Hebrew word · H6826

צִפּוּי

tzipui

plating

ṣippûy: an overlay or plating of metal (Exod 38:17, 19; Num 16:38–39). ʾăpuddâ: a close cousin of ʾēpôd, 'ephod'. It is used for the ephod's band or covering (Exod 28:8; 39:5) and here for a sheath or casing of gold.

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

What it means

plating (of metal), metal plating

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 Isaiah 30:22

Range of meaning

ṣippûy: an overlay or plating of metal (Exod 38:17, 19; Num 16:38–39). ʾăpuddâ: a close cousin of ʾēpôd, 'ephod'. It is used for the ephod's band or covering (Exod 28:8; 39:5) and here for a sheath or casing of gold.

Against the English

KJV 'covering… ornament', WEB 'overlaying… plating', and BSB 'silver-plated… gold-plated' all bring out the plating idea. YLT's 'ephod' keeps the word-link but may lead readers to think of the high priest's garment.

Used elsewhere in the period

Israelite and neighbouring idols were usually wooden or bronze cores sheathed in precious metal (Isa 40:19; Jer 10:3–4, 9; Hab 2:19: 'it is overlaid with gold and silver, but there is no breath in it'). Gilded and silver-foiled figurines are known archaeologically from Canaanite sites. Judges links ephods to idolatry: Gideon's gold ephod (Judg 8:27), and Micah's ephod beside a carved and a cast image (Judg 17:5; 18:14–20).

Where it appears

Exodus · 2

  1. Exodus 38:17 וְצִפּ֥וּי and [the] overlay of

    The bases for the posts were bronze, the hooks and bands were silver, and the plating for the tops of the posts was silver. So all the posts of the courtyard were banded with silver.

  2. Exodus 38:19 וְצִפּ֧וּי and [the] overlay of

    with four posts and four bronze bases. Their hooks were silver, as well as the bands and the plating of their tops.

Numbers · 2

  1. Numbers 16:38 צִפּ֣וּי overlay

    As for the censers of those who sinned at the cost of their own lives, hammer them into sheets to overlay the altar, for these were presented before the LORD, and so have become holy. They will serve as a sign to the Israelites.”

  2. Numbers 16:39 צִפּ֥וּי overlay

    So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers brought by those who had been burned up, and he had them hammered out to overlay the altar,

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 30:22 צִפּוּי֙ [the] plating of

    So you will desecrate your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated images. You will throw them away like menstrual cloths, saying to them, “Be gone!”

    Here: The thin sheet of precious metal hammered over a statue's core. Elsewhere it is used for the bronze plating of the altar (Num 16:38–39 [Heb 17:3–4]). Here it names the costly, shining surface that made an idol impressive.

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