שׁוֹפָךְ
𐤔𐤅𐤐𐤊
Shofakhe
H7780 noun
SILEX Entry
Definition
Shôwphâk, a proper noun designating a personal name found in the Hebrew Bible; likely referring to an individual of Aramean (Syrian) identity who appears as a military commander. The name may carry the literal sense of 'one who pours out' or 'he who sheds' (possibly blood or wrath), but is used exclusively as a personal name in the biblical text.
Semantic Range
personal name, commander of the Aramean army; (by root, to pour out, to shed, sense implicit in the name but not used as a common noun)
Root / Etymology
From the root שָׁפַךְ (shāphakh), 'to pour, to pour out, to shed', with the personalizing nominal pattern yielding a proper noun.
Historical & Contextual Notes
שׁוֹפָךְ (Shôwphâk) occurs only in 1 Chronicles 19:16 as the name of the commander (chief of army) of the Arameans (Syrians) allied with the Ammonites in battle against King David. In the parallel narrative in 2 Samuel 10:16, the name appears as שׁוֹפַךְ (Shôphakh), indicating a minor orthographic variation. The name's derivation suggests an association with the idea of 'pouring out', possibly with martial or combative overtones, reflecting the violent context in which the figure appears (cf. 'shedding blood'). There is no evidence that this personal name was used for Israelites or Judahites; the individual in question is explicitly associated with the Aramean polity. Traditional English versions transliterate the name variously as 'Shophach' or 'Shophak', but these reflect only the phonetic rendering rather than expanding the meaning. This name does not appear outside the narrative context of military encounter, and does not bear the ethnonymic or religious meanings sometimes ascribed to other biblical names in later periods.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
from שָׁפַךְ; poured; Shophak, a Syrian; Shophach.
Bantu Hebrew
No Bantu Hebrew comparisons have been submitted for this word yet.
+ Add Bantu Hebrew WordRoot Family
שׁפך (sh-p-kh) — to pour, to pour out, to shed, to spill
Word Forms
2 distinct forms
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H7780-02 |
וְ/שׁוֹפַ֛ךְ | veshofakhe | HC/Np |
and Shophach | And Shophak | 1 |
H7780-01 |
שׁוֹפַ֥ךְ | shofakhe | HNp |
Shophach | He-Who-Pours-Out | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
2 total occurrences
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H7780-02 |
1 Chronicles 19:16 | וְ/שׁוֹפַ֛ךְ | veshofakhe | HC/Np |
and Shophach | And Shophak |
H7780-01 |
1 Chronicles 19:18 | שׁוֹפַ֥ךְ | shofakhe | HNp |
Shophach | He-Who-Pours-Out |