to drip, drop: to fall or flow slowly in drops, as water, dew, myrrh, honey, or wine
TranslatabilityDirectCertaintySettled
At its root this word pictures liquid falling slowly, drop by drop. The skies "drip" rain when God appears (Judges 5:4), the mountains "drip" sweet wine in scenes of coming abundance (Joel 3:18;Amos 9:13), and a lover's lips and the garden's lilies "drip" with myrrh (Song of Songs 5:5, 5:13).
The same image slides naturally toward speech. In Proverbs the smooth words of a seductress "drip" like honey from the comb (Proverbs 5:3), and Job remembers his counsel falling on his listeners as gently as dripping rain (Job 29:22). This picture of words that fall like liquid is what gives rise to the word's second, prophetic meaning.
Nuances
1ato drip, drop: liquid falling slowly, of rain, dew, myrrh, honey, or wine
1bof speech, to fall gently on hearers like dripping rain
Job 29:22
2
to prophesy, preach: to pour out a stream of inspired words
TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled
When a person is the subject, the same verb means to pour out inspired speech: to prophesy or preach. The picture is of words coming out in a steady flow, dripping like liquid, and the prophet is the one through whom they run. God tells Ezekiel to let his word drip toward the south and toward the sanctuary (Ezekiel 20:46; 21:2).
Unlike the ordinary word for prophesying (נבא), this verb often carries a sharp edge. It is the word Amos's opponents use when they order him to stop (Amos 7:16), and the word Micah's hearers fling back at the true prophets while a lying preacher "drips" promises of wine and beer (Micah 2:6, 2:11). In those places the tone is closer to "spouting" or "ranting" than to reverent proclamation, though the verb itself simply names the act of prophetic speech.
Literally means to drip or drop, used of honey, wine, and water trickling down, a sense the other word never has.Jdg 5:4Sng 4:11Jol 3:18
Pictures words dripping out as preaching, often dismissively, the steady drip of a speaker the audience tells to stop.Mic 2:6Mic 2:11
Both
Both name a prophet's preaching against a place: the two stand in parallel as commands to prophesy and to let the word drip out toward the land.Ezk 20:46Amo 7:16
Carries a figurative sense of letting words fall drop by drop, that is, to preach or prophesy, which the other word never has.Ezk 20:46Amo 7:16Mic 2:6Mic 2:11
Pictures sweet or fragrant liquid trickling from a person's lips or hands, such as honey and flowing myrrh, an intimate bodily image the other word never carries.Pro 5:3Sng 4:11Sng 5:5Sng 5:13
Both
Both describe the heavens dropping water down onto the earth.Jdg 5:4Psa 68:8Isa 45:8
Confined to the sky as the source, the clouds distilling rain and dew and the heavens raining down richness on the land, a purely meteorological word never used of a person or of speech.Job 36:28Pro 3:20Psa 65:11Psa 65:12
נזלto flow or trickle in a running stream, a steadier movement of liquid than falling drop by drop
Names liquid falling drop by drop, small amounts distilling or oozing out rather than a running stream.Pro 5:3Jol 3:18Amo 9:13
Carries a figurative sense H5140 never has: to let words fall, meaning to preach or prophesy.Ezk 20:46Amo 7:16Mic 2:11
Both
Both appear in the Song of Songs love poetry for pleasant liquids as sensual imagery, one for spices and streams flowing, the other for honey and myrrh dripping from lips.Sng 4:16Sng 4:11
Names water that moves as a stream or current, water in flowing motion rather than falling in drops.Pro 5:15Sng 4:15Exo 15:8
Used of water gushing or pouring from a source in a mass, especially the miraculous flow from the rock and floods poured on dry ground.Isa 48:21Psa 78:16Isa 44:3
nataph in the other biblical languages
προφητεύωGreek“to prophesy”the standard Greek verb for prophesying, the plain counterpart to this word's second, prophetic meaning without its dripping image
At its root means to drip or drop, the physical falling of liquid: rain from the sky, honey and myrrh from lips and hands, sweet wine from the hills.Jdg 5:4Pro 5:3Sng 4:11Jol 3:18
Its prophetic use grows out of that image of words dripping forth, and can be turned into a sneer aimed at ranting preachers.Mic 2:6Mic 2:11
Both
Both can name prophetic speaking. The Hebrew pictures the word dripping out toward its target, while the Greek is the plain, standing verb for prophesying.Amo 7:16Ezk 20:461Co 14:1
Means literally to drip or drop: liquid falling a little at a time, honey from the comb, myrrh from the hand, wine from the mountains, water from the sky.Sng 4:11Jol 3:18Jdg 5:4
Pictures sweetness and abundance flowing out, lips and mountains overflowing, the image of something rich pouring forth without stint.Sng 5:13Amo 9:13
Both
Both can name the act of preaching a prophetic message. The Greek word states it plainly as a herald's proclamation, while the Hebrew word pictures the same act as words dripping or pouring out of the prophet, which is why English Bibles render it "prophesy" or "preach."Amo 7:16Mic 2:6Mrk 1:38Mat 10:27
Names the act of a public herald: to announce a message openly and formally so all can hear it, from the wilderness to the synagogues to the ends of the earth.Mat 3:1Mrk 1:4
Carries a fixed, authoritative content: the kingdom of God and the gospel, the one message the herald is sent to proclaim everywhere.Mat 4:23Mrk 16:15
What scholars say about nataph
The standard lexica treat נטף as a single root meaning "to drip, drop" (of rain, dew, myrrh, honey, or must), with a causative use for making liquid flow. The prophetic sense of the causative stem, "to cause words to flow, to prophesy, preach," is widely understood as a figurative development of the dripping image rather than a separate homonym (BDB; HALOT). In Amos 7:16 and Micah 2:6, 2:11 the prophetic use is frequently read as carrying a derogatory or dismissive nuance, closer to "to spout" or "to drivel," reflecting the hostility of the speakers rather than a distinct lexical sense (TWOT). The literal and figurative uses themselves are not in doubt; the only real discussion is how much contempt the prophetic use inherently conveys.