Lexical Summary
caph: Threshold, doorframe, sill, basin, goblet
Original Word:סַף
Part of Speech:Noun Masculine
Transliteration:caph
Pronunciation:saf
Phonetic Spelling:(saf)
KJV: bason, bowl, cup, door (post), gate, post, threshold
Word Origin:[fromH5605 (סָפַף - stand at the threshold), in its original sense of containing]
1. a vestibule (as a limit)
2. also a dish (for holding blood or wine)
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
bason, bowl, cup, door post, gate, post, threshold
Fromcaphaph, in its original sense of containing; a vestibule (as a limit); also a dish (for holding blood or wine) -- bason, bowl, cup, door (post), gate, post, threshold.
see HEBREWcaphaph
Brown-Driver-Briggs
I. (Late Hebrew ; Phoenician (Inscription of Tyre
(1), 5, 6) Schröd
ZMG xxxix (1886), 317 f. ClGann
Annales du Musée Guimet x. 511 = Recuell d'arch. orient.(1886), 89 Hal
RŠJ xii.107 Bloch; but Lzb
330door-sill); — absolute
basinExodus 12:22 (twice in verse) (J; containing blood of passover lamb); construct
Zechariah 12:2goblet of reeling (intoxicating, figurative), probably also
Habakkuk 2:15, where read
from the goblet of thy fury (for , see I. ); plural absolute
2 Samuel 17:28basins for ordinary use;
Jeremiah 52:19,
1 Kings 7:50 and construct
2 Kings 12:14, of temple utensils.
II.Amos 9:1 (Late Hebrewid.; Phoenician see Lzb1. ; Aramaic ,
Arabicsippu Dl509, allid.); — absolute2 Kings 12:10 +, alsoJudges 19:27 3t. (Baer Ginsb),2 Kings 25:8; suffixEzekiel 43:8,Ezekiel 43:8; pluralAmos 9:1;Isaiah 6:4 6t. Ezra, Chronicles; —threshold, sillJudges 19:27;Amos 9:1;Isaiah 6:4;Ezekiel 41:16 (twice in verse);Ezekiel 43:8 (twice in verse); 2Chronicles 3:7,1 Kings 14:17,Ezekiel 40:6,7, compareEzekiel 40:6 b =door-keeper, an important temple official,Jeremiah 35:4, so2 Kings 12:10 (priests),2 Kings 22:4 2Chronicles 34:9 (Levites!),2 Kings 23:4;2 Kings 25:18 =Jeremiah 52:24; in Persia, of palaceEsther 2:21;Esther 6:2; of tabernacle1 Chronicles 9:19; 2Chronicles 23:4 (Levites),1 Chronicles 9:22; collectiveZephaniah 2:14desolation in the thresholds.
Topical Lexicon
Range of Meaning and Occurrencesסַף (sap) appears roughly thirty-two times across the Hebrew Scriptures and denotes the rim, lip, or container that holds or marks out something else. Hence it can describe a bowl, cup, basin, the metal pan of Temple service, or the threshold and door-sill that frames entry. The contexts move from household life to royal ritual, from priestly ministry to prophetic vision, giving the term rich theological coloring.
The Passover Threshold – Salvation at the Door (Exodus 12:22-23)
The first canonical appearance is the foundational Passover. Israel was told to collect the lamb’s blood “in the basin” and to apply it to lintel and doorposts. “None of you shall go out the door of his house until morning” (Exodus 12:22). The sap here is both vessel and threshold, the appointed meeting point between judgment and protection. It is a type of the blood of Christ set at the entrance of the heart (John 10:9). Later threshold texts (1 Kings 14:17;Ezekiel 9:3) echo the same liminal tension— life inside, death outside.
Temple Service – Vessels of Ministry
Numerous references cluster around the Solomonic Temple and later restorations (1 Kings 7:40,1 Kings 7:45;2 Kings 25:15;1 Chronicles 28:17;2 Chronicles 4:16;Ezra 1:10;Jeremiah 52:19). These sapim are handcrafted articles of bronze, gold, or silver, dedicated to handle sacrificial blood, incense, or grain offerings. Their presence underlines the biblical pattern: holy worship demands consecrated utensils. When Josiah repaired the Temple, “they made vessels of service for the house of the LORD” (2 Chronicles 24:14). The chronicler’s joy that sanctified bowls had been restored mirrors the believer’s call to be “vessels for honor, sanctified and useful to the Master” (2 Timothy 2:21).
Domestic and Royal Hospitality
Beyond cultic settings, sap names the everyday bowl of oil or wine (Judges 5:25) and the cup set before a king (Proverbs 23:31). In the Song of Songs the beloved’s navel is poetically likened to “a rounded bowl that never lacks mixed wine” (Song of Songs 7:2), pointing to abundance and intimacy. Thus sap moves easily from sanctuary to supper-table, reminding readers that covenant life sanctifies both.
Prophetic Cup Imagery – Judgment and Deliverance
The prophets employ sap as a powerful metaphor.Zechariah 12:2 warns, “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling to all the surrounding peoples”. Nations that attempt to devour Zion will drink staggering judgment from the same vessel that preserves the faithful. Similar imagery surfaces inIsaiah 51:17, where Jerusalem has “drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His wrath.” The dual edge of sap— blessing for the obedient, ruin for the rebel— accents divine justice.
Thresholds and False Worship
Zephaniah decries those “who leap over the threshold” while filling “their master’s house with violence and deceit” (Zephaniah 1:9). The threshold becomes a symbol of casual irreverence, contrasting sharply with Passover obedience. The inviolability of God’s doorway anticipates New Testament teaching that entrance to His presence is through one consecrated way (Hebrews 10:19-22).
Theological Reflections
1. Mediation. Whether bowl or door-frame, sap mediates between two realms— heaven and earth, holy and common, life and death.
2. Consecration. Anything placed in the sap is set apart for God or stands under His inspection; careless handling invites judgment (1 Samuel 2:13-17 implicates comparable abuse of sacrificial vessels).
3. Fulfillment. The blood-marked threshold points forward to the cross, while prophetic cups unveil the final reckoning described inRevelation 16.
Representative References
Exodus 12:22-23;Judges 5:25;1 Kings 7:40, 45;2 Kings 25:15;1 Chronicles 28:17;2 Chronicles 4:16;Ezra 1:10;Proverbs 23:31; Song of Songs 7:2;Isaiah 51:17;Zephaniah 1:9;Zechariah 12:2.
Summary
סַף gathers household, royal, and priestly scenes into one term that highlights boundaries and containers chosen by God to convey either mercy or wrath. In Scripture’s unfolding drama, the sap ultimately points to the poured-out blood of the covenant and the doorway of salvation offered in the Messiah.
Forms and Transliterations
בְסַף־ בַּסִּפִּ֔ים בַּסַּ֔ף בַּסַּף֒ בַּסָּ֑ף בסף בסף־ בספים הַ֠סִּפִּים הַסִּפִּ֔ים הַסִּפִּ֖ים הַסִּפִּ֗ים הַסִּפִּ֛ים הַסִּפִּ֡ים הַסִּפִּֽים׃ הַסַּ֑ף הַסַּ֔ף הַסַּ֖ף הַסַּ֛ף הַסַּ֜ף הַסַּֽף׃ הַסַּף֒ הסף הסף׃ הספים הספים׃ וְ֠הַסִּפּוֹת וְסַ֣ף וְסַפּוֹת֙ והספות וסף וספות סִפִּ֗י סִפָּ֜ם סִפּ֥וֹת סַ֣ף סַף־ סף סף־ ספות ספי ספם bas·sap̄ bas·sāp̄ bas·sip·pîm basSaf bassap̄ bassāp̄ bassipPim bassippîm ḇə·sap̄- ḇəsap̄- has·sap̄ has·sip·pîm hasSaf hassap̄ hassipPim hassippîm saf sap̄ sap̄- sip·pām sip·pî sip·pō·wṯ sipPam sippām sipPi sippî sipPot sippōwṯ Vehassippot vesaf vesappOt wə·has·sip·pō·wṯ wə·sap̄ wə·sap·pō·wṯ wəhassippōwṯ wəsap̄ wəsappōwṯ
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