שָׁפֵל

1 Samuel 2:7 מַשְׁפִּ֖יל [he is] bringing low

The LORD sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts.

Here: "The one who brings low." It is a spatial word for status: pushing someone down from a high social position. It means public humiliation or demotion, not teaching someone a modest attitude.

2 Samuel 22:28 תַּשְׁפִּֽיל׃ you bring [them] low

You save an afflicted people, but Your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.

Job 22:29 הִ֭שְׁפִּילוּ people brought low

When men are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’ then He will save the lowly.

Here: 'They have brought low.' The form makes someone low rather than describing someone who is low. The subject is not named. Most translations treat it as impersonal ('when people are brought low'). Others think God or Job's 'ways' (v. 28) are the ones doing the humbling.

Job 40:11 וְהַשְׁפִּילֵֽהוּ׃ and bring low him

Unleash the fury of your wrath; look on every proud man and bring him low.

Here: "And bring him low." It is height language and the exact opposite of gēʾeh. In Hebrew poetry this is something God characteristically does (1 Sam 2:7; Ps 75:7), and here it is handed to Job as a test.

Psalm 18:27 תַּשְׁפִּֽיל׃ you bring low

For You save an afflicted people, but You humble those with haughty eyes.

Here: To make something low, to bring it down to the ground. It is a picture of height and depth: God takes what is raised and puts it at the bottom. It is forceful, closer to "lay low" than to "teach humility".

Psalm 75:7 יַ֝שְׁפִּ֗יל he brings low

but it is God who judges; He brings down one and exalts another.

Here: "He makes low." The causative form stresses that God is the one doing it. This is the standard word for humbling the proud: lowering their standing, their honour and their power.

Psalm 113:6 הַֽמַּשְׁפִּילִ֥י who is making low

He humbles Himself to behold the heavens and the earth.

Here: "The one who makes low." The verb form means causing something to be low. It answers the matching word in verse 5, "the one who makes high [to sit]." No object is given: he lowers, presumably his gaze or himself, in order to see. The old poetic ending -î, here and in the neighbouring participles, makes the lines rhyme.

Psalm 147:6 מַשְׁפִּ֖יל [is] bringing low

The LORD sustains the humble, but casts the wicked to the ground.

Here: Another participle describing an ongoing habit, this time in the causative form: 'the one who makes [them] low.' It mirrors the first verb exactly. The exact form appears in Hannah's song: 'he brings low, he also lifts up' (1 Sam 2:7).

Proverbs 16:19 שְׁפַל־ to be lowly

It is better to be lowly in spirit among the humble than to divide the spoil with the proud.

Here: "Being low." The picture is about height: something sitting low, not raised up. Joined to "spirit," it describes a person who does not lift himself up. It is the direct opposite of the "height of spirit" in the verse before (16:18).

Proverbs 25:7 מֵֽ֭הַשְׁפִּ֣ילְךָ than to set low you

for it is better to be told, “Come up here!” than to be demoted in the presence of the prince. Even what you have seen with your own eyes,

Here: “Than (for someone) to make you low.” This is an outside act of demotion, being sent down to a lower place in front of others. It means public humiliation, not the inner virtue of humility.

Proverbs 29:23 תַּשְׁפִּילֶ֑נּוּ it will bring low him

A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.

Here: 'It will bring him low': the pride itself is the subject (the verb is feminine, agreeing with 'pride'). The verb's tense states a general truth: this is what pride does. The man who climbs up gets put down, and his own climbing is what puts him there.

Ecclesiastes 12:4 בִּשְׁפַ֖ל when becomes low

when the doors to the street are shut and the sound of the mill fades away, when one rises at the sound of a bird and all the daughters of song grow faint,

Isaiah 2:9 וַיִּשְׁפַּל־ and he has become low

So mankind is brought low, and man is humbled—do not forgive them!

Here: 'And [man] was made low.' It means a drop in height and status. It is the key word of the chapter's refrain (2:11, 12, 17) against everything 'high'. It means being humiliated, not choosing the virtue of humility.

Isaiah 2:11 שָׁפֵ֔ל it will become low

The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

Here: 'Will be low': the high eyes end up at ground level. The Hebrew verb form is technically a past tense with a masculine singular ending, which does not match the feminine 'eyes'. Context (the future verbs that follow, and 'in that day') shows it describes something certain to come.

Isaiah 2:12 וְשָׁפֵֽל׃ and [it will be] low

For the Day of the LORD of Hosts will come against all the proud and lofty, against all that is exalted—it will be humbled—

Here: 'And low', an abrupt one-word verdict: everything lifted up ends up low. It picks up the 'brought low' of v.11 and v.17, the refrain of the whole poem.

Isaiah 2:17 וְשָׁפֵ֖ל and it will become low

So the pride of man will be brought low, and the loftiness of men will be humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,

Here: "And it will be low." The opposite of being high: to be brought down to ground level, to be abased. The same verb is used of mountains and hills being levelled in Isaiah 40:4.

Isaiah 5:15 וַיִּשְׁפַּל־ תִּשְׁפַּֽלְנָה׃ and he has become low, they will become low

So mankind will be brought low, and each man humbled; the arrogant will lower their eyes.

Here: 'And [he] sinks low.' This is a change of position and status: from high to low. It is not an inner attitude. Like the first verb, it is told as if already done.

Isaiah 10:33 יִשְׁפָּֽלוּ׃ they will become low

Behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts will lop off the branches with terrifying power. The tall trees will be cut down, the lofty ones will be felled.

Here: "Will become low": the tall things end up on the ground. The verb is the regular opposite of 'high' in Isaiah's teaching that God humbles every proud height (2:9, 11, 17; 5:15).

Isaiah 13:11 אַשְׁפִּֽיל׃ I will bring low

I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity. I will end the haughtiness of the arrogant and lay low the pride of the ruthless.

Here: The direct opposite of the 'high' words just before it. This is the verse's last word, so the tyrants' towering pride ends on the ground. It is Isaiah's signature verb for the humbling of the haughty (Isa 2:9–17).

Isaiah 25:11 וְהִשְׁפִּיל֙ and he will bring low

He will spread out his hands within it, as a swimmer spreads his arms to swim. His pride will be brought low, despite the skill of his hands.

Here: 'And he will bring low'. This is a causative verb ('make to be low'). Most readers take the subject to be the LORD, who appears in verse 10, even though the Hebrew does not name him. Isaiah often uses this verb for God humbling human pride (2:11–17; 13:11).

Isaiah 25:12 הִשְׁפִּ֛יל he will bring [it] low

The high-walled fortress will be brought down, cast to the ground, into the dust.

Isaiah 26:5 יַשְׁפִּילֶ֤נָּה יַשְׁפִּילָהּ֙ he will bring low it

For He has humbled those who dwell on high; He lays the lofty city low. He brings it down to the ground; He casts it into the dust.

Here: 'He brings it low.' The 'it' is the city (feminine). The verb form describes ongoing or certain action, and the ending adds emphasis.

Isaiah 29:4 וְשָׁפַלְתְּ֙ and you will become low

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.

Isaiah 32:19 תִּשְׁפַּ֥ל it will become low

But hail will level the forest, and the city will sink to the depths.

Isaiah 40:4 יִשְׁפָּ֑לוּ they will become low

Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground will become smooth, and the rugged land a plain.

Here: "They will sink low." Here the picture is physical: the heights are cut down. In Isaiah, though, this is the verb used for the proud being humbled (Isa 2:9, 11, 17), so the word carries an echo of that.

Isaiah 57:9 וַתַּשְׁפִּ֖ילִי and you showed abasement

You went to Molech with oil and multiplied your perfumes. You have sent your envoys a great distance; you have descended even to Sheol itself.

Jeremiah 13:18 הַשְׁפִּ֣ילוּ make low

Say to the king and to the queen mother: “Take a lowly seat, for your glorious crowns have fallen from your heads.”

Here: A plural command, "get low / go low." Paired with the next word it describes a physical movement: come down from your high seat. It refers to being humiliated in rank. It does not mainly mean an inner attitude of humility.

Ezekiel 17:24 הִשְׁפַּ֣לְתִּי׀ I bring low

Then all the trees of the field will know that I am the LORD. I bring the tall tree down and make the low tree tall. I dry up the green tree and make the withered tree flourish. I, the LORD, have spoken, and I have done it.’”

Here: "I brought low / I bring low." The verb form means causing something to become low. It describes cutting a proud power down to size, and the same root is used for humbling the arrogant.

Ezekiel 21:26 הַשְׁפִּֽיל׃ to bring low

This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Remove the turban, and take off the crown. Things will not remain as they are: Exalt the lowly and bring low the exalted.