Hebrew word · H6850

צָפַף

tetzaftzef

to whisper

To chirp, twitter, peep, whisper faintly. The doubled form imitates the sound. It is used for birds (Isa 10:14, 'no one opened a beak or chirped') and for the faint voices of the dead called up by mediums (Isa 8:19; 29:4).

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) (Pilpel) to chirp, peep

1a) of birds

1b) of ghosts

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 38:14

Range of meaning

To chirp, twitter, peep, whisper faintly. The doubled form imitates the sound. It is used for birds (Isa 10:14, 'no one opened a beak or chirped') and for the faint voices of the dead called up by mediums (Isa 8:19; 29:4).

Against the English

BSB/ESV 'chirp', KJV/WEB 'chatter', NASB 'twitter', YLT 'chatter'. All of these capture the bird sound. None can carry Isaiah's other use of the word, for ghost voices.

How it drifted

'Chatter' in modern English suggests idle talk, which is wrong for a man in his death agony. 'Chirp' sounds cheerful. The Hebrew is the weak, pitiable peeping of a voice almost gone.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 8:19: 'consult the mediums and spiritists who chirp (ham-ṣapṣəpîm) and mutter (ham-mahgîm).' This is the same pair of verbs as in 38:14, ṣipṣēp and hāgāh. Isaiah 29:4: 'your speech shall chirp (təṣapṣēp) from the dust' like a ghost's. In Mesopotamian texts the dead in the underworld are 'clothed like birds, with garments of wings' (Gilgamesh VII; Descent of Ishtar).

From the study of Isaiah 8:19

Range of meaning

To chirp, twitter, peep: the thin, high sound of birds. Used of birds in Isa 10:14 and 38:14, and of a ghost-voice in 29:4.

Against the English

KJV 'peep'; BSB/NIV/NASB 'whisper'; ESV/WEB 'chirp'; YLT 'chatter.' 'Whisper' suggests secret speech, while 'chirp' keeps the bird-like, non-human sound.

How it drifted

KJV 'peep' meant a chick's cheep (compare KJV Isa 10:14 'opened the mouth, or peeped'). Modern readers hear 'peek.'

Used elsewhere in the period

Across the ancient world the dead were imagined with bird-like, squeaking voices. In Mesopotamia the dead in the underworld are 'clothed like birds, with garments of wings' (Descent of Ishtar; Gilgamesh VII). In Homer, Patroclus' soul goes off 'squeaking' (Iliad 23.101), and the suitors' souls squeak like bats (Odyssey 24.5–9).

Where it appears

Isaiah · 4

  1. Isaiah 8:19 הַֽמְצַפְצְפִ֖ים who whisper

    When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists who whisper and mutter, shouldn’t a people consult their God instead? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?

    Here: 'The ones who chirp.' A bird-like twittering, the thin squeaking voice ghosts were believed to have (compare Isaiah 29:4; 10:14). Isaiah makes the oracle sound ridiculous.

  2. Isaiah 10:14 וּמְצַפְצֵֽף׃ and chirping

    My hand reached as into a nest to seize the wealth of the nations. Like one gathering abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth. No wing fluttered, no beak opened or chirped.’”

  3. Isaiah 29:4 תְּצַפְצֵֽף׃ it will whisper

    You will be brought low, you will speak from the ground, and out of the dust your words will be muffled. Your voice will be like a spirit from the ground; your speech will whisper out of the dust.

  4. Isaiah 38:14 אֲצַפְצֵ֔ף I chirp

    I chirp like a swallow or crane; I moan like a dove. My eyes grow weak as I look upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security.”

    Here: The doubled consonants (ṣap-ṣēp) imitate the sound itself, a faint repeated peeping. Elsewhere in Isaiah this verb is the sound of ghosts called up by mediums (8:19; 29:4). The king's voice has shrunk to the thin voice of the dead. The verb form describes repeated action: 'I kept chirping.'

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