StrongerBible

tsaphan

צָפַן

HebrewH6845to treasure

Appears 32 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Exo 2:2Exo 2:3Jos 2:4Job 10:13Job 14:13Job 15:20Job 17:4Job 20:26Job 21:19Job 23:12Job 24:1Psa 10:8Psa 17:14Psa 27:5Psa 31:19(20)Psa 31:20(21)Psa 56:6(7)Psa 83:3(4)Psa 119:11Pro 1:11Pro 1:18Pro 2:1Pro 2:7Pro 7:1Pro 10:14Pro 13:22Pro 27:16 (2×)Sng 7:13(14)Jer 16:17Ezk 7:22Hos 13:12
Root family
Names & words formed with this
Word studytsah-FAHNverb

What tsaphan means

to hide something away: to put a person or thing out of sight, whether to keep it safe, to keep it secret, or to lie in wait unseen.

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

The one idea running through this word is putting something out of sight. What changes from place to place is the reason for hiding it. Sometimes you hide a person to protect them, the way Moses' mother hid her baby. Sometimes you hide yourself to spring on someone, the way robbers crouch out of view along a road. And very often you tuck something valuable away for safekeeping, the way you would store treasure, which is why translators frequently render it "treasure up" or "lay up."

That last shade is the one the poets and wisdom writers love most. To hide a teaching in your heart is not to bury it but to keep it close and safe, ready when you need it. The same picture works for good and for ill: God is said to keep goodness stored up for those who trust him, and to keep trouble in reserve for the guilty. In each case something is deliberately set aside, kept back from plain view, held for later.

So the senses below are not separate words but one action seen from different angles: what is hidden, and why. A thing hidden for safety, a person hidden from danger, an ambush hidden from its victim, and a treasure hidden away for the future are all the same basic act of tucking something out of sight.

Nuances

1ato hide a person or thing away to keep it safe from danger
Exo 2:2Exo 2:3Jos 2:4Job 14:13Psa 27:5Psa 31:20(21)Psa 83:3(4)
1bto hide oneself or set a hidden trap in order to ambush someone
Psa 10:8Psa 56:6(7)Pro 1:11Pro 1:18
1cto store up, to treasure up, to keep something valued safely in reserve
Job 20:26Job 23:12Psa 31:19(20)Psa 119:11Pro 2:1Pro 2:7Pro 7:1Pro 10:14Pro 13:22Sng 7:13(14)
1dto keep in reserve for the future, whether good kept for someone or trouble held against them
Job 15:20Job 21:19Hos 13:12
1eto be hidden or out of sight, including things concealed from a person and things nothing can conceal from God
Job 10:13Job 17:4Job 24:1Psa 17:14Pro 27:16 (2×)Jer 16:17Ezk 7:22

What scholars say about tsaphan

The standard lexica treat the verb as a single root meaning "to hide, conceal," with a well-developed extension to "store up, treasure up, keep in reserve" (BDB; HALOT; DCH). BDB organizes the entry under "hide, treasure up," distinguishing storing and reserving from simple concealment and from lying in wait; HALOT similarly lists "to hide, keep hidden" alongside "to store up, preserve." The Niphal is passive ("be hidden, be reserved") and the Hiphil causative ("hide," as in Exodus 2:3). TDOT treats the reserving nuance, whether of goodness kept for the righteous (Psalm 31:19) or calamity kept for the wicked (Job 21:19), as characteristic of the word's use in wisdom and psalmic poetry. There is no significant dispute over the word's meaning.

Sources

  • BDB, s.v. צָפַןlexicon
  • HALOT, s.v. צפןlexicon
  • David J. A. Clines, ed., The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (DCH), s.v. צפןlexicon
  • G. Wehmeier, "צפן ṣpn," in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament (TDOT)dictionary

All attested forms of צָפַן

qal imperfect 3mp

יִצְפְּנוּ, יִצְפּוֹנוּ, יִצְפֹּנוּ

Pro 1:18, Pro 10:14, Psa 56:6, Psa 10:8

qal imperfect 2ms

תִּצְפֹּן, תִּצְפְּנֵ

Pro 2:1, Pro 7:1, Psa 31:20

qal imperfect 3ms

יִצְפֹּן, יִצְפְּנֵ

Job 21:19, Pro 2:7, Psa 27:5

qal perfect 1cs

צָפַנְתִּי

Job 23:12, Psa 119:11, Sng 7:13

qal perfect 2ms

צָפַנְתָּ

Job 10:13, Job 17:4, Psa 31:19

niphal perfect 3cp

נִצְפְּנוּ

Job 15:20, Job 24:1

qal consecutive-imperfect 3fs

וַתִּצְפְּנ, וַתִּצְפְּנֵ

Jos 2:4, Exo 2:2

qal passive-participle m p construct

צְפוּנֶי, צְפּוּנָי

Psa 83:3, Job 20:26

qal passive-participle m s construct

צְפוּנְ, צְפוּנִ

Psa 17:14, Ezk 7:22

hiphil imperfect 2ms

תַּצְפִּנֵ

Job 14:13

hiphil infinitive-construct construct

הַצְּפִינ

Exo 2:3

niphal perfect 3ms

נִצְפַּן

Jer 16:17

qal cohortative 1cp

נִצְפְּנָה

Pro 1:11

qal participle m s construct

צֹפְנֶי

Pro 27:16

qal passive-participle f s absolute

צְפוּנָה

Hos 13:12

qal passive-participle m s absolute

צָפוּן

Pro 13:22

qal perfect 3ms

צָפַן

Pro 27:16