נָפַל
to fall
also: lie, be cast down, fail fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Qal verb in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Stem
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”). Here: ‘fall’
- Hiphil
- The causative active stem (“he caused / brought about”). Here: ‘cause to fall’
- Hithpael
- The reflexive or reciprocal stem (the subject acts on itself). Here: ‘throw’
- Pilpel
- A reduplicated intensive stem of two-letter or hollow roots.
Form
- Sequential Imperfect
- An imperfect with prefixed waw — the standard past-narrative form (waw-consecutive imperfect).
- Imperfect
- An incomplete, ongoing, or future action (“he will / would write”).
- Perfect
- A completed action or state — Hebrew marks aspect (completeness) more than strict tense (“he wrote”).
- Participle Active
- A verbal adjective expressing ongoing or characteristic action (“writing / one who writes”).
- Sequential Perfect
- A perfect with prefixed waw continuing a preceding imperfect or command (waw-consecutive perfect).
- Infinitive Construct
- A bound verbal noun, frequently with prepositions (“to write / in writing”).
- Cohortative
- A first-person volitional form expressing wish or resolve (“let me / let us write”).
- Jussive
- A third- or second-person volitional form expressing wish or command (“let him write”).
- Imperative
- A direct command (“write!”).
- Infinitive Absolute
- An unbound verbal noun, often intensifying or standing in for a finite verb.
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
Person
- 3rd Person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
- 1st Person
- The speaker (“I / we”).
- 2nd Person
- The one addressed (“you”).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
- Common
- Either gender — not distinguished for this form.
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
22 verses where H5307 appears in the Qal stem in the Book of 1 Samuel. Filtered view — show all forms. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
1 Samuel
- 1 Samuel 4:10 וַ/יִּפֹּל֙ conj + Qal wimpf 3ms The Philistines fought, and Israel was struck, and they fled every man to his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.
- 1 Samuel 4:18 וַ/יִּפֹּ֣ל conj + Qal wimpf 3ms It happened, when he made mention of the ark of God, that [Eli] fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck broke, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.
- 1 Samuel 5:3 נֹפֵ֤ל Qal ptcp.act ms When they of Ashdod arose early on the next day, behold, Dagon was fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh. They took Dagon, and set him in his place again.
- 1 Samuel 5:4 נֹפֵ֤ל Qal ptcp.act ms When they arose early on the next day morning, behold, Dagon was fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands [lay] cut off on the threshold; only [the stump of] Dagon was left to him.
- 1 Samuel 11:7 וַ/יִּפֹּ֤ל conj + Qal wimpf 3ms He took a yoke of oxen, and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the borders of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, Whoever doesn't come forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen. The dread of Yahweh fell on the people, and they came out as one man.
- 1 Samuel 14:13 וַֽ/יִּפְּלוּ֙ conj + Qal wimpf 3mp Jonathan climbed up on his hands and on his feet, and his armor bearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armor bearer killed them after him.
- 1 Samuel 14:45 יִפֹּ֞ל Qal impf 3ms The people said to Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it: as Yahweh lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he has worked with God this day. So the people rescued Jonathan, that he didn't die.
- 1 Samuel 17:32 יִפֹּ֥ל Qal juss 3ms David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.
- 1 Samuel 17:49 וַ/יִּפֹּ֥ל conj + Qal wimpf 3ms David put his hand in his bag, and took there a stone, and slang it, and struck the Philistine in his forehead; and the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth.
- 1 Samuel 17:52 וַֽ/יִּפְּל֞וּ conj + Qal wimpf 3mp The men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until you come to Gai, and to the gates of Ekron. The wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even to Gath, and to Ekron.
- 1 Samuel 19:24 וַ/יִּפֹּ֣ל conj + Qal wimpf 3ms He also stripped off his clothes, and he also prophesied before Samuel, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, "Is Saul also among the prophets?"
- 1 Samuel 20:41 וַ/יִּפֹּ֨ל conj + Qal wimpf 3ms As soon as the boy was gone, David arose out of [a place] toward the South, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded.
- 1 Samuel 25:23 וַ/תִּפֹּ֞ל conj + Qal wimpf 3fs When Abigail saw David, she hurried, and alighted from her donkey, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground.
- 1 Samuel 25:24 וַ/תִּפֹּל֙ conj + Qal wimpf 3fs She fell at his feet, and said, On me, my lord, on me be the iniquity; and please let your handmaid speak in your ears. Hear the words of your handmaid.
- 1 Samuel 26:12 נָפְלָ֖ה Qal pf 3fs So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul's head; and they got them away: and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither did any awake; for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from Yahweh was fallen on them.
- 1 Samuel 26:20 יִפֹּ֤ל Qal juss 3ms Now therefore, don't let my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of Yahweh: for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one does hunt a partridge in the mountains.
- 1 Samuel 28:20 וַ/יִּפֹּ֤ל conj + Qal wimpf 3ms Then Saul fell immediately his full length on the earth, and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night.
- 1 Samuel 29:3 נָפְל֖/וֹ Qal inf.cs + sfx pers 3ms Then said the princes of the Philistines, What [do] these Hebrews [here]? Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, Isn't this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or [rather] these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell away [to me] to this day?
- 1 Samuel 31:1 וַ/יִּפְּל֥וּ conj + Qal wimpf 3mp Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain on Mount Gilboa.
- 1 Samuel 31:4 וַ/יִּפֹּ֖ל conj + Qal wimpf 3ms Then said Saul to his armor bearer, Draw your sword, and thrust me through therewith, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armor bearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took his sword, and fell on it.
- 1 Samuel 31:5 וַ/יִּפֹּ֥ל conj + Qal wimpf 3ms When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell on his sword, and died with him.
- 1 Samuel 31:8 נֹפְלִ֖ים Qal ptcp.act mp It happened on the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
The Hebrew verb נפל centers on the idea of “to fall.” Its earliest occurrence is Genesis 2:21. It appears 403 verses across 33 books of the Hebrew Bible, among its common vocabulary. Across 3 stems, its meaning turns on the binyan (Qal, Hiphil). It clusters with מפל, מפלה and מפלת under a shared root. Dig into 403-verse concordance and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H5307 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 403
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 403 distinct verses.
- 33 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 33 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #112
- by frequency
- Top 250 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 112 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 403 occurrences in the concordance →
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 403 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 236 verses · 59%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 112 verses · 28%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 55 verses · 14%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
- King James Version: Fell 65×, Shall fall 47×, Fall 46×
- American Standard Version: Fell 51×, Shall fall 40×, Fall 32×
- Berean Standard Bible: Fell 52×, Will fall 41×, Fall 29×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Fell 57×, Fall 52×, Will fall 45×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H5307 across 435 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 116 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H5307 across 432 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 147 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H5307 across 431 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 150 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 3 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H5307 across 502 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 88 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
32 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB
Hebrew verbs can shift meaning by stem (binyan): Qal is the basic action, Niphal is often passive or reflexive, Piel often intensifies or makes it factitive, and Hiphil is typically causative. The senses below are grouped under the stem BDB assigns to each. This entry also uses Hithpael (reflexive or reciprocal).
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 32 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
Qal
- Pf. נ׳ Ju 5:27 +, 3 fs. נָֽפְלָה Gn 15:12 +, etc.; Impf. יִפֹּל 1 S 14:45 +, וַיִּפֹּל Ju 4:16 +; 1 s. אֶפֹּל 1 Ch 21:13 (needless change from 1 pl. נִפְּלָה ‖ 2 S 24:14 We Dr); 3 mpl. יִפְּלוּ Ho 7:16 +, יִפֹּ֑לוּ Is 3:25 +, 3 fpl. תִּפֹּ֫לְנָה Ez 13:11; 30:25, etc.; Imv. mpl. נִפְלוּ Ho 10:8; Je 25:27; Inf. abs. נָפוֹל Est 6:13; cstr. נְפֹל Is 30:25 +; לִנְפֹּל Je 51:49 +; sf. נָפְלוֹ 1 S 29:3, נִפְלוֹ 2 S 1:10, נִפְלָם Je 49:21 (on these forms cf. Ba NB 104); Pt. נֹפֵל Ju 4:22 +; f. נֹפֶ֫לֶת Gn 15:12 +; pl. נֹפְלִים Jos 8:25 + (ins. also 1 S 28:19 b 𝔊 Th We Dr Kit Bu HPS; Klo כֹּרְעִים), etc.;— e.g. Judges 5:27
- 1. fall, by accident, וְנ׳־שָׁ֫מָּה Ex 21:33 (E) and there fall into it (a pit) an ox or an ass, cf. Dt 22:4 (בַּדֶּרֶךְ, on the way), bird עַל־פַּח Am 3:5; subj. pers., 1 S 4:18 (from seat, מֵעַל), Dt 22:8(×2) (from roof, מִן); often into (ב) pit (usually fig.) Pr 26:27; 28:10, also (abs.), 22:14, Ec 10:8 ψ 7:16; 57:7 (בְּתוֹךְ), cf. 35:8; 141:10 (net), also, c. אֶל, Is 24:18 = Je 48:44; fall בְּלֵב יַמִּים Ez 27:27 (of Tyrian people); abs. 2 S 4:4 Gn 14:10; Je 25:27; opp. קוּם Je 8:4 cf. Ec 4:10(×2); c. אָחוֹר fall backward Gn 49:17 (poem); c. בְּעַד through 2 K 1:2 cf. (of locusts) Jo 2:8; †נ׳ עַל־חֶרֶב causing death 1 S 31:4, 5 = 1 Ch 10:4, 5; †נ׳ עַל־פָּנָיו אַ֫רְצָה 1 S 17:49 (Goliath); subj. rei, 2 K 2:13, 14 (מֵעַל), 6:5 (אֶל־ into water); v 6 (abs.); c. עַל Lv 11:32, 35, 37, 38, אֶל־ v 33; abs. of tent Ju 7:13 + v 13 (gloss, GFM, Bu); of wall Jos 6:5 (JE), Je 51:44, fig. Ez 13:11 (del. 𝔊 𝔖 Sm Co Berthol), v 12, 14, לְאֶרֶץ Ez 38:20; + תַּחְתֶּיהָ i.e. flat Jos 6:20; נ׳ of bricks Is 9:9 (in fig.), פֶּרֶץ 30:13, towers v 25, foundations Je 50:15; wall fell upon (על) 1 K 20:30, so of house Ju 16:30; Jb 1:19, mts. Ho 10:8; mt. also abs. Jb 14:18 (cf. נָבֵל), height Ez 38:20; tree Ec 11:3(×2) (ב loc.), cf. Is 10:34 (בְ instr., in fig.), Zc 11:2 (abs.); branches Ez 31:12 (fig.); a grain Am 9:9 (אֶרֶץ = to earth); of dew 2 S 17:12 (c. על), hailstones Ez 13:11; blood (אַ֫רְצָה) 1 S 26:20; †hair of head (ארצה) 1 S 14:45 2 S 14:11; 1 K 1:52; horns of altar Am 3:14 (לָאָרֶץ); peg Is 22:25; fruit עַל־פֶּה Na 3:12; crown La 5:16; arm from (מִן) shoulder Jb 31:22; of sword (appar.) 2 S 20:8 (but on text v. Comm.); †fire from heaven, abs. 1 K 18:38 c. מִן Jb 1:16†; †hand of י׳ Ez 8:1 (c. עַל־; but read וַתְּהִי 𝔊 Co Berthol); spirit of י׳ Ez 11:5 (עַל־); of lot (גּוֹרָל) Ez 24:6; Jon 1:7 (both c. עַל), 1 Ch 26:14 (c. לְ; ‖ יָצָא), + Est 3:7 𝔊 Ry Wild (עַל); cf. Hiph. 3; hence (of share, inheritance) fall, be allotted, to (לְ) Ju 18:1 (ב = as: בְּ I 7 c; so Nu 34:2; Ez 47:14), ψ 16:6, abs. Jos 17:5.—On Ez 47:22 b v. Hiph. 3. e.g. Exodus 21:33
- 2.
- a. Especially of violent death (c. 96 times), Ju 5:27(×3) (+ שָׁדוּד), 1 S 4:10; 14:13 2 S 11:17; 21:9, 1 K 22:20 = 2 Ch 18:9, etc.; + וַיָּמָת, etc., 2 S 1:4; 2:23(×2); נ׳ חָלָל fall pierced (fatally) Ju 9:40 1 S 17:52; 31:1 = 1 Ch 10:1 +; חַלְלֵי חֶרֶב Ez 35:8; cf. בְּתוֹךְ חֲלָלִים 32:20; נ׳ תַּחַת הֲרוּגִים Is 10:4; נ׳ פְּגָרִים corpses fall Je 9:21; Nu 14:29 (P), v 32 (JE); by the sword, בַּחֶרֶב Am 7:17; Ho 7:16; 14:1; Is 3:25 2 S 1:12; Ez 5:12; 6:11; Nu 14:3, 43 (JE), (+ בָּרָעָב, בַּדֶּבֶר), etc.; נ׳ לְפִי חֶרֶב †Jos 8:24 (JE), Ju 4:16†; בְּיַד by the hand of †2 S 21:22; 24:14(×2) = 1 Ch 21:13(×2), 1 Ch 5:10; 20:8†; נ׳ תַּחַת רגלי fall under my feet 2 S 22:39 = ψ 18:39. e.g. Judges 5:27
- b. fig. = go to ruin, perish, etc. (c. 30 times); Am 5:2; 8:14 +; often ‖ כָּשַׁל Is 3:8; 8:15 (+ other words), 31:3; Je 8:12; 46:12; 50:32 ψ 5:11; 27:2; Pr 24:17; ‖ כָּרַע ψ 20:9; fig. of earth Is 24:20 (opp. קוּם); Haman falls before (לִפְנֵי) Mordecai Est 6:13(×2); cf. Is 14:12 (abs.); peculiar to Pr are נ׳ בְּרִשְׁעָה Pr 11:5, בְּרַע 13:17, בְּרָעָה 17:20; 28:14. e.g. Amos 5:2
- c. fig. = experience calamity Mi 7:8 (opp. קוּם), ψ 37:34; 145:14; Pr 24:16. e.g. Micah 7:8
- d. fall, of a city Je 51:8 (‖ וַתִּשָּׁבֵר). e.g. Jeremiah 51:8
- 3.
- a. Fall prostrate, Ju 19:26; 27, + אַ֫רְצָה Jb 1:20; fall at full length (in a faint) וַיִּפֹּל מְלֹא־קוֹמָתוֹ 1 S 28:20; sink down Nu 24:4, 16 (JE; supernat. influence); of arms of Pharaoh Ez 30:25 (opp. חָזַק). e.g. Judges 19:26
- b. fall = prostrate oneself before (לִפְנֵי) man Gn 50:18 (E), 2 S 19:19; Gn 44:14 (J; + אַ֫רְצָה); before י׳ 2 Ch 20:18; נ׳ אֶל־פָּנָיו אַ֫רְצָה before י׳ or his representative Jos 5:14; 7:6 (both JE); also (ארצה om.) Ez 43:3; 44:4; before man 2 S 14:22; more often נ׳ עַל־פָּנָיו, before man 2 S 9:6; 1 K 18:7, 39; Ru 2:10, before י׳ Gn 17:3, 17 + 6 times P, Ez 3:23; 9:8; 11:13; 1 Ch 21:16; Dn 8:17; + אַ֫רְצָה, before man 2 S 14:4, before י׳ Ju 13:20; לְאַפָּיו אַ֫רְצָה 1 S 20:41, לְאַפֵּי דָוִד עַל־פָּנֶיהָ 1 S 25:23, נ׳ ארצה 2 S 1:2 (all before man); נ׳ עַל־רַגְלָיו fall at one’s feet 1 S 25:24; 2 K 4:37, לִפְנֵי ר׳ Est 8:3. Vid. syn. sub קדד. e.g. Genesis 50:18
- c. fall upon (עַל) one’s neck, in embrace Gn 33:4; 46:29 (both J), 45:14 (E), עַל־פְּנֵי אָבִיו 50:1 (J). e.g. Genesis 33:4
- 4.
- a. Fall upon (עַל) = attack Je 48:32 (fig.), cf. Is 16:9; c. בְּ Jos 11:7 (D), abs. Jb 1:15; נ׳ אִישׁ אֶל־רֵעֵהוּ Je 46:16. e.g. Jeremiah 48:32
- b. †desert or fall away to, go over to, c. עַל־ 2 K 25:11(×2) = Je 52:15(×2), Je 21:9; 37:14; 39:9; 1 Ch 12:20, 21(×2) (van d. H. v 19, 20(×2)), 2 Ch 15:9, c. אֶל־ 2 K 7:4; Je 37:13; 38:19, abs. 1 S 29:3; Je 39:9. e.g. 2 Kings 25:11
- c. נ׳ בְּיַד fall into the hand (power) of Ju 15:18 La 1:7:—cf. also 2. a. supr. e.g. Judges 15:18
- 5. †Fig., of deep sleep, c. עַל Gn 15:12 (J), 1 S 26:12; Jb 4:13; 33:15; face, countenance (in displeasure) Gn 4:5, 6 (J); נ׳ לֵב אָדָם עָלָיו 1 S 17:32 (of sinking heart); וַיִּפְּלוּ בְעֵינֵיהֶם Ne 6:16 and they were cast down in their (own) eyes (cf. Be-Ry, Ryle); †of calamity sq. עַל־ Is 47:11; Ec 9:12; terror, etc., sq. עַל־ Gn 15:12 (J), Jos 2:9 (JE), Ex 15:16 (song), 1 S 11:7; Jb 13:11 ψ 55:5; 105:38; Est 8:17; 9:2, 3; Dn 10:7; reproach, sq. עַל־ ψ 69:10; † = fail to be accomplished Jos 21:45; 23:14(×2) (all D), 1 K 8:56; 2 K 10:10 (+ אַ֫רְצָה); = not to be reckoned Nu 6:12 (P); †of word (דָּבָר) falling into (ב) Isr. Is 9:7; † = fall out, turn out, result Ru 3:18 (subj. דָּבָר). e.g. Genesis 15:12
- 6. Other idiomatic uses are: נ׳ לְמִשְׁכָּב take to one’s bed Ex 21:18 (E); settle Gn 25:18 (J); = alight quickly, מֵעַל הַגָּמָל Gn 24:64 (J), מֵעַל הַמֶּרְכָּבָה 2 K 5:21; waste away Nu 5:21, 22, 27; = be born Is 26:18 (cf. Hiph. v 19); = be offered, of supplication (לִפְנֵי י׳) Je 36:7; 37:20; 42:2 (cf. Hiph. 6); c. מִן = be inferior to Jb 12:3; 13:2. e.g. Exodus 21:18
- 7. = lie, of Midianites, etc. (like locusts; ב loc.) Ju 7:12; = lie prostrate, 1 S 19:24; usually pt. Jos 7:10 (JE; עַל־פָּנֶיךָ), 1 S 5:3, 4 (לְפָנָיו), Am 9:11, עַל־הַמִּטָּה Est 7:8; of the dead 1 S 31:8 = 1 Ch 10:8; Dt 21:1; Ez 32:27 (Co conj. נְפִילִים [cf. Gn 6:4], v. also Berthol Toy Hpt); נֹפֵל אַ֫רְצָה מֵת Ju 3:25 cf. 4:22 (om. ארצה); פְּגָרִים נ׳ אַ֫רְצָה 2 Ch 20:24; cf. also Ez 32:22, 23, 24 (del. in v 22 Hi Co Berthol, in v 23 ToyHpt). e.g. Judges 7:12
Hiphil
- Pf. הִפִּיל 1 S 3:19 +; 2 ms. sf. הִפַּלְתָּם ψ 73:18; 3 pl. הִפִּילוּ Ju 2:19 +; 1 pl. הִפַּלְנוּ Ne 10:35, etc.; Impf. יַפִּיל Ex 21:27, וַיַּפֵּל Gn 2:21 +, sf. יַפִּלֵם ψ 140:11; 3 mpl. יַפִּילוּ 2 K 3:25 ψ 22:19, יַפִּיל֑וּן Jb 29:24, etc.; Imv. ms. sf. הַפִּלֶהָ Jos 13:6; mpl. הַפִּילוּ 1 S 14:42; Inf. cstr. לְהַפִּיל 1 S 18:25 +; לַנְפִּל Nu 5:22 read לִנְפֹּל (Di Ol§ 78 c Sta§ 114 a, 2 Kö i. 309 Ges§ 66, 2 R 1); Pt. מַפִּיל 2 K 6:5 + 2 times, pl. מַפִּילִים Dn 9:18;— e.g. 1 Samuel 3:19
- 1. cause to fall, c. acc., lit.:
- a. fell tree 2 K 3:19, 25 cf. 6:5. e.g. 2 Kings 3:19
- b. throw down wall 2 S 20:15. e.g. 2 Samuel 20:15
- c. knock out tooth Ex 21:27 (E). e.g. Exodus 21:27
- d. lay prostrate Dt 25:2 (for bastinado). e.g. Deuteronomy 25:2
- e. cast (cedar pillars) into (עַל־) fire Je 22:7; so (c. ב), wicked men ψ 140:11. e.g. Jeremiah 22:7
- f. make sword drop from (מִן) hand Ez 30:22 (fig.), cf. 39:3. e.g. Ezekiel 30:22
- g. cause stone to fall עַל Nu 35:23, flesh ψ 78:28 (בְּקֶרֶב), stars Dn 8:10 (in vision). e.g. Numbers 35:23
- 2. Of causing death בַּחֶרֶב 2 K 19:7 = Is 37:7, Je 19:7; Ez 32:12 (all י׳ subj.), 2 Ch 32:21 (human subj.); בְּיַד 1 S 18:25; + חֲלָלִים Ez 6:4; Pr 7:26; also ψ 106:26; Dn 11:12 = overthrow, bring to destruction, ψ 37:14; 73:18 (c. ל), 106:27. e.g. 2 Kings 19:7
- 3. Especially of casting lot (גּוֹרָל), Is 34:17 (c. לְ for), Ne 10:35 (c. עַל + inf.), 11:1 (c. inf.), 1 Ch 26:14 (c. לְ; so read Kit Hpt cf. 𝔊𝔙 Be Öt), ψ 22:19 (c. עַל), Est 9:24 (c. inf.); abs. Jon 1:7(×2) 1 Ch 24:31; 25:8; 26:13; Est 3:7; + בְּתוֹכֵנוּ Pr 1:14 (i.e. share with us); om. גּוֹרָל 1 S 14:42 (c. בֵּין), Jb 6:27 (c. עַל); hence הִפּ׳ = assign, apportion, by lot, usually c. לְ pers., Jos 13:6; 23:4 (both D), Ez 45:1; 47:22 a + v 22 b (read יַּפִּילוּ 𝔙 𝔗 Hi-Sm Co Berthol), 48:29 (read בְנַחֲלָה for מנ׳, 𝔊 𝔙 Hi-Sm, etc.), ψ 78:55 (cf. Qal 1 end; and בְּ I 7 c). e.g. Isaiah 34:17
- 4. Fig., let drop, cause to fail (cf. Qal 5), Ju 2:19; Est 6:10, + אַ֫רְצָה 1 S 3:19. e.g. Judges 2:19
- 5. Cause deep sleep to fall (עַל־) Gn 2:21 (J), Pr 19:15 (abs.), make countenance fall, look displeased at (ב), Je 3:12, cf. Jb 29:24 (obj. אוֹר פָּנַי); cause terror, etc., to fall (עַל־) Je 15:8. e.g. Genesis 2:21
- 6. Other idioms are: bring to life (proposes drop young) Is 26:19 (fig.); present supplication Je 38:26; 42:9; Dn 9:18, 20 (all c. לִפְנֵי);—on both cf. Qal 6. e.g. Isaiah 26:19
Hithpael
- throw, or prostrate oneself,
- 1. Inf. cstr. הִתְנַפֵּל throw himself upon (על) Gn 43:18 (J; i.e. attack). e.g. Genesis 43:18
- 2. Pf. 1 s. הִתְנַפָּ֑לְתִּי Dt 9:25; Impf. 1 s. וָאֶתְנַפַּל Dt 9:18, 25; Pt. מִתְנַפֵּל Ezr 10:1;—prostrate oneself and lie prostrate, לִפְנֵי י׳.—Piʿlēl. וְנִפְלַּל Ez 28:23, read וְנָפַל Hi-Sm Co Berthol. e.g. Deuteronomy 9:25
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
vb. fall, lie (NH = BH, 𝔗 נְפַל, Syriac ܢܦܰܠ; cf. also Arabic نَفَلَ dedit praedam (NöZMG xl (1886), 725 Frä 153 f.), Min. נפל remove Hom Südar. Chrest. 128);—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Origin: a primitive root
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
נָפַל
- (b. h.) to fall, lie down; to be dropped; to occur. Sabb. XVI, 2 נָפְלָה דליקה if a conflagration takes place. Pes. II, 3, v. מַפּוֹלֶת. Y. Sot. VII, 21ᵈ top (ref. to יקים, Deut. XXVII, 26) וכי יש תורה נוֹפֶלֶת is there a falling law (to need erection)? Ned. 65ᵇ כל הנוֹפֵל אינו נופל לידי וכ׳ he who falls (becomes poor) does not immediately fall into the hands of (become dependent on) the charities (but his friends support him for a time). B. Kam. IX, 11, a. fr. יִפְּלוּ דמיו לנדבה its equivalent must be surrendered as a donation to the Temple. B. Bath. IX, 4 האחין … שנ׳ אחד מהן לאומנות נ׳ לאמצע if one of two partner brothers (heirs) has been summoned to public service, his salary goes into the common fund. Y. Shek. V, 49ᵇ top בשביל ששמעתי שנפלה לך ירושה וכ׳ since I heard that an inheritance has fallen to thy share at a distant place, take (this as a loan) &c.; a. v. fr.—Imperat. פּוֹל. Tosef. Dem. VI, 4 ופול תחתיי וכ׳ (Var. טול, some ed. עול) and surrender thyself to public service in my place (v. supra). e.g. Deuteronomy 27:26
- to cause to fall; to throw down. Gen. R. s. 26, v. נָפִיל. B. Kam. III, 10 ה׳ את שינו struck out his tooth; Tosef. ib. IX, 23; a. fr.—Esp. to miscarry. Nidd. III, 1 המַפֶּלֶת וכ׳ if a woman loses a lump-shaped embryo; a. fr.
- to prostrate one’s self. Deut. R. s. 2, v. נִיפּוּל.
- (denom. of נִיפּוּל) to fall apart, be spoiled. Tosef. Sabb. VI (VII), 14 שלא תִינָּפֵל הפת, v. צָוַוח.
נְפַל
- Targ. II Sam. I, 4. Targ. Koh. XI, 3 למִנְפַּל; a. v. fr.—Imperat. פִּיל. Targ. Is. L, 11.—Part. נָפֵיל, part. pass. נְפִיל. Targ. Prov. XI, 5 (ed. Wil. נְפַל). Targ. Ps. CXLV, 14; a. e.—Ḥull. 51ᵃ אי נְפוּל לארעא if they were thrown down (violently). Ib.ᵇ, v. נְגִיחוּתָא. Ned. 65ᵇ כל דמעני לאו עלי נפיל not every one that becomes poor, falls on me (for support). B. Mets. 105ᵃ בזרא דנ׳ נ׳ a seed (of weeds) once fallen, has fallen (cannot be destroyed by the plough). Meg. 15ᵇ נַפְלָה ליה מילתא בדעתיה something (a suspicion) had entered his mind; a. fr.
- , as preced. Hif. Targ. Ps. LXXVIII, 28. Targ. Y. Ex. XXI, 22; a. fr.—Ḥull. 42ᵃ top אַפּוּלֵי אפיל (read אַפְּלָא) she may have miscarried. Snh. 109ᵇ ומַפְּלָא ליה and she miscarried through his fault; a. fr.
- to be upset, fall in. M. Kat. 2ᵃ דאתי לאִינְּפוּלֵי a caving in (of the ground through which the water makes a road) might occur; ib.ᵇ; a. e.
נָפִל
- , v. נָפִיל
נֵפֶל
- (preced. wds.)
- 1. capacity for seed, v. נְפִילָה.
- 2. (b. h.) abortion; premature, not viable birth. Tosef. Ohol. XVI, 13; Pes. 9ᵃ, a. e.—Y. Yeb. XI, end, 12ᵇ אינו נ׳ is not considered a non-viable birth (for legal purposes); a. v. fr.—Pl. נְפָלִים. Gen. R. s. 26 (play on הַנְּפִלִים, Gen. VI, 4) שמלאו את העולם נ׳ וכ׳ they filled the world with abortions by their lascivious life. Tosef. l. c.; a. fr. e.g. Genesis 6:4
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 257 distinct written forms H5307 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that stem’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
The 60 most common forms are shown; 197 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H5307, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derived from this word
- מפל mappâl H4651 refuse
- מפלה mappâlâh H4654 ruin
- מפלת mappeleth H4658 carcass
- נפיל nᵉphîyl H5303 giants
- נפל nᵉphal H5308 to fall
- נפל nephel H5309 miscarriage
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 7 — not the complete family. They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 369 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 403 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
- Genesis 2:21
- Exodus 15:16
- Leviticus 9:24
- Numbers 5:21
- Deuteronomy 9:18
- Joshua 2:9
- Judges 2:19
- Ruth 2:10
- 1 Samuel 3:19
- 2 Samuel 1:2
- 1 Kings 1:52
- 2 Kings 1:2
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
