כָּפָן
𐤊𐤐𐤍
kâphân
H3720 noun
SILEX Entry
Definition
A state of hunger due to a lack of food, often extending to a condition of famine. Refers both to physical hunger experienced by individuals and to widespread scarcity affecting a community. The word denotes bodily distress and weakness resulting from the deprivation of sustenance.
Semantic Range
hunger; physical deprivation of food; famine; painful starvation; state of emaciation due to lack of sustenance
Root / Etymology
From the Hebrew root כפן, which means 'to be hungry, to suffer hunger.' The noun כָּפָן (kâphân) is a concrete nominal formation denoting the state or experience of hunger or famine, highlighting the act or state described by the verb. The root is rare in biblical usage.
Historical & Contextual Notes
כָּפָן appears infrequently in the Hebrew Bible (notably in Job 5:22) and is used to describe both individual and widespread hunger—sometimes suggesting an ongoing or severe lack of food. In contrast to the more common רָעָב (ra‘av, H7458), which is the primary term for 'famine' in biblical Hebrew, כָּפָן accentuates the painful, crippling nature of hunger, with an emphasis on its physical effects. Over time, רָעָב became the dominant term for regional famine or covenantal curse, while כָּפָן was reserved for literary or poetic contexts to evoke physical suffering. Standard translations as 'hunger' or 'famine' generally suffice, but may not fully communicate the term's connotation of bodily agony and incapacitation. The English term 'famine' sometimes obscures the focus on individual suffering present in כָּפָן's usage.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
from כָּפַן; hunger (as making to stoop with emptiness and pain); famine.
Bantu Hebrew
No Bantu Hebrew comparisons have been submitted for this word yet.
+ Add Bantu Hebrew WordRoot Family
כפן (k-p-n) — to be hungry, to suffer hunger
| Strong's | Lemma | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|
| H3719 | כָּפַן | she was bent over |
Word Forms
2 distinct forms
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H3720-01 |
וּ/לְ/כָפָ֣ן | ulekhafan | HC/R/Ncmsa |
and famine | and to hunger | 1 |
H3720-02 |
וּ/בְ/כָפָ֗ן | uvekhafan | HC/R/Ncmsa |
and from famine | and in hunger | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
2 total occurrences