Bible word study

Charaph (Strong’s H2778): Meaning in the Bible

Charaph (חָרַף) is the Hebrew word numbered H2778 in Strong’s concordance of the Bible. Strong’s defines it as to pull off, i.e. (by implication) to expose (as by stripping); specifically, to betroth (as if a surrender); figuratively, to carp at, i.e. defame; to spend the winter. In the King James Bible it is translated betroth, blaspheme, defy, jeopard, rail.

• Original wordחָרַף
• Transliterationchâraph
• Pronunciationkhaw-raf'
• Part of speechverb (v)
• Strong’s numberH2778
• LanguageHebrew

The full Strong’s definition

Derivation. a primitive root; also denominative (from H2779)

How the King James Bible translates it

Where Charaph appears in the Bible

In the King James Bible’s text tagged with Strong’s numbers, Charaph (H2778) stands behind 41 English renderings in 40 verses across 13 of the 66 books. It is most frequent in Psalms (12), Isaiah (6), 1 Samuel (5).

How the King James Bible renders Charaph, by count

• reproached12 of 41 (29 percent)
• reproach10 of 41 (24 percent)
• defied5 of 41 (12 percent)
• reproacheth5 of 41 (12 percent)
• defy3 of 41 (7 percent)
• betrothed1 of 41 (2 percent)

Three places to read Charaph

• Leviticus 19:20 And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman, that is a bondmaid, betrothed to an husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her; she shall be scourged; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free.
• 2 Kings 19:23 By thy messengers thou hast reproached the LORD, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel.
• Psalms 89:51 Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O LORD; wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.

Counts are made at build time from the King James text tagged with Strong’s numbers (eBible.org, public domain). Verses are read from the stored King James text, never typed.

Why the word matters

Every word the biblical writers chose carries weight. Studying Charaph in the original Hebrew lets you read the passages where it appears more carefully, closer to what the first hearers understood, so the meaning is drawn from the text itself rather than from the English alone.

The lexical data on this page comes from the public-domain Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890), a Hebrew and Greek dictionary keyed to the King James Bible. It is a reference tool, not a settled verdict: no single word decides a doctrine, and meaning is finally shaped by how a word is used in its sentences. Read the passages themselves, prayerfully, and in full.

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