To slacken
רָפָהStrong’s H7503raphah (ra-phah)
Appears in 45 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Raphah is the Hebrew word usually translated “refrain”, “abandon you” and “idle”. It appears in 45 verses of the Old Testament.
“So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.”
Meaning
- To sink, relax, sink down, let drop, be disheartened(Qal) · (Niphal) idle (participle) · (Piel) to let drop · (Hiphil) · (Hithpael) to show oneself slack
How it's translated
- refrain 5
- he will abandon you 4
- idle 3
- they will drop 3
- be quiet 2
- let drop 2
- they drop 2
- they let drop 2
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Deuteronomy 4
- Jeremiah 4
- Ezekiel 4
- Exodus 3
- Joshua 3
- Judges 3
19 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- Exodus 5:8And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.
- Exodus 5:17But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD.
- Deuteronomy 4:31(For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.
- Deuteronomy 9:14Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven: and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they.
- Deuteronomy 31:6Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
- Deuteronomy 31:8And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
All 45 verses, by book
Hebrew dictionary
רָפָה raphah · to slacken
1) to sink, relax, sink down, let drop, be disheartened 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to sink down 1a2) to sink, drop 1a3) to sink, relax, abate 1a4) to relax, withdraw 1b) (Niphal) idle (participle) 1c) (Piel) to let drop 1d) (Hiphil) 1d1) to let drop, abandon, relax, refrain, forsake 1d2) to let go 1d3) to refrain, let alone 1d4) to be quiet 1e) (Hithpael) to show oneself slack
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “slacken” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
SLACK'EN, noun
Among miners, a spungy semi-vitrified substance which they mix with the ores of metals to prevent their fusion.
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Hebrew, not from any one translation.