Hebrew word · H8609

תָּפַר

vaiyitperu

to sew

To sew or stitch together. It is rare: Gen 3:7 (Adam and Eve 'sewed fig leaves'), Job 16:15 ('I have sewn sackcloth upon my skin', in mourning), Ezek 13:18 (women 'sewing bands'), and here.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to sew together

1a) (Qal) to sew, sew together

1b) (Piel)

1b1) to sew

1b2) sewing (participle)

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

From the study of Ecclesiastes 3:7

Range of meaning

To sew or stitch together. It is rare: Gen 3:7 (Adam and Eve 'sewed fig leaves'), Job 16:15 ('I have sewn sackcloth upon my skin', in mourning), Ezek 13:18 (women 'sewing bands'), and here.

Against the English

KJV, WEB and ESV have 'sew', which is literal. BSB, NIV and NLT have 'mend', which spells out that something torn is being repaired. Both are fair, but 'mend' brings out the reversal.

Used elsewhere in the period

Job 16:15 puts sewing itself in a mourning setting (sackcloth), which shows the verb was at home in the language of grief. The Septuagint uses rhaptō, 'to stitch'.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 3:7 וַֽיִּתְפְּרוּ֙ and they sewed together

    And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed together fig leaves and made coverings for themselves.

    Here: "And they sewed." A rare verb (also Job 16:15; Eccl 3:7; Ezek 13:18) for joining material by stitching. It shows an improvised, hurried piece of handwork.

Job · 1

  1. Job 16:15 תָּ֭פַרְתִּי I have sewed

    I have sewn sackcloth over my skin; I have buried my horn in the dust.

Ecclesiastes · 1

  1. Ecclesiastes 3:7 לִתְפּ֔וֹר to sew

    a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,

    Here: To stitch cloth together. A rare verb that names an ordinary household task. Here it is the reverse of tearing: repairing what was torn, possibly when the time of mourning ends.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 13:18 לִֽמְתַפְּר֨וֹת to [women who] sew

    and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: Woe to the women who sew magic charms on their wrists and make veils for the heads of people of every height, in order to ensnare their souls. Will you ensnare the souls of My people but preserve your own?

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