חָפַר
cha.phar
to search
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# Analytical Synthesis of H2658 (חָפַר) The Hebrew word חָפַר (chaphar) carries the fundamental meaning "to search," encompassing the active process of looking for something. With 22 occurrences in the biblical text, this verb represents a moderately common term for investigative action. The word denotes deliberate, intentional seeking rather than casual observation—it suggests effort directed toward locating or discovering something that is not immediately apparent. The frequency of this term across the biblical corpus indicates that the concept of searching held practical significance in ancient Hebrew discourse. The verb appears regularly enough to suggest it was a standard way of expressing investigative activity, whether literal (searching for a lost object or person) or figurative (seeking understanding or truth). This moderate usage pattern suggests the word occupied an established place in everyday vocabulary while remaining specific enough to distinguish deliberate searching from mere looking or seeing. While the provided lexicon data does not detail specific contextual variations, the term's 22 occurrences suggest its application spanned diverse situations requiring active investigation. The basic semantic range—from physical search to intellectual inquiry—makes it a foundational word for expressing human efforts to find, locate, or uncover what is hidden or unknown.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
22 total occurrences across the text
Who long for death, but it doesn’t come; and dig for it more than for hidden treasures,
Job 11:18You will be secure, because there is hope. Yes, you will search, and will take your rest in safety.
Job 39:21He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength. He goes out to meet the armed men.
Job 39:29From there he spies out the prey. His eyes see it afar off.
Psalms 7:15He has dug a hole, and has fallen into the pit which he made.
Psalms 35:7For without cause they have hidden their net in a pit for me. Without cause they have dug a pit for my soul.
Ecclesiastes 10:8He who digs a pit may fall into it; and whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.
Deuteronomy 1:22You came near to me, everyone of you, and said, “Let’s send men before us, that they may search the land for us, and bring back to us word of the way by which we must go up, and the cities to which we shall come.”
Jeremiah 13:7Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and took the belt from the place where I had hidden it; and behold, the belt was ruined. It was profitable for nothing.
Genesis 21:30He said, “You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that it may be a witness to me, that I have dug this well.”
Genesis 26:15Now all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped, and filled with earth.
Genesis 26:18Isaac dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham. He called their names after the names by which his father had called them.
Genesis 26:18Isaac dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham. He called their names after the names by which his father had called them.
Genesis 26:19Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.
Genesis 26:21They dug another well, and they argued over that, also. He called its name Sitnah.
Genesis 26:22He left that place, and dug another well. They didn’t argue over that one. He called it Rehoboth. He said, “For now Yahweh has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”
Genesis 26:32The same day, Isaac’s servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.”
Exodus 7:24All the Egyptians dug around the river for water to drink; for they couldn’t drink the river water.
Numbers 21:18the well, which the princes dug, which the nobles of the people dug, with the scepter, and with their poles.” From the wilderness they traveled to Mattanah;
Deuteronomy 23:13You shall have a trowel among your weapons. It shall be, when you relieve yourself, you shall dig with it, and shall turn back and cover your excrement;
Joshua 2:2The king of Jericho was told, “Behold, men of the children of Israel came in here tonight to spy out the land.”
Joshua 2:3Jericho’s king sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered into your house; for they have come to spy out all the land.”