Lexical Summary
naphats: To shatter, break, scatter, dash to pieces
Original Word:נָפַץ
Part of Speech:Verb
Transliteration:naphats
Pronunciation:naw-FATS
Phonetic Spelling:(naw-fats')
KJV: be beaten in sunder, break (in pieces), broken, dash (in pieces), cause to be discharged, dispersed, be overspread, scatter
Word Origin:[a primitive root]
1. to dash to pieces, or scatter
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
be beaten in sunder, break in pieces, broken, dash in pieces, dispersed, be overspread, scatter
A primitive root; to dash to pieces, or scatter -- be beaten in sunder, break (in pieces), broken, dash (in pieces), cause to be discharged, dispersed, be overspread, scatter.
Brown-Driver-Briggs
I. [] (Late Hebrew
id., dash, beat; Assyrian
napâƒu,
shatter,
destroy Dl
HWB 475; Pa`el
shatter, but also Pa`el,
id., Syriac
shake, break, so Mandean, Nö
M. 240, and ZMG xxxii (1878), 406); —
Infinitive absolute with accusativeJudges 7:19and a shattering (=and shattered) the jars;Passive participleJeremiah 22:28 (figurative)a vessel to be despised (and)shattered (compare Ew Gie RothstKau); alsoParticiple activeshatterer of the holy peopleDaniel 12:7 (Bev MartiKau, reading ).
dash to pieces:Perfect3masculine singular consecutivePsalm 137:9 with accusative infants ag. () rock; 1 singular of dashing all in pieces with () Babylon as war-clubJeremiah 51:20,21 (twice in verse);Jeremiah 51:22 (3 t. in verse);Jeremiah 51:23 (3 t. in verse); suffixJeremiah 13:14;Imperfect2masculine singular suffixPsalm 2:9 (i.e. nations); 3 masculine pluralJeremiah 48:12 (symbolic of destroying Moab);InfinitiveDaniel 12:7when (they)finish shattering the hand (figurative forpower)of the holy people, but read possibly , see
; =break up rafts1 Kings 5:23.
Participle feminine pluralIsaiah 27:9 like chalk-stonespulverized.
II. (often taken as secondary √ from Niph`al of , yet compare Late Hebrew , Qal (Participle), Pi`el,scatter; Syriac
pour out, throw down, ; Arabic
shake (irregular correspondence of sibilants compare Nöl.c.), Ethiopic
dissipari, aufugere Di 713); —
Perfect3masculine singular1 Samuel 13:11the people were scattered from me; 3 feminine singularGenesis 9:19 (J) thencedispersed all (the population of)the earth; 3 pluralIsaiah 33:3nations were scattered; Passive participle feminine plural constructIsaiah 11:12the dispersed of Judah he shall collect ("" ).
(√ of following; compare Arabic
soul, life, person, living being, blood, desire,
breath, sweet odour,
be high in estimation, become avaricious; III.desire a thing, aspire to it, seebreathe, sigh. Assyriannapâšu, get breath, be broad, extended; napištu,life, less frequentlysoul, living being, person. Vbs. apparently denominative; nouns in all Semitic languages: Phoenician , CISi. 86 B 5, Ethiopic
; in the following = bothsoul, person, andtombstone, monument (as representing person, see especially DuvalRev. Sémit. ii (1894), 259 ff.): Late Hebrew see LevyZMG xii (1858), 215; Old Aramaic , Nabataean, Palmyrene , see Lzb325 Cook82; Syriac
, see 1 Macc 13:27; 13:28; Sabean Levy-OsZMG xix (1865), 255. 290 Mordtmib, xxxii (1878), 202 compare Lihyan., DHMEpigr. Denkm. 67, Min. HomSüdarab. Chrest. 128).
Topical Lexicon
Fundamental Sense and Imageryנָפַץ conveys vigorous disruptive force: smashing objects, scattering people, or shattering strength. Whether a clay jar, a proud nation, or a covenant people under discipline, the term pictures sudden fragmentation that no human hand can mend.
Key Motifs across Scripture
1. Destructive Intervention
•Psalm 2:9, messianic: “You will break them with an iron scepter; You will shatter them like pottery.”
•Psalm 137:9, retributive justice on Babylon.
•Jeremiah 51:20-23 (sixfold repetition) where Babylon itself becomes the hammer by which the LORD “shatters” nations, yet will finally be shattered.
•Judges 7:19;Jeremiah 13:14; 22:28: earthenware smashed as enacted parables of divine judgment.
2. Dispersion and Regathering
•Genesis 9:19 traces the post-Flood spreading of humanity: “From these the whole earth was populated.”
•1 Samuel 13:11;Isaiah 33:3;Daniel 12:7 show armies or peoples “scattered” when strength fails.
•Isaiah 11:12 holds out hope: the One who once scattered will “assemble the banished of Israel and gather the dispersed of Judah,” revealing that God’s shattering is never His last word.
3. Purifying Removal of Idolatry
•Isaiah 27:9 envisions altars smashed so thoroughly they become “like crushed chalkstone,” a cleansing that makes true worship possible.
•Jeremiah 48:12 promises Moab’s wine-jars will be “shattered” so that the dregs—symbol of complacent sin—cannot settle.
Historical Setting
In the Ancient Near East, smashing pottery or weapons was a public, irreversible act signaling conquest or covenant penalty. Prophets employed the same gesture to dramatize judgment on kings (Coniah,Jeremiah 22:28) and empires (Babylon,Jeremiah 51). The recurrence of נָפַץ during the Babylonian crisis underscores how total Judah’s overthrow would be, yet also anticipates the eventual ruin of the very power God used.
Prophetic and Eschatological Dimensions
Psalm 2 andDaniel 12 bracket the term with messianic expectation and end-time resolution. Messiah’s rod of iron ensures every rebellious structure is crushed, while Daniel foresees Israel’s power “broken” just before final deliverance. Thus נָפַץ explains both the severity of the present age and the certainty of future restoration.
Christological Reflections
Jesus Christ embodies both sides of נָפַץ. At His first coming He was Himself “pierced” (a voluntary shattering,Isaiah 53), yet He also cleansed the temple, overturning tables. At His return He will executePsalm 2:9 in fullness, dashing the nations that resist His reign while gathering the dispersed remnant into one flock.
Ministry Applications
• Preaching: Use the vividness of smashing pottery to awaken hearers to the seriousness of sin and the finality of divine judgment.
• Pastoral Care: Remind the broken that God alone can re-create what He has shattered (Jeremiah 18:4), turning judgment into new covenant grace.
• Missions:Genesis 9:19 shows dispersion as the backdrop for the Great Commission; the gospel now gathers the scattered into one new humanity in Christ.
• Discipleship: Encourage believers to willingly let idols be “smashed like chalkstone” (Isaiah 27:9) so that pure worship may emerge.
Summary
נָפַץ threads through Scripture as God’s decisive act of breaking and scattering to judge, purify, and ultimately restore. It warns every generation not to trust in fragile human strength, while assuring the faithful that the One who shatters also heals and gathers to Himself.
Forms and Transliterations
וְנִפֵּ֬ץ וְנִפַּצְתִּ֣י וְנִפַּצְתִּ֤י וְנִפַּצְתִּ֥י וְנִפַּצְתִּ֥ים וְנִפַּצְתִּים֩ וְנָפ֥וֹץ וּנְפֻצ֤וֹת ונפוץ ונפץ ונפצות ונפצתי ונפצתים יְנַפֵּֽצוּ׃ ינפצו׃ מְנֻפָּצ֔וֹת מנפצות נַפֵּ֥ץ נָֽפְצָ֥ה נָפ֗וּץ נָפְצ֖וּ נָפַ֨ץ נפוץ נפץ נפצה נפצו תְּנַפְּצֵֽם׃ תנפצם׃ mə·nup·pā·ṣō·wṯ mənuppāṣōwṯ menuppaTzot nā·p̄aṣ nā·p̄ə·ṣāh nā·p̄ə·ṣū nā·p̄ūṣ naFatz nafeTzah nafeTzu naFutz nap·pêṣ nāp̄aṣ nāp̄əṣāh nāp̄əṣū nappêṣ napPetz nāp̄ūṣ tə·nap·pə·ṣêm tənappəṣêm tenappeTzem ū·nə·p̄u·ṣō·wṯ unefuTzot ūnəp̄uṣōwṯ venaFotz venippatzTi venippatzTim venipPetz wə·nā·p̄ō·wṣ wə·nip·paṣ·tî wə·nip·paṣ·tîm wə·nip·pêṣ wənāp̄ōwṣ wənippaṣtî wənippaṣtîm wənippêṣ yə·nap·pê·ṣū yənappêṣū yenapPetzu
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