StrongerBible

yophi

יֳפִי

HebrewH3308“beauty, splendor”

Appears 19 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Est 1:11Psa 45:11(12)Psa 50:2Pro 6:25Pro 31:30Isa 3:24Isa 33:17Lam 2:15Ezk 16:14Ezk 16:15Ezk 16:25Ezk 27:3Ezk 27:4Ezk 27:11Ezk 28:7Ezk 28:12Ezk 28:17Ezk 31:8Zec 9:17
Root family
Word studyResearch-gradeYOH-feenoun

What yophi means

beauty: striking loveliness or splendor, whether the physical attractiveness of a person or the magnificence of a city, land, or tree.

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled

This is the Bible's main noun for beauty, and it covers a wide field: the good looks of a woman such as Queen Vashti or the bride of a wedding song, the grandeur of a great city like Zion or Tyre, even the towering splendor of a mighty tree. More than half of its appearances are in the book of Ezekiel, and there it is almost always the setup for a fall.

The reason is that the Bible treats beauty as a gift, not a possession. Jerusalem's beauty was called "perfect" only because of the splendor (הָדָר) God had placed on her. The danger comes the moment the beautiful thing forgets this and trusts in its own loveliness: Jerusalem "trusted in her beauty," and the king of Tyre's heart "grew proud" because of his. So the very quality that starts as praise to God can curdle into pride.

One short phrase, "perfection of beauty," traces the whole story as it passes from one speaker to another:

  • Zion sings it of herself in worship, because God shines out from her (Psalm 50:2).
  • Tyre boasts it of herself, and a king of Tyre later wears it in Eden-like splendor (Ezekiel 27:3; 28:12).
  • Enemies fling it back at the ruined city of Jerusalem as a taunt (Lamentations 2:15).

Alongside this runs a quieter verdict from the wisdom books: beauty is real, but it does not last. "Charm (חֵן) is deceptive and beauty is fleeting," says the closing poem of Proverbs. The Bible never calls beauty worthless; it warns that beauty is a passing thing, not to be trusted or coveted in place of the God who gives it.

Nuances

1athe physical beauty of a person: a human being's good looks or attractive appearance.
TranslatabilityDirect
Est 1:11Psa 45:11(12)Pro 6:25Pro 31:30Isa 3:24Isa 33:17Ezk 28:7Ezk 28:12Ezk 28:17
Ezk 28:17

Whose beauty the proud figure of Ezekiel 28:11-19 represents.

  • majorityThe beauty of a historical king of Tyre, portrayed in heightened, Eden-like imagery as a glorious being brought down by pride.; Daniel I. Block, The Book of Ezekiel: Chapters 25-48, NICOT (1998); Walther Zimmerli, Ezekiel 2, Hermeneia (1983); Moshe Greenberg, Ezekiel 21-37, Anchor Bible (1997)
  • minorityThe beauty of primal humanity, the first man in the garden of God, so the passage figures the king as Adam.; Dexter E. Callender, Adam in Myth and History (2000)
1bthe splendor of a place or thing: the magnificence of a city, a land, or a great tree.
Psa 50:2Lam 2:15Ezk 16:14Ezk 16:15Ezk 16:25Ezk 27:3Ezk 27:4Ezk 27:11Ezk 31:8Zec 9:17

What scholars say about yophi

The standard lexicons agree on the noun's basic sense: BDB, HALOT, and DCH all gloss יֳפִי as "beauty, splendor." The noun is a qŏṭl-type segolate from the III-y root יפה and occurs 19 times, with a striking concentration in Ezekiel (10 of 19). The lexicons diverge on etymology and semantic priority. Following Gesenius, BDB posits an original sense "to shine, be bright," linking יפה to the neighboring root יפע ("shine forth"); HALOT and the TDOT article (Ringgren) instead take the primary sense as "fitting, complete, perfect," with the aesthetic meaning as a secondary development, comparing Arabic wafā ("fulfill, pay in full") and cognates in Geʿez, Sabaic, and Modern South Arabian. TLOT (Gerleman) and NIDOTTE track a semantic field of (1) physical attractiveness, (2) the splendor of place, tree, and city, and (3) a wisdom extension into "fittingness" that belongs chiefly to the adjective יָפֶה. The recurring construct phrase כְּלִיל(ַת) יֹפִי / מִכְלַל־יֹפִי ("perfection of beauty") anchors an intertextual arc from Zion's doxology (Ps 50:2) through Tyre's boast (Ezek 27:3; 28:12) to the taunt over ruined Jerusalem (Lam 2:15); Dobbs-Allsopp, Berlin, and Hillers read Lam 2:15 as a deliberate reversal of Ps 50:2. On Ezek 28:11-19 the identity of the proud figure is disputed: Zimmerli, Greenberg, and Block read a historical Tyrian ruler in mytho-poetic dress, Callender argues for the primal man, and the patristic and dispensational Satanic reading is rejected by critical commentators. On Prov 31:30, Fox reads הֶבֶל as "fleeting" rather than "worthless." Feminist critics (Galambush; Brenner and van Dijk-Hemmes) press the ethics of Ezekiel's beauty-to-harlotry rhetoric.

In-depth research

This is a research paper, so it may be hard to read without scholarly background. It is useful if you want to dig even deeper into this word.

Sources

  • BDB (Brown-Driver-Briggs), s.v. יפה, יֳפִיlexicon
  • HALOT (Koehler-Baumgartner-Stamm), s.v. יפה Ilexicon
  • DCH (Clines, ed.), s.v. יפהlexicon
  • Helmer Ringgren, "יפה," in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament (TDOT), vol. 6dictionary
  • Gillis Gerleman, "יפה," in Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament (TLOT), vol. 2dictionary
  • New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis (NIDOTTE), vol. 2dictionary
  • Daniel I. Block, The Book of Ezekiel, NICOT (1997-1998)commentary
  • Walther Zimmerli, Ezekiel, Hermeneia (1979-1983)commentary
  • Moshe Greenberg, Ezekiel, Anchor Bible (1983-1997)commentary
  • Hans-Joachim Kraus, Psalms, Continental Commentary (1988-1989)commentary
  • Michael V. Fox, Proverbs 10-31, Anchor Yale Bible (2009)commentary
  • F. W. Dobbs-Allsopp, Lamentations, Interpretation (2002)commentary
  • Dexter E. Callender, Adam in Myth and History (2000)monograph
  • Julie Galambush, Jerusalem in the Book of Ezekiel (1992)monograph

AI-generated word study · claude-opus-4-8

All attested forms of יֳפִי

m s absolute

יֹפִי, יֹּפִי

Psa 50:2, Isa 3:24, Lam 2:15, Ezk 27:3, Ezk 28:12, Pro 31:30

m s construct

יָפְיֵךְ

Psa 45:11, Ezk 16:14, Ezk 16:15, Ezk 16:25, Ezk 27:4, Ezk 27:11

m s construct

יָפְיוֹ

Isa 33:17, Ezk 31:8, Zec 9:17

m s construct

יָפְיָהּ

Est 1:11, Pro 6:25

m s construct

יְפִי

Ezk 28:7

m s construct

יָפְיֶךָ

Ezk 28:17