שָׁאַף

Job 5:5 וְשָׁאַ֖ף and it is eager for

The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from the thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth.

Job 7:2 יִשְׁאַף־ [who] he pants for

Like a slave he longs for shade; like a hireling he waits for his wages.

Job 36:20 תִּשְׁאַ֥ף you long for

Do not long for the night, when people vanish from their homes.

Psalm 56:1 שְׁאָפַ֣נִי he has crushed me

For the choirmaster. To the tune of “A Dove on Distant Oaks.” A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath. Be merciful to me, O God, for men are hounding me; all day they press their attack.

Here: 'He has trampled me' or 'he snaps at me.' The supplied data and the ancient Greek take it as trampling. The other root spelled the same way means panting with greed, like an animal snapping at prey, which is where 'swallow up' comes from. Either way the picture is violent and degrading. The perfect tense presents the assault as already a fact.

Psalm 56:2 שָׁאֲפ֣וּ they have crushed [me]

My enemies pursue me all day long, for many proudly assail me.

Here: The verb from verse 1 again, now with the enemies as the subject. The verb form shows a done or settled action: they have already been at him. The picture is a pack that tramples, or that pants and snaps at its prey. The two readings come from two possible roots.

Psalm 57:3 שֹׁאֲפִ֣י [one who] crushes me

He reaches down from heaven and saves me; He rebukes those who trample me. Selah God sends forth His loving devotion and His truth.

Here: 'The one trampling me' or 'the one panting after me'. It is a participle, so it pictures an ongoing attacker. The same verb appears twice in the twin Psalm 56 (vv.1-2). Next to the lions of v.4, the picture is of an attacker stamping on him, or of a beast snapping and panting as it hunts.

Psalm 119:131 וָאֶשְׁאָ֑פָה and I panted !

I open my mouth and pant, longing for Your commandments.

Here: "And I panted." The word means gasping or sucking in air, as a parched animal or a woman in labour does. The extra ending -â is a stylistic form common in later Hebrew narrative. It adds no separate meaning that can be shown, though it gives the word a drawn-out sound.

Ecclesiastes 1:5 שׁוֹאֵ֛ף [is] panting

The sun rises and the sun sets; it hurries back to where it rises.

Isaiah 42:14 וְאֶשְׁאַ֖ף and I may pant

“I have kept silent from ages past; I have remained quiet and restrained. But now I will groan like a woman in labor; I will at once gasp and pant.

Here: 'And I will pant,' the heavy breathing of a woman pushing in labor. The same root can mean 'snap at, crush', as with oppressors who 'trample' the poor in Amos 2:7, and that gives KJV 'devour'.

Jeremiah 2:24 שָׁאֲפָ֣ה it sniffs

a wild donkey at home in the wilderness, sniffing the wind in the heat of her desire. Who can restrain her passion? All who seek her need not weary themselves; in mating season they will find her.

Here: A greedy, open-mouthed intake of air. The donkey sniffs and gulps the breeze to catch the scent of males. The verb is perfect in form, but it describes what she typically does.

Jeremiah 14:6 שָׁאֲפ֥וּ they have panted for

Wild donkeys stand on barren heights; they pant for air like jackals; their eyes fail for lack of pasture.”

Ezekiel 36:3 וְשָׁאֹ֨ף and to crush

therefore prophesy and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Because they have made you desolate and have trampled you on every side, so that you became a possession of the rest of the nations and were taken up in slander by the lips of their talkers,

Here: Another subjectless infinitive. It pictures either predators panting and snapping at prey (KJV 'swallowed up') or feet trampling and crushing (BSB, Vulgate). Either way the land is being hungrily attacked.

Amos 2:7 הַשֹּׁאֲפִ֤ים those [who] trample

They trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the earth; they push the needy out of their way. A man and his father have relations with the same girl and so profane My holy name.

Here: A participle with the article: 'the ones who trample'. It describes the people of verse 6 by their habit. Two homonyms share this spelling, 'pant/gasp after' and 'crush/trample'. The supplied data and most modern versions take 'trample', while the KJV took 'pant after'.

Amos 8:4 הַשֹּׁאֲפִ֖ים O those [who] trample on

Hear this, you who trample the needy, who do away with the poor of the land,

Here: An ongoing, habitual action ('those who keep trampling'), with the article making it a title for the accused. The verb either means panting greedily after the needy (as if to swallow them) or trampling and crushing them. Both pictures are of predators.