothing. This is the word God had used of the nations (40:17).

Isaiah 52:4 בְּאֶ֥פֶס for nothing

For this is what the Lord GOD says: “At first My people went down to Egypt to live, then Assyria oppressed them without cause.

Isaiah 52:10 אַפְסֵי־ [the] ends of

The LORD has bared His holy arm in the sight of all the nations; all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.

Here: The point where the land runs out: the farthest edges of the known world. The phrase means the most distant peoples, not only Israel's neighbours.

Isaiah 54:15 אֶ֖פֶס not

If anyone attacks you, it is not from Me; whoever assails you will fall before you.

Here: Its root meaning is 'end, nothingness'. Here it works as a strong 'not': the attack has nothing of God in it. Earlier in this part of Isaiah the same word carries God's claim 'there is none besides me' (45:6, 14; 46:9).

Jeremiah 16:19 מֵֽאַפְסֵי־ from [the] ends of

O LORD, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of distress, the nations will come to You from the ends of the earth, and they will say, “Our fathers inherited nothing but lies, worthless idols of no benefit at all.

Here: "From the ends of": the farthest edges, where land runs out. The same root can mean "nothing," though the sense here is spatial.

Ezekiel 47:3 אָפְסָֽיִם׃ ankles

As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and led me through ankle-deep water.

Here: A dual form, meaning a pair: 'the two extremities', that is, the ankles (or possibly the soles). It occurs only here with this meaning. 'Water of ankles' means water up to the ankles, the first of four rising levels.

Daniel 8:25 וּבְאֶ֥פֶס and by not

Through his craft and by his hand, he will cause deceit to prosper, and in his own mind he will make himself great. In a time of peace he will destroy many, and he will even stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be broken off, but not by human hands.

Here: "And with nothing of", that is, "without". Literally it is "with the end/absence of" a hand.

Amos 6:10 אָ֑פֶס no

And when the relative who is to burn the bodies picks them up to remove them from the house, he will call to one inside, “Is anyone else with you?” “None,” that person will answer. “Silence,” the relative will retort, “for the name of the LORD must not be invoked.”

Amos 9:8 אֶ֗פֶס nevertheless

Surely the eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” declares the LORD.

Here: The word means "end, nothing more." Together with the next word it limits what came before: "only that…", "except that…". The sweeping threat is about to be fenced in.

Micah 5:4 אַפְסֵי־ [the] ends of

He will stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majestic name of the LORD His God. And they will dwell securely, for then His greatness will extend to the ends of the earth.

Here: "The ends of": the farthest edges, where land runs out. The root carries the idea of something ceasing.

Zephaniah 2:15 וְאַפְסִ֣י and only I

This carefree city that dwells securely, that thinks to herself: “I am it, and there is none besides me,” what a ruin she has become, a resting place for beasts. Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.

Here: 'And besides me, nothing / no one'. The word for 'end, nothingness' is used to mean 'apart from me there is none'. The final -î may be 'my' or an old word-ending (see textual notes). Either way the claim is to be unrivalled.

Zechariah 9:10 אַפְסֵי־ [the] ends of

And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem, and the bow of war will be broken. Then He will proclaim peace to the nations. His dominion will extend from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.

Here: From a root meaning 'cease, come to nothing': the points where land runs out, the farthest edges.