רָפָה

Exodus 4:26 וַיִּ֖רֶף and he withdrew

So the LORD let him alone. (When she said, “bridegroom of blood,” she was referring to the circumcision.)

Exodus 5:8 נִרְפִּ֣ים [are] idle

But require of them the same quota of bricks as before; do not reduce it. For they are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’

Exodus 5:17 נִרְפִּ֥ים נִרְפִּ֑ים [are] idle, idle

“You are slackers!” Pharaoh replied. “Slackers! That is why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’

Deuteronomy 4:31 יַרְפְּךָ֖ he will abandon you

For the LORD your God is a merciful God; He will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers, which He swore to them by oath.

Here: 'He will not let you drop' or 'loosen his grip on you'. The picture is a hand that holds on and does not go slack. This root (r-p-h) is different from rāpāʾ, 'to heal' (as in 'YHWH Rapha').

Deuteronomy 9:14 הֶ֤רֶף refrain

Leave Me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. Then I will make you into a nation mightier and greater than they are.”

Here: A short command form: 'let go!', 'stop!', 'release (your hold)'. It opens the verse abruptly, as if Moses were standing between God and the people and God tells him to step aside.

Deuteronomy 31:6 יַרְפְּךָ֖ he will abandon you

Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or terrified of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Here: In this causative form, 'he will not let you drop, will not loosen his hold on you.' It answers the opening ḥizqû: Israel is to grip firmly, and YHWH will not go slack on them.

Deuteronomy 31:8 יַרְפְּךָ֖ he will abandon you

The LORD Himself goes before you; He will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”

Here: The causative form of a verb meaning 'to sag, go slack.' Its core picture is loosening your grip and dropping someone. God will not slacken his hold on Joshua.

Joshua 1:5 אַרְפְּךָ֖ I will abandon you

No one shall stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so will I be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

Here: In this form the verb means 'let go of, relax my hold on, let drop'. The picture is of a grip that will not loosen. KJV's 'fail' and BSB's 'leave' both flatten this picture.

Joshua 10:6 תֶּ֥רֶף you let drop

Then the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: “Do not abandon your servants. Come quickly and save us! Help us, because all the kings of the Amorites from the hill country have joined forces against us.”

Here: In this causative form the verb means to let something go slack or drop it, so to withdraw or abandon. They are asking Joshua not to let his hands fall away from them, that is, not to withhold his support.

Joshua 18:3 מִתְרַפִּ֔ים [be] showing yourself slack

So Joshua said to the Israelites, “How long will you put off entering and possessing the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?

Judges 8:3 רָפְתָ֤ה it relaxed

God has delivered Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian, into your hand. What was I able to do compared to you?” When he had said this, their anger against him subsided.

Judges 11:37 הַרְפֵּ֨ה refrain

She also said to her father, “Let me do this one thing: Let me wander for two months through the mountains with my friends and mourn my virginity.”

Judges 19:9 רָפָ֨ה it is sinking

When the man got up to depart with his concubine and his servant, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Look, the day is drawing to a close. Please spend the night. See, the day is almost over. Spend the night here, that your heart may be merry. Then you can get up early tomorrow for your journey home.”

1 Samuel 11:3 הֶ֤רֶף refrain

“Hold off for seven days,” replied the elders of Jabesh, “and let us send messengers throughout Israel. If there is no one to save us, we will surrender to you.”

1 Samuel 15:16 הֶ֚רֶף be quiet

“Stop!” exclaimed Samuel. “Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night.” “Tell me,” Saul replied.

2 Samuel 4:1 וַיִּרְפּ֖וּ and they dropped

Now when Ish-bosheth son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel was dismayed.

2 Samuel 24:16 הֶ֣רֶף let drop

But when the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

Here: A command form meaning 'let your hand sink / go slack'. The picture is an arm raised to strike being lowered.

2 Kings 4:27 הַרְפֵּֽה־ refrain

When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she clung to his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for her soul is in deep distress, and the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me.”

Here: "Let go! Leave off!" A command to drop your grip and stop. It is the same verb as "Be still" in Psalm 46:10.

1 Chronicles 21:15 הֶ֣רֶף let drop

Then God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but as the angel was doing so, the LORD saw it and relented from the calamity, and He said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

Here: A command form of the verb meaning to sink or go slack. It means “let your hand fall” or “relax your grip.” The picture is of a hand raised to strike that is lowered.

1 Chronicles 28:20 יַרְפְּךָ֙ he will abandon you

David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do it. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will neither fail you nor forsake you before all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished.

Here: In this form the verb means 'let go of, loosen one's grip on, let fall.' God will not go slack on Solomon. It mirrors the chazaq ('grip, be firm') commanded at the start of the verse.

2 Chronicles 15:7 יִרְפּ֖וּ they drop

But as for you, be strong; do not be discouraged, for your work will be rewarded.”

Here: 'Let them not drop/go limp.' The grammatical subject is the hands, not the people. The picture is arms hanging loose because the will to act has drained away: demoralisation rather than mere physical weakness.

Ezra 4:4 מְרַפִּ֖ים [were] making slack

Then the people of the land set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to build.

Nehemiah 6:3 אַרְפֶּ֔הָ I will let drop it

So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it to go down to you?”

Nehemiah 6:9 יִרְפּ֧וּ they will drop

For they were all trying to frighten us, saying, “Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will never be finished.” But now, my God, strengthen my hands.

Here: 'Their hands will go slack': the builders will lose heart and let go. This is a standard Hebrew expression for losing courage.

Job 7:19 תַ֝רְפֵּ֗נִי will you let alone? me

Will You never look away from me, or leave me alone to swallow my spittle?

Job 12:21 רִפָּֽה׃ he loosens

He pours out contempt on nobles and disarms the mighty.

Here: An intensive form: 'he has loosened, made slack'. With 'belt' it pictures the sash undone, so the robe hangs loose and the sword falls away. The man is disarmed and unable to act. The line moves from 'pouring' (ongoing) to 'has loosened' (done), so the point lands as an accomplished fact.

Job 27:6 אַרְפֶּ֑הָ I will let go it

I will cling to my righteousness and never let go. As long as I live, my conscience will not accuse me.

Psalm 37:8 הֶ֣רֶף refrain

Refrain from anger and abandon wrath; do not fret—it can only bring harm.

Here: A command (the verb's causative form): 'let it drop, release your grip.' It is the same verb as 'Be still' in Psalm 46:10, which pictures hands falling slack. It is the first word of the verse and the first word of the poem's 'he' stanza, so it opens a new letter of the alphabet acrostic.

Psalm 46:10 הַרְפּ֣וּ be quiet

“Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted over the earth.”

Here: A plural command (to a group, not one person) from a verb meaning to let something drop or go slack, used of hands loosening their grip. Here it means 'Stop! Let go! Enough!', spoken just after God has broken bows and burned shields (v. 9). It is a command to cease, not an invitation to quiet reflection.

Psalm 138:8 תֶּֽרֶף׃ you abandon

The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me. O LORD, Your loving devotion endures forever—do not abandon the works of Your hands.

Here: 'Do not let go / do not let drop.' The picture is of hands loosening their grip and something falling. It fits the hand imagery: do not let your hands go slack on what your hands have made.

Proverbs 4:13 תֶּ֑רֶף you let go

Hold on to instruction; do not let go. Guard it, for it is your life.

Here: From a root meaning 'go slack, sink down, grow limp'. The picture is a hand loosening its grip. It is the direct opposite of the 'be strong' verb that opens the line: grip hard, don't go limp. No object is stated; the reader supplies 'it' or 'her'.

Proverbs 18:9 מִתְרַפֶּ֣ה [one who] shows himself idle

Whoever is slothful in his work is brother to him who destroys.

Here: A reflexive participle: "one who lets himself go slack", who lets his hands drop. It describes a habit of loosening his grip on the job: half effort, putting things off, giving up. It is not necessarily lying in bed.

Proverbs 24:10 הִ֭תְרַפִּיתָ you have shown yourself without courage

If you faint in the day of distress, how small is your strength!

Here: A reflexive form: "you let yourself go slack," "you went limp," "you slacked off." The same form describes the lazy worker in Proverbs 18:9 and the tribes who held back from taking their land in Joshua 18:3. It is about giving up and letting go, not about passing out. The Hebrew has no word for "if." Putting a past-tense verb first sets up the condition: "Did you go slack...? Then...".

Song of Songs 3:4 אַרְפֶּ֔נּוּ I let go him

I had just passed them when I found the one I love. I held him and would not let go until I had brought him to my mother’s house, to the chamber of the one who conceived me.

Here: "I would not let him go slack." The root means to go limp or loosen, and in this causative form it means to let something drop from your hands. The verb form is an unfinished one (an imperfect), which gives a sense of resolve: I would not, I will not, let my grip loosen.

Isaiah 5:24 יִרְפֶּ֔ה it sinks down

Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw, and as dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will decay and their blossoms will blow away like dust; for they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of Hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

Here: The basic sense is to go slack or droop. Here it is the way a heap of hay slumps and falls in on itself as fire runs through it.

Isaiah 13:7 תִּרְפֶּ֑ינָה they will drop

Therefore all hands will fall limp, and every man’s heart will melt.

Here: 'They will go slack.' The verb is used for strength draining away. Hands that 'slacken' can no longer hold anything, so it means losing the will and the ability to fight. The tense is a prophetic future: this will surely happen.

Jeremiah 6:24 רָפ֣וּ they hung limp

We have heard the report; our hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped us, pain like that of a woman in labor.

Here: 'They have gone slack.' The hands drop and lose their grip. This is a stock Hebrew picture of losing courage and the will to act or fight.

Jeremiah 38:4 מְרַפֵּ֡א [is] making drop

Then the officials said to the king, “This man ought to die, for he is discouraging the warriors who remain in this city, as well as all the people, by speaking such words to them; this man is not seeking the well-being of these people, but their ruin.”

Here: A participle for ongoing action: 'is making (hands) go limp'. With 'hands' this is a fixed idiom for draining people's will and ability to act, in wartime meaning to demoralize, even to undermine the war effort.

Jeremiah 49:24 רָפְתָ֥ה it will be disheartened

Damascus has become feeble; she has turned to flee. Panic has gripped her; anguish and pain have seized her like a woman in labor.

Jeremiah 50:43 וְרָפ֣וּ and they hung limp

The king of Babylon has heard the report, and his hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped him, pain like that of a woman in labor.

Ezekiel 1:24 תְּרַפֶּ֥ינָה they let drop

When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings like the roar of many waters, like the voice of the Almighty, like the tumult of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings.

Here: The verb means to let go slack or let hang loose. The wings are lowered and go quiet. The form describes a regular pattern: whenever they stopped, the wings dropped. The silence prepares for the voice that comes from above in verse 25.

Ezekiel 1:25 תְּרַפֶּ֥ינָה they let drop

And there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads as they stood still with their wings lowered.

Here: 'They would let (their wings) drop' or hang loose. The verb form describes a repeated habit: every time they halted, the wings went slack, and the roar of verse 24 stopped.

Ezekiel 7:17 תִּרְפֶּ֑ינָה they will drop

Every hand will go limp, and every knee will turn to water.

Ezekiel 21:7 וְרָפ֨וּ and they will hang limp

And when they ask, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you are to say, ‘Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt, and every hand will go limp. Every spirit will faint, and every knee will turn to water.’ Yes, it is coming and it will surely happen, declares the Lord GOD.”

Here: The hands drop. Grip and strength drain away, so no one can hold a weapon or work.

Zephaniah 3:16 יִרְפּ֥וּ they drop

On that day they will say to Jerusalem: “Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands fall limp.

Here: "Let them drop / go slack": the hands are the subject. It is an idiom for the collapse of courage and the will to act when terrible news arrives, the body's picture of despair.