ספק
mockery
also: handclapping, mocking, scorn fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Absolute-state word in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
Noun type
- Common
- A common noun — a general class of person, place, or thing (“king,” “city,” “water”), not a specific name.
State
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
1 distinct verse where H5607 appears in the Construct state, across 1 book. 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.
Job 1 verse
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.
“mockery” is the headline sense of the Hebrew noun ספק (çêpheq). It is rare — just 2 verses in the entire Hebrew Bible. It clusters heavily in Job, which alone accounts for 100% of its uses. Scripture first uses it in Job 20:22. Not a single-sense word, it carries 2 senses, among them “handclapping”, “mocking”, and “scorn”. The sections below give every sense, occurrence, and version rendering.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H5607 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 →
- 2
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 2 distinct verses.
- 1 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 1 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #4,807
- by frequency
- Top 5000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 4,807 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 2 occurrences in the concordance →
Most concentrated in
- Job 2 verses 100%
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 2 distinct verses.
- Writings (Ketuvim) 2 verses · 100%
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: Stroke 1×, Sufficiency 1×
- American Standard Version: Chastisements 1×, Sufficiency 1×
- Berean Standard Bible: Plenty 1×, You with riches 1×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Clapping 1×, Wealth 1×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H5607 across 2 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H5607 across 2 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H5607 across 2 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H5607 across 2 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Senses in BDB
The 2 senses BDB distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency or importance). The full entry — with sub-senses — is in the Lexicon Entry tab.
- handclapping, mocking, mockery, scorn
- meaning dubious
Word origin
n.[m.] doubtful word; hand-clapping, i.e. mockery (?) (cf. vb. Jb 27:23);—שָׂ֑פֶק Jb 36:18 in difficult cl. כִּי־חֵמָה פֶּן־יְסִיתְךָ בְשׂ׳ because there is passion, (beware) lest it incite thee to mockery, BaeKau Da (but הסית בְּ = incite against, hence Bu reads לִשְׂפֹּק); De is not clear; others (as Di): lest it (passion) excite thee at the chastisement (v. √ 2; cf. Thes); Du reads מִשְׂפָּק לְחֵמָה lest chastisement incite thee to wrath.—On Jb 20:22 (edd.) v. שֵׂפֶק.
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from ספק (çâphaq) (H5606) — to clap.
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.
סָפַק I
- , Pi. סִיפֵּק
- 1. to strike, clap, esp. to clap the hands against the hips to a certain tune in mourning or in rejoicing; cmp. טָפַח I. Bets. V, 2 (36ᵇ) ולא מְסַפְּקִין וכ׳ you must not clap or dance (on the Sabbath or Holy Day). Tosef. Sabb. VI (VII), 2 המְסַפֵּק וכ׳ he who strikes the hip, claps hands or dances by a flame (a superstitious practice); a. e.—V. סִיפּוּק I.
- 2. (cmp. נָקַף, נָקַשׁ) to join closely; to attach; to engraft Y. Sabb. V, beg. 7ᵇ במְסַפֵּק חבל על חבל when he ties a rope to a rope (of the halter). Kil. VI, 9 סִפְּקָהּ בחבל וכ׳ if, in training the vine, he attached to it a rope or a reed (with which he fastened it to a plant). Par. XII, 1 האזוב … מְסַפְּקוֹ וכ׳ if the hyssop is too short, he ties it to a thread &c. Y. Orl. I, 61ᵃ bot. ילדה שסִיפְּקָהּ a young plant (subject to ‘Orlah) which one engrafted on an old tree; a. fr.—V. סִיפּוּק I.
סְפַק
- , to strike, knock. Targ. Job XXXIV, 26 סְפֵיקִינוּן ed. Lag. (ed. Wil. סַפְּקִי׳ Pa.).—Esp. to clap hands. Targ. Lam. II, 15 (ed. Lag. a. oth. שָׂ׳); a. e.—[Targ. Koh. IV, 16 לאסתפקא, read with ed. Lag. לאִסְתַּקָּפָא, v. סְקַף I.]
סָפַק II
- to divide, distribute; to supply;to suffice. Mekh. B’shall., Vayass‘a, s. 1 ולא סָפְקוּ אלא וכ׳ and they supplied water for only seventy date trees; כיון … וספקו להם ושנו וכ׳ when the Israelites came and six hundred thousand men encamped around them, they supplied them (with drinking water), and this a second and a third time.
- to supply, furnish. Ib. s. 6 אם מְסַפֵּק לנו צרכנו וכ׳ (ed. Weiss מַסְפִּיק, Hif.) if he supplies our wants, we shall serve him &c. B. Mets. IX, 1 (103ᵇ) שניהם מְסַפְּקִין את הקנים the two together have to furnish the needed poles. Sot. 11ᵇ היו מְסַפְּקוֹת להם מים ומזון they supplied them with water and food; a. fr.—[Midr. Till. to Ps. XCII לספק לו, v. סְפִיקוּלָא I.]—V. סִיפּוּק II.
- 1. to distribute, supply. Lev. R. s. 4 (ref. to יספוק, Job XXXIV, 37) אתה מַסְפִּיק בנינו וכ׳ thou distributest thy sins among us, i.e. we have to suffer for thy sins; Yalk. Job 920 משתיק (corr. acc.; Var. משְׂפִּיק). Mekh. l. c., v. supra; a. e. e.g. Job 34:37
- 2. (with ביד) to give sufficient time or power; to allow an opportunity. Ab. V, 18 אין מַסְפִּיקִין בידו וכ׳ no time (or opportunity) will be given him to do repentance; Yoma 87ᵃ; Tosef. ib. V (IV), 11. Ib. 10 אין מספיקין בידו וכ׳ he will be given no opportunity (temptation) to sin; a. fr.
- 3. to have sufficient time, power &c.; to succeed, finish. Taan. 21ᵃ לא הִסְפַּקְתִּי לפרוק וכ׳ I had not yet finished unloading when &c. Y. Ber. IX, 14ᵇ bot. לא ה׳ לומר עד וכ׳ he had not yet finished saying Sh’m‘a, when he expired; a. fr.—[Ib. 14ᵃ מספיק למדינה, v. סָפַח.]
- Nithpa. נִסְתַּפֵּק
- 1. to be supplied, to supply one’s self. Pes. 8ᵃ במִסְתַּפֵּק when it is a store-room from which supplies are taken for the table; ib. 8ᵇ. Y. Ab. Zar. V, 44ᵈ bot. אבותיכם היו מִסְתַּפְּקִין משלנו וכ׳ (not בשלנו) your fathers used to buy supplies (of wine) of our fathers, why do you not buy of us? Y. Dem. III, 23ᶜ, a. e. מִסְתַּפֶּקֶת, v. סִידְקִי. Erub. 88ᵃ אדם עשוי להִסְתַּפֵּק סאתים וכ׳ a person usually consumes two S’ah of water a day (from the supply in the cistern &c.); a. fr.—Der. Er. ch. VII ונִסְתַּפְּקוּ they ate and were amply supplied (enjoyed their meal).
- 2. (cmp. סָפֵק) to be doubtful Y. Yeb. XI, end, 12ᵇ נ׳ לו he was in doubt.
סְפַק ²
- 1. to supply, furnish; to give an opportunity. Targ. Y. II, Num. XXIV, 6. Targ. Y. II, Deut. XXVIII, 32.
- 2. to be sufficient; to have enough; to have done. Targ. I Kings XX, 10. Targ. I Chr. XXVII, 24. Targ. O. Gen. XXIV, 19 דִּיסָפְקוּן ed. Berl. (oth. דיסַפְּקוּן, Pa.; Y. די ספְקוּן); a. fr.—[Targ. Lam. II, 11 ספקו בדמען וכ׳ my eyes have done shedding tears; prob. to be read: פסקו; h. text כלו.]
- 1. to distribute, supply. Targ. O. Deut. II, 7 סַפֶּק (ed. Berl. סוֹפֵיק Poël; Y. ed. Vien. סוּפֵיק, read: סוֹ׳). Targ. Hos. II, 7; a. fr.
- 2. to be sufficient. Targ. Jud. XXI, 14. Targ. Num. XI, 22; a. e.—Esp. (with ידא; interch. with Pe.) to be able, afford, Targ. Y. Lev. XIV, 21, sq.; 30, sq.—V. מְסַפְּקָא.
- 3. to divide.—Part. pass. מְסַפַּק, מְסַפְּקָא divided in opinion, doubtful, questionable. Targ. Lam. V, 3 מס׳ להון they are in doubt.—Bets. 4ᵇ ר׳ אסי סַפּוּקֵי מס׳ ליה R. A. was undecided in his opinion. Pes. 117ᵃ אלמא מס׳ ליה which proves that he was undecided; a. fr.—Hence:
- 4. to create a doubt, make doubtful, treat as doubtful. Kidd. 39ᵃ (ref. to doubtful ‘Orlah fruit outside of Palestine) סַפֵּק לי וכ׳ make them doubtful for me (pluck them in my absence), and I shall eat them. Ib. מְסַפְּקוּ סַפּוּקֵי להדדי they made (the fruit) doubtful to one another (by exchanging fruit cut by the one in the absence of the other). Bekh. 49ᵃ מְסַפְּקִינָן ליה we treat it as doubtful.
- to supply. Targ. Hos. XIII, 5. Targ. Deut. II, 7, v. supra.
- 1. same, same, to supply; to be sufficient. Targ. Y. II, Gen. XLIX, 20. Targ. Josh. XVII, 16; a. e.
- 2. to divide, distribute. Targ. Job XXXIV, 37 (v. Lev. R. s. 4, quot. in preced.).
סֵפֶק
- (preced.) sufficiency, v. סְפֵיקָה I, a. סִיפּוּק II.—[Midr. Till. to Ps. LXXXI, 4 ס׳ ידים, v. סַלְפִּינְגָּס.]
סָפֵק
- (preced. wds.)
- 1. division, doubt, opp. וַדַּאי. Ker. IV, 1 ס׳ אכל ס׳ לא אכל if there is a doubt whether or not he has eaten forbidden fat; ס׳ יש בו וכ׳ if there is a doubt whether it was the legally required quantity. B. Bath. 10ᵃ ס׳ מקבלין … ס׳ אין וכ׳ it is uncertain whether it will be accepted from him or not. Ab. Zar. 41ᵃ הוי ס׳ וכ׳, v. וַדַּאי. Y. Bets. I, 60ᵇ bot. סְפֵיקוֹ, סְפֵיקָהּ where there is a doubt about it, v. וַדַּאי. Ib. מאי ס׳ וש שם what is the doubt there? i. fr. what difference does it make in practice?—Yeb. 37ᵇ, a. fr. ממון המוטל בס׳, v. מָמוֹן. Ker. VI, 3 (25ᵃ) המתן עד שתכנס לס׳ (Var. in Talm. ed. לבית הס׳) wait until you arrive at a condition of doubt, i.e. until you are in doubt as to having committed a sin requiring a sacrifice. Ib. 2 כִּפְּרָה סְפֵיקָהּ וכ׳ the heifer has atoned for the doubt for which it has been put to death, and is gone (i.e. at the time of its being thrown down the murderer was unknown); ib. 25ᵃ עדיין לא כיפרה סְפֵיקָתָהּ it had not yet atoned for the doubt for which it was to be put to death; a. v. fr.—Pl. סְפֵיקוֹת, סְפֵק׳ (fem.). Kidd. IV, 3 ואלו הן הס׳ and these are the cases of uncertain parentage. B. Mets. 83ᵇ ס׳ שלכם cases in which you act on doubts (mere suspicion), v. וַדָּאָה. Y. Keth. I, beg. 24ᵈ שתי ס׳ a double doubt, v. next w.; a. e.
- 2. dilemma, difficulty. Cant. R. to VII, 8 למה באו ישראל בס׳ וכ׳ why did the Israelites get into trouble in the days of Haman?
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 2 distinct written forms H5607 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
| Form | Parsing | Example | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| בְ/סָ֑פֶק | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Job 36:18 | 1 |
| שִׂ֭פְק/וֹ | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct | Job 20:22 | 1 |
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 2 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 2 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
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.
