Bible word study

Saphah (Strong’s H8193): Meaning in the Bible

Saphah (שָׂפָה) is the Hebrew word numbered H8193 in Strong’s concordance of the Bible. Strong’s defines it as the lip (as a natural boundary); by implication, language; by analogy, a margin (of a vessel, water, cloth, etc.). In the King James Bible it is translated band, bank, binding, border, brim.

שָׂפָה
sâphâh · Hebrew
Strong’s H8193 · saw-faw'

The full Strong’s definition

the lip (as a natural boundary); by implication, language; by analogy, a margin (of a vessel, water, cloth, etc.)

Derivation. or (in dual and plural) שֶׂפֶת; probably from H5595 or H8192 through the idea of termination (compare H5490);

How the King James Bible translates it

band, bank, binding, border, brim, brink, edge, language, lip, prating, (sea-)shore, side, speech, talk, (vain) words.

Why the word matters

Every word the biblical writers chose carries weight. Studying Saphah 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.

Related words

Caphah (root, H5595)All Bible word studies

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