Hebrew word · H7375
רֻטֲפַשׁ
rutafash
be fresh
Found only here in the Hebrew Bible. Lexicons (BDB, HALOT) give 'be(come) fresh, grow soft/plump.' It is usually explained as a blend of two roots: רטב (r-ṭ-b, 'be moist, juicy, fresh,' Job 8:16, 24:8) and טפשׁ (ṭ-p-š, 'be fat, gross,' Ps 119:70).
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
(Niphal) to grow fresh, be grown fresh
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
Found only here in the Hebrew Bible. Lexicons (BDB, HALOT) give 'be(come) fresh, grow soft/plump.' It is usually explained as a blend of two roots: רטב (r-ṭ-b, 'be moist, juicy, fresh,' Job 8:16, 24:8) and טפשׁ (ṭ-p-š, 'be fat, gross,' Ps 119:70). Together they suggest a body that is moist, filled out and supple again.
- Against the English
KJV, WEB and YLT have 'fresher.' BSB has 'is refreshed,' and others 'is renewed.' Modern English 'refreshed' can sound like a rested feeling. The Hebrew picture is physical: shrunken, dried skin over bones (v.21) becomes full and supple again.
- Used elsewhere in the period
No other biblical use. Related vocabulary of moist, green vitality appears in Job 8:16 ('he is lush/moist before the sun'). The Septuagint renders it with ἁπαλυνεῖ ('he will make soft/tender').
Where it appears
Job · 1
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Job 33:25 רֻֽטֲפַ֣שׁ it grows fresh
then his flesh is refreshed like a child’s; he returns to the days of his youth.
Here: A rare four-letter verb found only here. It pictures skin and body that are full, soft and supple again, the opposite of the wasted frame in v.21. It opens the verse, so the first thing the hearer gets is the change itself.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.