Hebrew Thoughts Archives
First available on December 8, 2007

'^arâphel 'dark cloud'

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	Author Bio
	Jonathan Went teaches biblical Hebrew and Jewish background to Christianity. His "Biblical Hebrew made easy" course can be found at www.biblicalhebrew.com. He specialises in Hermeneutics, Judaica and Patristics (Early Church). He is the editor of the new Hebraic Roots journal, Roots and Branches (www.rootsandbranchespress.com) and also runs www.BMSoftware.com a biblical and multilingual software site.

The word )ÂrFpEl '^arâphel (Strong's #6205, x15) "dark cloud" appears to be a rare 4 consonant Hebrew word. Most, if not 99%, of Hebrew words derive from 3 letter triconsonantal roots. The famous Hebraist and lexicon author Gesenius regarded it as a blend of two words: )FrIyv 'ârîyph (Strong's #6183, x1) "cloud" and the unused root (FpAl ’âphal (not in Lexicon) "to be dark" from which we also get (Fp"l ’âphêl (Strong's #651, x1) "pitch-dark" as in Amos 5:20's day of the Lord; (pEl ’ôphel (Strong's #652, x9) "darkness"; and (Âp"lFh ’^aphêlâh (Strong's #653, x10) "thick-darkness" used of the absence of the sun over the land of Egypt caused by God through Moses (Exodus 10:22). Thus, if Gesenius is right, the (FpAl ’âphal component to )ÂrFpEl '^arâphel brings with it the idea of absolute midnight-black darkness, often with negative connotaion of gloom or judgement.

The )FrIyv 'ârîyph "cloud" part of the word, itself, comes from )FrAv 'âraph (Strong's #6201, x2) "to drop, descend" and is only used in two places, exclusive to Deuteronomy. The first is the beautiful passage:

"Let my teaching drop ()FrAv 'âraph) as the rain, my speech distill (nÓzÒl nâzal) as the dew, As raindrops on the tender herb, And as showers on the grass." (Deuteronomy 32:2)

The second incidence uses the verb with the dew this time indicating some affinity with the first reference's dew verb, nÓzÒl nâzal (Strong's #5140, x16) "flow, pour, gush, drop, trickle".

"Then Israel shall dwell in safety, the fountain of Jacob alone, in a land of grain and new wine; His heavens shall also drop ()FrAv 'âraph) dew." (Deuteronomy 33:28)

Compare with the anagramatic (using the same 3 consonants) rF)Av râ'aph (Strong's #7491, x5) "to drip/drop".

The first use of )ÂrFpEl '^arâphel is within the context of the receipt of the Ten Words/Commandments in Exodus 20:21 where Moses approaches the "thick darkness" of God's presence. This is again described later as "fire, darkness, cloud, and thick darkness" (Deuteronomy 4:11; 5:22). David similarly describes God's descent with clouds, fire, cherubs and "darkness under his feet" (2 Samuel 22:10; Psalm 18:9). Solomon at the dedication of the Temple refers to God's nephological cloud-dwelling (1 Kings 8:12; 2 Chronicles 6:1)

Psalm 97:2, Ezekiel 34:12, Joel 2:2 and Zephaniah 1:15, all pair )ÂnÓa 'anân (Strong's #6051, x87) "clouds" with )ÂrFpEl '^arâphel placing the emphasis on darkness but linking it to obscure cloud cover. In every occurence the context is God, his presence and most often judgement.

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