Hebrew word · H661

אָפַף

'afafuni

to surround

To surround or encompass. It appears only five times, nearly always of deadly forces wrapping round a person: the cords of death, the torrents of destruction, the waters of the deep.

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to surround, encompass

1a) (Qal) to encompass

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 Psalm 40:12

Range of meaning

To surround or encompass. It appears only five times, nearly always of deadly forces wrapping round a person: the cords of death, the torrents of destruction, the waters of the deep.

Against the English

"Surround" (BSB, WEB) and "compassed" (KJV, YLT) are accurate but plain. They lose the overtone of drowning or being tied up by death.

Used elsewhere in the period

2 Sam 22:5 and Ps 18:4: "the waves/cords of death encompassed me". Ps 116:3: "the cords of death encompassed me". Jonah 2:5: "the waters encompassed me".

Where it appears

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 22:5 אֲפָפֻ֖נִי they surrounded me

    For the waves of death engulfed me; the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me.

Psalms · 3

  1. Psalm 18:4 אֲפָפ֥וּנִי they encompassed me

    The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me.

    Here: 'They closed around me.' The verb comes first, so the reader feels the trap shut before learning what shut it. The completed (perfect) form tells this as something already lived through. The same verb describes water closing over Jonah (Jonah 2:5), which prepares for the flood in the second line.

  2. Psalm 40:12 אָפְפ֥וּ־ they have surrounded

    For evils without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, so that I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart has failed within me.

    Here: "They have closed in around." A rare verb that in the Psalms and Jonah describes the cords of death or flood-waters wrapping around someone (Ps 18:4; 116:3; Jonah 2:5). It is a picture of being engulfed, not just being outnumbered.

  3. Psalm 116:3 אֲפָפ֤וּנִי׀ they surrounded me

    The ropes of death entangled me; the anguish of Sheol overcame me; I was confronted by trouble and sorrow.

    Here: "They closed in around me." The verb is used elsewhere of floodwaters and the waves of death surrounding someone (2 Samuel 22:5; Jonah 2:5–6), so it paints being engulfed from every side. It comes first in the line for emphasis.

Jonah · 1

  1. Jonah 2:5 אֲפָפ֤וּנִי they have encompassed me

    The waters engulfed me to take my life; the watery depths closed around me; the seaweed wrapped around my head.

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