Hebrew word · H6617
פָּתַל
niftalti
to twist
To twist or wind, and so to wrestle or struggle. In the passive it means to be twisted or perverse. In the reflexive stem it means to show oneself tortuous, to act in a twisting way, or to out-wrestle.
Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) to twist
1a) (Niphal)
1a1) to be twisted
1a2) to wrestle
1b) (Hithpael) to be twisted
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
- Range of meaning
To twist or wind, and so to wrestle or struggle. In the passive it means to be twisted or perverse. In the reflexive stem it means to show oneself tortuous, to act in a twisting way, or to out-wrestle.
- Against the English
BSB, WEB and NIV use 'shrewd'. Some versions use 'astute'. Those words make it sound like clever savvy, which modern English treats as praise. KJV's 'froward' makes God sound perverse. ESV's 'make yourself seem tortuous' keeps the twisting image and softens the moral claim. YLT's 'wrestler' follows the Naphtali connection.
- How it drifted
Translators face a real problem. Read literally, 'you show yourself twisted' could sound as if God becomes wicked, so most versions pick a word that has been made respectable. That hides the vivid picture of God twisting his moves to match the crooked person's.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Genesis 30:8 (Naphtali): 'wrestlings of God (naptûlê ʾĕlōhîm) I have wrestled (niptaltî)'. Job 5:13: 'the counsel of the twisted (niptālîm) is swept away'. Proverbs 8:8. Deuteronomy 32:5 (pətaltōl). 2 Samuel 22:27 has the shortened form tittappāl.
- Range of meaning
To twist. The passive form means twisted, crooked, devious. Related words: pātîl, a twisted cord or thread (Num 15:38); pətaltōl, 'tortuous' (Deut 32:5, 'a crooked and twisted generation'). It is also the root of Rachel's word-play on Naphtali's name, 'wrestlings of God I have wrestled' (Gen 30:8).
- Against the English
KJV 'froward' is accurate but obsolete; it meant perverse or contrary. BSB, WEB and others say 'cunning', which loses the picture of twistedness. YLT's 'wrestling ones' follows the Genesis 30:8 word-play but misleads in this context.
- How it drifted
'Froward' has dropped out of everyday English. Most readers either do not know it or confuse it with 'forward'.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Psalm 18:26 (Heb. v.27) and 2 Samuel 22:27: 'with the crooked (ʿiqqēš) you show yourself tortuous (titpattāl)'. Proverbs 8:8: nothing 'twisted' (niptāl) is in wisdom's words. Proverbs 8:8 is the clearest parallel: true wisdom is straight, and twisted cleverness is its counterfeit.
Where it appears
Genesis · 1
-
Genesis 30:8 נִפְתַּ֛לְתִּי I have wrestled
Then Rachel said, “In my great struggles, I have wrestled with my sister and won.” So she named him Naphtali.
2 Samuel · 1
-
2 Samuel 22:27 תִּתַּפָּֽל׃ you show yourself twisted
to the pure You show Yourself pure, but to the crooked You show Yourself shrewd.
Job · 1
-
Job 5:13 נִפְתָּלִ֣ים tortuous [people]
He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning.
Here: 'Twisted ones': people whose dealings are bent and devious, like a cord twisted on itself. It answers 'wise' in the first half and shows what kind of 'wisdom' is meant.
Psalms · 1
-
Psalm 18:26 תִּתְפַּתָּֽל׃ you show yourself twisted
to the pure You show Yourself pure, but to the crooked You show Yourself shrewd.
Here: 'You twist yourself' or 'you show yourself tortuous'. The verb pictures twisting and wrestling. Its noun appears in Genesis 30:8, where Naphtali is named for 'wrestlings of God'. God meets the crooked person with moves to match theirs and outmaneuvers them. The poet does not reuse the word ʿiqqēš for God, though. He switches to a different verb.
Proverbs · 1
-
Proverbs 8:8 נִפְתָּ֥ל [is] a twisted [thing]
All the words of my mouth are righteous; none are crooked or perverse.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.