2018. haphekah
Lexical Summary
haphekah: Overthrow, Overturning, Destruction

Original Word: הֲפֵכָה
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: haphekah
Pronunciation: hah-fay-KAH
Phonetic Spelling: (haf-ay-kaw')
KJV: overthrow
NASB: overthrow
Word Origin: [feminine of H2016 (הֶפֶך הֵפֶך - different)]

1. destruction

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
overthrow

Feminine of hephek; destruction -- overthrow.

see HEBREW hephek

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
fem. of hephek
Definition
an overthrow
NASB Translation
overthrow (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
הֲפֵכָה noun feminine overthrow (compare especially Assyrian abiktu DlW), of the cities (of the plain) Genesis 19:29; compare [מַהְמֵּכָה] and הָפַךְ 1b.

Topical Lexicon
Meaning and Concept

The term depicts a total, sudden, and divinely wrought reversal. It describes not merely damage but an annihilating overturn that leaves no possibility of recovery. The single Old Testament occurrence applies this idea to the fate of Sodom and its sister cities.

Biblical Context: The Overthrow of the Cities of the Plain

Genesis 19 records a two-stage mercy: first, angelic warning; second, physical deliverance. Verse 29 states, “So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham, and He brought Lot out of the catastrophe that destroyed the cities where Lot had lived.”
• The “catastrophe” concludes a narrative that began in Genesis 18, where the Lord revealed His plans to Abraham.
• Fire and brimstone (Genesis 19:24) fulfilled divine justice against entrenched wickedness (Genesis 18:20–21).
• The same act displayed covenant loyalty: God “remembered Abraham,” preserving Lot for the patriarch’s sake.

Divine Judgment and Covenant Faithfulness

1. Moral accountability: The overthrow validates that unchecked evil meets decisive judgment (compare Romans 1:26–27).
2. Remnant rescue: Lot’s survival anticipates broader biblical patterns—Noah amid the flood, the Israelites at Passover, and ultimately believers spared from final wrath (1 Thessalonians 1:10).
3. Intercession: Abraham’s prayer (Genesis 18:22–33) shows that earnest petition can temper judgment, even when the final verdict remains firm.

Old Testament Echoes of Sodom’s Overthrow

Though the specific noun appears only once, prophets repeatedly invoke the event to warn later generations:
Deuteronomy 29:23; Isaiah 13:19; Jeremiah 49:17–18; Lamentations 4:6; Amos 4:11; Zephaniah 2:9.

These texts treat the overthrow as a historical benchmark for comprehensive ruin, underscoring that God’s standards do not shift with time.

New Testament Reflections

Luke 17:28–30 sets Sodom’s day of judgment alongside Noah’s flood as a pattern for Christ’s return.
2 Peter 2:6 remarks that God “condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes as an example of what is coming on the ungodly.”
• Jude 7 highlights sexual immorality and unnatural desire as core reasons for the judgment, reinforcing Genesis 19’s moral assessment.

Theological Themes

Judgment: The word portrays the finality of divine wrath.

Grace: The same passage that records ruin also records rescue, revealing mercy operating within justice.

Memory: “He remembered Abraham” links personal relationship to historical events, demonstrating that God’s promises govern His acts in time.

Typology: The cities’ doom foreshadows the ultimate overthrow of the present world order (2 Peter 3:7–12) and heightens the urgency of repentance.

Ministry Implications

• Preaching: Present the overthrow as a solemn reminder that sin invites real, irreversible judgment.
• Evangelism: Use the narrative to plead for repentance, showing how deliverance remains available before judgment falls.
• Intercession: Encourage believers to emulate Abraham, standing in the gap for cities, nations, and loved ones.
• Holy living: Lot’s compromised witness (Genesis 19:14) warns against settling into the culture one is called to reach.
• Hope: The rescue of Lot assures the faithful that God can “rescue the godly from trials” (2 Peter 2:9), no matter how pervasive surrounding corruption becomes.

Forms and Transliterations
הַהֲפֵכָ֔ה ההפכה ha·hă·p̄ê·ḵāh hahafeChah hahăp̄êḵāh
Links
Interlinear GreekInterlinear HebrewStrong's NumbersEnglishman's Greek ConcordanceEnglishman's Hebrew ConcordanceParallel Texts
Englishman's Concordance
Genesis 19:29
HEB: לוֹט֙ מִתּ֣וֹךְ הַהֲפֵכָ֔ה בַּהֲפֹךְ֙ אֶת־
NAS: out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew
KJV: out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew
INT: Lot of the midst of the overthrow overthrew the cities

1 Occurrence

Strong's Hebrew 2018
1 Occurrence


ha·hă·p̄ê·ḵāh — 1 Occ.

2017
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