Bible word study

Caphaq (Strong’s H5606): Meaning in the Bible

Caphaq (סָפַק) is the Hebrew word numbered H5606 in Strong’s concordance of the Bible. Strong’s defines it as to clap the hands (in token of compact, derision, grief, indignation, or punishment); by implication of satisfaction, to be enough; by implication of excess, to vomit. In the King James Bible it is translated clap, smite, strike, suffice, wallow..

• Original wordסָפַק
• Transliterationçâphaq
• Pronunciationsaw-fak'
• Part of speechverb (v)
• Strong’s numberH5606
• LanguageHebrew

The full Strong’s definition

Derivation. or שָׂפַק; (1 Kings 20:10; Job 27:23; Isaiah 2:6), a primitive root;

How the King James Bible translates it

Where Caphaq appears in the Bible

In the King James Bible’s text tagged with Strong’s numbers, Caphaq (H5606) stands behind 11 English renderings in 10 verses across 7 of the 66 books. It is most frequent in Job (3), Numbers (2), Jeremiah (2).

How the King James Bible renders Caphaq, by count

• clap2 of 11 (18 percent)
• smote2 of 11 (18 percent)
• clappeth1 of 11 (9 percent)
• please1 of 11 (9 percent)
• smite1 of 11 (9 percent)
• striketh1 of 11 (9 percent)

Three places to read Caphaq

• Numbers 24:10 And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together: and Balak said unto Balaam, I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times.
• Job 34:26 He striketh them as wicked men in the open sight of others;
• Jeremiah 31:19 Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.

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 Caphaq 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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