Lexical Summary
naphach: To blow, breathe, give up, kindle
Original Word:נָפַח
Part of Speech:Verb
Transliteration:naphach
Pronunciation:naw-fakh'
Phonetic Spelling:(naw-fakh')
KJV: blow, breath, give up, cause to lose (life), seething, snuff
NASB:blow, boiling, blows, breathe, breathed, disdainfully sniff, lose
Word Origin:[a primitive root]
1. to puff (in various applications)
2. (literally) to inflate, blow hard, scatter, kindle, expire
3. (figuratively) to disesteem
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
blow, breath, give up, cause to lose life, seething, snuff
A primitive root; to puff, in various applications (literally, to inflate, blow hard, scatter, kindle, expire; figuratively, to disesteem) -- blow, breath, give up, cause to lose (life), seething, snuff.
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origina prim. root
Definitionto breathe, blow
NASB Translationblow (3), blows (1), boiling (2), breathe (1), breathed (1), breathing is labored* (1), disdainfully sniff (1), lose (1), unfanned (1).
Brown-Driver-Briggs
[] ( Ecclus 43:4
a furnace blown upon (heated hot); Late Hebrew
id., , Syriac
; Assyrian
napâ—u,
inflame,
nappa—u,
smith Dl
HWB 474; Arabic (
and)
blow; Ethiopic
or
Di
712); —
Perfect3feminine singularJeremiah 15:9;Haggai 1:9;Ezekiel 22:21;ImperfectGenesis 2:7;Imperative feminine singularEzekiel 37:9;InfinitiveEzekiel 22:20;Perfect activeIsaiah 54:16;passiveJeremiah 1:13;Job 41:12; —breathe, blow,Genesis 2:7 (J); followed by alsoEzekiel 37:9;Isaiah 54:16 andHaggai 1:9blow into it (to scatter it); followed by :Ezekiel 22:20to blow fire upon it (ore, for melting), so figurativeEzekiel 22:21and I will blow upon you with ()the fire of my wrath;Jeremiah 15:9she hath breathed out her life (of a mother, compare); absoluteJeremiah 1:13a blown (i.e. well-heated, boiling)pot, compareJob 41:12 (simile).
PerfectJob 20:26a fire not blown (by any human breath). So perhaps alsoNumbers 21:30 (readinguntil fire was blown [hot] as far as Medeba), compare Di.
Perfect1singularJob 31:39 (or if)the life of its (the land's)owners I have caused them to breathe out;Malachi 1:13and ye have sniffed at it (in contempt).
Topical Lexicon
Entry: נָפַח (Strong’s 5301)Creation and Life-Giving Breath
The first appearance of נָפַח stands at the headwaters of biblical anthropology. “Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). Here God’s “breathing” is not merely imparting oxygen but bestowing personhood, vitality, and fellowship capacity. This foundational event makes every later occurrence of נָפַח echo with creative potential. When Ezekiel is commanded, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live!” (Ezekiel 37:9), the prophet’s vision of national resurrection is deliberately set against Eden’s paradigm. Whether individual or corporate, life arises when God exhales.
Divine Judgment and Dissolution
The same verb that enlivens also scatters and consumes when righteousness is violated.Haggai 1:9 records, “You expected much, but behold, it turned out to be little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away.” The people’s self-absorption provokes the Lord to disperse their gain with a single breath. Comparable imagery appears inEzekiel 22:20-21, where God “blows” on a furnace of wrath, melting Jerusalem’s dross.Job 20:26 speaks of “a fire unstirred” that devours the wicked, indicating that no human bellows is needed when God Himself fans the flame. Judgment by breath underscores His effortless sovereignty; the same mouth that forms blessings can, with equal ease, dismantle pride.
Human Industry and Craftsmanship
Isaiah 54:16 introduces the blacksmith “who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work.” In ancient metallurgy, bellows supplied a steady stream of air, intensifying heat for both refinement and weapon-making. Scripture affirms that even this quintessential human skill exists under divine appointment: the craftsman’s exhale mirrors God’s primal work, yet the ultimate control of forged instruments remains with the Creator.Ezekiel 22:20 employs the smelting metaphor to confront national impurity; the historical craft becomes a vehicle for prophetic warning.
Breath, Violence, and Moral Accountability
Job 31:39 uses נָפַח in a self-imprecatory oath: “if I have devoured its produce without payment or broken the spirit of its tenants.” Oppressing workers is tantamount to forcing them to “give up their breath.”Malachi 1:13 exposes ritual cynicism: “You also say, ‘Look, what a nuisance!’ and you sniff at it.” The priests’ contemptuous “sniff” at worship inversely mirrors God’s life-giving breath, revealing the moral chasm between holy vocation and casual irreverence.
Cosmic and Creaturely Imagery
Job 41:20 depicts Leviathan: “Smoke streams from his nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning reeds.” The creature’s terrifying respiration magnifies God’s power in creation; even monstrous breaths remain subdued under His rule. InJeremiah 1:13 the “boiling pot” tilting from the north evokes roiling steam driven by unseen breath, signaling the imminent Babylonian invasion.
Theological Trajectory
Across Scripture, נָפַח links breath with both origin and destiny. Humanity’s existence is contingent on divine respiration; community life revives only when God breathes anew; conversely, prosperity, nations, and even the wicked’s confidence evaporate when He withdraws or turns His breath toward judgment. This dual motif anticipates the New Covenant promise of the Spirit poured out on all flesh, where the life-imparting breath becomes internalized rather than merely external (compareJohn 20:22;Acts 2:2-4).
Ministerial Applications
1. Dependence: Every ministry thrives only as God breathes upon it. Prayer meetings seeking revival rightly invokeGenesis 2:7 andEzekiel 37:9, pleading for fresh divine exhalation.
2. Purity: The smelter’s furnace warns that the Spirit’s wind will expose and purge hypocrisy (Haggai 1:9;Ezekiel 22). Leaders must welcome refining rather than resist it.
3. Stewardship:Job 31:39 charges believers to honor the breath in others—protecting laborers, migrants, and the oppressed whose lives are precious to the One who breathed them into being.
4. Worship:Malachi 1:13 rebukes perfunctory service. Genuine awe replaces the dismissive “sniff,” aligning the congregation’s breath with the One whose glory fills the sanctuary.
Summary
Strong’s Hebrew 5301 portrays breath as a dynamic force wielded by God to create, sustain, purify, or disperse. Whether animating Adam, reviving dry bones, fueling a forge, or scattering selfish gain, נָפַח unveils a Lord whose slightest breath commands life and history. Faithful readers are summoned to receive that breath with humility, to echo it in righteous action, and to watch for the day when every living thing will praise the Breath-Giver without restraint.
Forms and Transliterations
הִפָּֽחְתִּי׃ הפחתי׃ וְהִפַּחְתֶּ֣ם וְנָפַ֣חְתִּי וְנָפַחְתִּ֥י וַיִּפַּ֥ח וּפְחִ֛י והפחתם ויפח ונפחתי ופחי לָפַֽחַת־ לפחת־ נָפ֙וּחַ֙ נָפ֣וּחַ נָפְחָ֥ה נֹפֵ֙חַ֙ נֻפָּ֑ח נפוח נפח נפחה hip·pā·ḥə·tî hipPacheti hippāḥətî lā·p̄a·ḥaṯ- lafachat lāp̄aḥaṯ- nā·p̄ə·ḥāh nā·p̄ū·aḥ nafeChah naFuach nāp̄əḥāh nāp̄ūaḥ nō·p̄ê·aḥ noFeach nōp̄êaḥ nup·pāḥ nupPach nuppāḥ ū·p̄ə·ḥî ufeChi ūp̄əḥî vaiyipPach vehippachTem venafachTi way·yip·paḥ wayyippaḥ wə·hip·paḥ·tem wə·nā·p̄aḥ·tî wəhippaḥtem wənāp̄aḥtî
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