Hebrew word · H7092

קָפַץ

kafatz

to gather

qāpaṣ: to draw together or shut tightly, as a hand (Deut 15:7), compassion (Ps 77:9 [Heb 10]) or a mouth (Job 5:16; Ps 107:42).

Appears 7 times in 7 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated November 01, 2026

What it means

1) to draw together, close, shut, shut up, stop up

1a) (Qal) to shut

1b) (Niphal)

1b1) to draw oneself together (of death)

1b2) to be shut up to death

1c) (Piel) springing, skipping (participle)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: qāpaṣ: to draw together or shut tightly, as a hand (Deut 15:7), compassion (Ps 77:9 [Heb 10]) or a mouth (Job 5:16; Ps 107:42).
Against the English: 'Shut their mouths' is literal and good. A modern reader might hear 'were silenced' as being shut up in a quarrel, but the image is closer to stunned, respectful silence.
Used elsewhere in the period: Job 29:9–10: princes 'laid their hand on their mouth' before an honoured man. Mic 7:16: nations 'lay their hand on their mouth' in shame at God's deeds. Isa 49:7: kings and princes rise and bow when they see the Servant.

Range of meaning: To draw together, contract or shut. Used of the hand ('do not shut your hand against your poor brother', Deut 15:7) and of the mouth (Job 5:16; Isa 52:15, 'kings shall shut their mouths because of him'). In the passive form it describes the dead being 'gathered up' (Job 24:24). A separate root with the same letters means 'to leap' (Song 2:8).
Against the English: 'Shuts' and 'stops' are both fine. The Hebrew picture is of lips clamped tightly together. Elsewhere this is the reaction of people left speechless by something they cannot argue with.
Used elsewhere in the period: Isa 52:15 and Job 5:16 are the key parallels. In both, people with power or the voice of wrongdoing go silent before God's surprising act on behalf of the lowly. Mic 7:16 has the same idea with a different verb ('the nations shall see and be ashamed… they shall lay their hands on their mouths').

Range of meaning: To draw together, contract, shut tight. It is used of a mouth snapping shut and of compassion being shut off. It describes a tight, closing motion.
Against the English: 'Shut your hand' (KJV, BSB, ESV, WEB) is literal. 'Close your hand' (NASB) is close to it. NIV and NLT have 'tightfisted', an English idiom that catches the clenching image well.
Used elsewhere in the period: Job 5:16: 'injustice shuts its mouth'. Isa 52:15: 'kings shall shut their mouths'. Ps 77:9 (Heb. 10): 'has he in anger shut up his compassion?' Song 2:8 uses a separate, homonymous root meaning 'leap'.

Deuteronomy · 1

Deuteronomy 15:7 תִקְפֹּץ֙ you will shut

If there is a poor man among your brothers within any of the gates in the land that the LORD your God is giving you, then you are not to harden your heart or shut your hand from your poor brother.

Here: 'Clench shut,' as when fingers close into a fist or a mouth shuts tight. It is the opposite of the 'open, open your hand' that follows in v. 8.

Job · 2

Job 5:16 קָ֣פְצָה it shuts

So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.
Job 24:24 יִקָּפְצ֑וּן they are contracted !

They are exalted for a moment, then they are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like heads of grain.

Here: In its active form the verb describes a hand closing tight or a mouth shutting. This passive form appears only here and probably means "they are drawn in, shut up, shrivelled," closed up like a fist or a drying plant. English "gathered up" is a fair guess, but it should not be heard as rescue or collection.

Psalms · 2

Psalm 77:9 קָפַ֥ץ has he shut off

Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has His anger shut off His compassion?” Selah
Psalm 107:42 קָ֣פְצָה it shuts

The upright see and rejoice, and all iniquity shuts its mouth.

Here: To pull something tight together. It is used for clenching a fist (Deut 15:7) and for clamping the lips shut. The form is a completed action: injustice has shut its mouth, stunned into silence. The verb is feminine to agree with the feminine noun ʿawlāh.

Song of Songs · 1

Song of Songs 2:8 מְקַפֵּ֖ץ [is] bounding

Listen! My beloved approaches. Look! Here he comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills.

Here: 'Bounding', a second leaping verb that parallels the first. This is the only place in the Bible where the verb has this form and sense. Later Hebrew and Aramaic use the root for 'jump'.

Isaiah · 1

Isaiah 52:15 יִקְפְּצ֥וּ they will shut

so He will sprinkle many nations. Kings will shut their mouths because of Him. For they will see what they have not been told, and they will understand what they have not heard.

Here: To close tightly (a hand in Deut 15:7, a mouth in Job 5:16). Kings, who are used to speaking with authority, are struck silent.

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