כַּף
kaph
palm
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Hebrew word כַּף (kaph) is defined as "palm". This term is part of the semantic domain of Body & Health, which suggests that it is closely related to the anatomical function of the hand, specifically the palm. Given its frequency of 141 occurrences in the Bible, it is clear that the concept of the palm is significant in the Hebrew scriptural narrative. The word kaph is used to convey various ideas and emotions, such as physical action, measurement, and even an instrument of authority or control (e.g., a palm branch as a symbol of peace or victory). The wide usage of kaph underscores its importance in everyday life, from performing physical actions to serving as a unit of measurement. Its prominence in the biblical text highlights the significance of the palm in ancient Hebrew culture, serving as both a physical reference point and a symbolic representation of various ideas and values.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
141 total occurrences across the text — showing 50
So the couriers went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, “You children of Israel, turn again to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may return to the remnant of you that have escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.
2 Chronicles 32:11Doesn’t Hezekiah persuade you, to give you over to die by famine and by thirst, saying, ‘Yahweh our God will deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?’
Ezra 8:31Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and the bandit by the way.
Ezra 9:5At the evening offering I arose up from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn; and I fell on my knees, and spread out my hands to Yahweh my God;
Job 9:30If I wash myself with snow, and cleanse my hands with lye,
Job 10:3Is it good to you that you should oppress, that you should despise the work of your hands, and smile on the counsel of the wicked?
Job 11:13“If you set your heart aright, stretch out your hands toward him.
Job 13:14Why should I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hand?
Job 13:21withdraw your hand far from me, and don’t let your terror make me afraid.
Job 16:17Although there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure.
Job 22:30He will even deliver him who is not innocent. Yes, he will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”
Job 27:23Men will clap their hands at him, and will hiss him out of his place.
Job 29:9The princes refrained from talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.
Job 31:7if my step has turned out of the way, if my heart walked after my eyes, if any defilement has stuck to my hands,
Job 36:32He covers his hands with the lightning, and commands it to strike the mark.
Job 41:8Lay your hand on him. Remember the battle, and do so no more.
Psalms 7:3Yahweh, my God, if I have done this, if there is iniquity in my hands,
Psalms 9:16Yahweh has made himself known. He has executed judgment. The wicked is snared by the work of his own hands.
Psalms 18:0to the/ choirmaster of/ the servant of Yahweh of/ David who he spoke to/ Yahweh obj. the words of the/ song the/ this on/ the day when he delivered Yahweh obj./ him from/ the hand of all enemies/ his and/ from/ the hand of Saul
Psalms 24:4He who has clean hands and a pure heart; who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, and has not sworn deceitfully.
Psalms 26:6I will wash my hands in innocence, so I will go about your altar, Yahweh,
Psalms 44:20If we have forgotten the name of our God, or spread out our hands to a strange god,
Psalms 47:1Oh clap your hands, all you nations. Shout to God with the voice of triumph!
Psalms 63:4So I will bless you while I live. I will lift up my hands in your name.
Psalms 71:4Rescue me, my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.
Psalms 73:13Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence,
Psalms 78:72So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.
Psalms 81:6“I removed his shoulder from the burden. His hands were freed from the basket.
Psalms 88:9My eyes are dim from grief. I have called on you daily, Yahweh. I have spread out my hands to you.
Psalms 91:12They will bear you up in their hands, so that you won’t dash your foot against a stone.
Psalms 98:8Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains sing for joy together.
Psalms 119:48I reach out my hands for your commandments, which I love. I will meditate on your statutes.
Psalms 119:109My soul is continually in my hand, yet I won’t forget your law.
Psalms 128:2For you will eat the labor of your hands. You will be happy, and it will be well with you.
Psalms 129:7with which the reaper doesn’t fill his hand, nor he who binds sheaves, his bosom.
Psalms 139:5You hem me in behind and before. You laid your hand on me.
Psalms 141:2Let my prayer be set before you like incense; the lifting up of my hands like the evening sacrifice.
Proverbs 6:1My son, if you have become collateral for your neighbor, if you have struck your hands in pledge for a stranger,
Proverbs 6:3Do this now, my son, and deliver yourself, since you have come into the hand of your neighbor. Go, humble yourself. Press your plea with your neighbor.
Proverbs 10:4He becomes poor who works with a lazy hand, but the hand of the diligent brings wealth.
Proverbs 17:18A man void of understanding strikes hands, and becomes collateral in the presence of his neighbor.
Proverbs 22:26Don’t you be one of those who strike hands, of those who are collateral for debts.
Proverbs 31:13She seeks wool and flax, and works eagerly with her hands.
Proverbs 31:16She considers a field, and buys it. With the fruit of her hands, she plants a vineyard.
Ecclesiastes 4:6Better is a handful, with quietness, than two handfuls with labor and chasing after wind.
Song of Solomon 5:5I rose up to open for my beloved. My hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with liquid myrrh, on the handles of the lock.
Isaiah 1:15When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.
Isaiah 28:4The fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fertile valley, shall be like the first-ripe fig before the summer; which someone picks and eats as soon as he sees it.
Isaiah 33:15He who walks righteously and speaks blamelessly, he who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing to take a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from looking at evil—
Isaiah 36:6Behold, you trust in the staff of this bruised reed, even in Egypt, which if a man leans on it, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.