אָפֵס

# Analysis of אָפֵס (aphes) - "to end" The Hebrew verb אָפֵס appears five times in the biblical text and carries the fundamental meaning "to end." This root expresses the concept of termination or cessation—the point at which something stops or concludes. With only five occurrences across the entire biblical corpus, this is a relatively rare term, suggesting it was employed in specific contexts rather than as a common everyday verb for ending or finishing. The limited frequency of this word in biblical Hebrew raises questions about its particular applications. While the basic definition is straightforward—denoting the cessation or conclusion of something—the small number of attestations means the word likely appeared in contexts where its specific nuance was needed rather than serving as a general-purpose term for ending. The rarity itself indicates this was a more specialized or formal vocabulary choice compared to other Hebrew verbs with similar general meanings. Without access to the specific biblical passages where אָפֵס occurs, the full range of its usage remains bounded by the lexical definition. What we can determine from the available data is that biblical writers had this particular term available when they needed to express the concept of something coming to an end, though they used it sparingly and presumably for particular theological or literary effect.