StrongerBible

shataph

שָׁטַף

HebrewH7857overflow, rinse, ...

Appears 31 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Lev 6:28(21)Lev 15:11Lev 15:121Ki 22:382Ch 32:4Job 14:19Psa 69:2(3)Psa 69:15(16)Psa 78:20Psa 124:4Sng 8:7Isa 8:8Isa 10:22Isa 28:2Isa 28:15Isa 28:17Isa 28:18Isa 30:28Isa 43:2Isa 66:12Jer 8:6Jer 47:2 (2×)Ezk 13:11Ezk 13:13Ezk 16:9Ezk 38:22Dan 11:10Dan 11:22Dan 11:26Dan 11:40
Root family
Word studyshah-TAHFverb

What shataph means

to flow over something with force: to flood and engulf, to sweep it away, or to rinse it clean under running water

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

One picture holds all the uses of this word together: water moving with power. A river bursts its banks, a storm dumps its rain, a torrent races down a valley. Whatever that rushing water reaches, it does something to.

From that single image the word fans out in three directions. When the water simply rises and covers everything, it floods and overflows. When the rushing water is a picture of something else, an invading army or a wave of judgment, it sweeps that thing away and overwhelms it. And when the running water is aimed at cleaning, it rinses off blood, dirt, or ritual uncleanness. The prophets lean hardest on the middle use, turning a flood into a vivid threat: an enemy pours across the land like water no one can hold back.

English has no single verb that covers flooding, overwhelming, and rinsing at once, so translators pick whichever fits the scene. The connecting thread is always the same forceful, moving water.

Nuances

1aof water itself: to overflow, flood, and engulf
2Ch 32:4Job 14:19Psa 69:2(3)Psa 69:15(16)Psa 78:20Psa 124:4Sng 8:7Isa 8:8Isa 28:2Isa 28:17Isa 30:28Isa 43:2
1bof an army or a judgment pictured as a flood: to sweep over and overwhelm
Isa 10:22Isa 28:15Isa 28:18Dan 11:10Dan 11:22Dan 11:26Dan 11:40
1cto rinse or wash off under running water
Lev 6:28(21)Lev 15:11Lev 15:121Ki 22:38Ezk 16:9
1dof a warhorse: to plunge headlong, to charge
Jer 8:6

What scholars say about shataph

The standard lexica (BDB, HALOT) treat shataph as a single verb whose core is forceful, moving water, with sub-senses for flooding/overflowing, for the figurative overwhelming of a land or people, and for rinsing off under running water; the niphal and pual carry the passive rinse and be-swept-away notions (Lev 15:12; Dan 11:22; Lev 6:28). The prophetic corpus, especially Isaiah 8, 28, 30 and Daniel 11, develops the flood as a fixed image for invading armies and decreed judgment, the nachal shoteph or overflowing torrent. TDOT surveys the same distribution and the flood-of-judgment motif. In Isaiah 28:15, 18 the phrase paired with a noun for a scourge or whip is discussed in the critical commentaries (e.g. Wildberger), some preferring to read an overflowing flood, but the verb's own meaning is not in doubt.

Sources

  • BDB, s.v. שׁטףlexicon
  • HALOT, s.v. שׁטףlexicon
  • TDOT, s.v. שׁטף (šāṭap)theological-dictionary
  • H. Wildberger, Isaiah 28-39 (Continental Commentary)commentary

All attested forms of שָׁטַף

qal participle m s absolute

שׁוֹטֵף, הַשּׁוֹטֵף, שֹׁטֵף

Isa 10:22, Isa 28:15, Isa 28:18, Isa 30:28, Isa 66:12, Jer 8:6, Jer 47:2, Ezk 13:11

qal imperfect 3mp

יִשְׁטְפוּ, יִשְׁטֹפוּ

Sng 8:7, Isa 43:2, Psa 78:20, Isa 28:17

qal consecutive-perfect 3ms

וְשָׁטַף

Dan 11:10, Dan 11:40

qal perfect 3ms

שָׁטַף

Lev 15:11, Isa 8:8

niphal imperfect 3mp

יִשָּׁטְפוּ

Dan 11:22

niphal imperfect 3ms

יִשָּׁטֵף

Lev 15:12

pual consecutive-perfect 3ms

וְשֻׁטַּף

Lev 6:28

qal conjunctive-imperfect 3mp

וְיִשְׁטְפוּ

Jer 47:2

qal consecutive-imperfect 1cs

וָאֶשְׁטֹף

Ezk 16:9

qal consecutive-imperfect 3ms

וַיִּשְׁטֹף

1Ki 22:38

qal imperfect 3fs

תִּשְׁטֹף

Job 14:19

qal imperfect 3ms

יִשְׁטוֹף

Dan 11:26

qal jussive 3fs

תִּשְׁטְפֵ

Psa 69:15

qal participle m p absolute

שֹׁטְפִים

Isa 28:2

qal perfect 3cp

שְׁטָפוּ

Psa 124:4

qal perfect 3fs

שְׁטָפָתְ

Psa 69:2