5301. naphach
Lexical Summary
naphach: To blow, breathe, give up, kindle

Original Word: נָפַח
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: naphach
Pronunciation: naw-fakh'
Phonetic Spelling: (naw-fakh')
KJV: blow, breath, give up, cause to lose (life), seething, snuff
NASB: blow, boiling, blows, breathe, breathed, disdainfully sniff, lose
Word Origin: [a primitive root]

1. to puff (in various applications)
2. (literally) to inflate, blow hard, scatter, kindle, expire
3. (figuratively) to disesteem

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
blow, breath, give up, cause to lose life, seething, snuff

A primitive root; to puff, in various applications (literally, to inflate, blow hard, scatter, kindle, expire; figuratively, to disesteem) -- blow, breath, give up, cause to lose (life), seething, snuff.

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
a prim. root
Definition
to breathe, blow
NASB Translation
blow (3), blows (1), boiling (2), breathe (1), breathed (1), breathing is labored* (1), disdainfully sniff (1), lose (1), unfanned (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
[נָפַח] verb breathe, blow (כור נפוח Ecclus 43:4 a furnace blown upon (heated hot); Late Hebrew נָפַח id., ᵑ7 נְפַח, Syriac ; Assyrian napâ—u, inflame, nappa—u, smith DlHWB 474; Arabic ( and) blow; Ethiopic or Di712); —

Qal Perfect3feminine singular נָָֽפְחָה Jeremiah 15:9; וְנָפַ֫חְתִּי Haggai 1:9; וְנָפַחְתִּ֫י Ezekiel 22:21; Imperfect וַיִּמַּח Genesis 2:7; Imperative feminine singular מְּחִי Ezekiel 37:9; Infinitive (לָ)פַ֫חַת Ezekiel 22:20; Perfect active נֹפֵחַ Isaiah 54:16; passive נָפוּחַ Jeremiah 1:13; Job 41:12; — breathe, blow, וַיִּמַּח בְּאַמּוֺ נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים Genesis 2:7 (J); followed by ב also Ezekiel 37:9; Isaiah 54:16 and Haggai 1:9 blow into it (to scatter it); followed by עַלֿ: לָפַחַת עָלָיו אֵשׁ Ezekiel 22:20 to blow fire upon it (ore, for melting), so figurative Ezekiel 22:21 and I will blow upon you with (ב) the fire of my wrath; נַפְשָׁהּ ׳נ Jeremiah 15:9 she hath breathed out her life (of a mother, compare

Hiph`il); absolute סִיר נָפוּחַ Jeremiah 1:13 a blown (i.e. well-heated, boiling) pot, compare ׳דּוּד נ Job 41:12 (simile).

Pu`al Perfect אֵשׁ לֹא נֻמָּ֑ח Job 20:26 a fire not blown (by any human breath). So perhaps also Numbers 21:30 (reading ׳עַדנֻֿמַּח אֵשׁ וגו until fire was blown [hot] as far as Medeba), compare Di.

Hiph`il Perfect1singular נֶפֶשׁ בְּעָלֶיהָ חִמָּ֑חְתִּי Job 31:39 (or if) the life of its (the land's) owners I have caused them to breathe out; וְהִמַּחְתֶּם אוֺתוֺ Malachi 1:13 and ye have sniffed at it (in contempt).

Topical Lexicon
Entry: נָפַח (Strong’s 5301)

Creation and Life-Giving Breath

The first appearance of נָפַח stands at the headwaters of biblical anthropology. “Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). Here God’s “breathing” is not merely imparting oxygen but bestowing personhood, vitality, and fellowship capacity. This foundational event makes every later occurrence of נָפַח echo with creative potential. When Ezekiel is commanded, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live!” (Ezekiel 37:9), the prophet’s vision of national resurrection is deliberately set against Eden’s paradigm. Whether individual or corporate, life arises when God exhales.

Divine Judgment and Dissolution

The same verb that enlivens also scatters and consumes when righteousness is violated. Haggai 1:9 records, “You expected much, but behold, it turned out to be little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away.” The people’s self-absorption provokes the Lord to disperse their gain with a single breath. Comparable imagery appears in Ezekiel 22:20-21, where God “blows” on a furnace of wrath, melting Jerusalem’s dross. Job 20:26 speaks of “a fire unstirred” that devours the wicked, indicating that no human bellows is needed when God Himself fans the flame. Judgment by breath underscores His effortless sovereignty; the same mouth that forms blessings can, with equal ease, dismantle pride.

Human Industry and Craftsmanship

Isaiah 54:16 introduces the blacksmith “who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work.” In ancient metallurgy, bellows supplied a steady stream of air, intensifying heat for both refinement and weapon-making. Scripture affirms that even this quintessential human skill exists under divine appointment: the craftsman’s exhale mirrors God’s primal work, yet the ultimate control of forged instruments remains with the Creator. Ezekiel 22:20 employs the smelting metaphor to confront national impurity; the historical craft becomes a vehicle for prophetic warning.

Breath, Violence, and Moral Accountability

Job 31:39 uses נָפַח in a self-imprecatory oath: “if I have devoured its produce without payment or broken the spirit of its tenants.” Oppressing workers is tantamount to forcing them to “give up their breath.” Malachi 1:13 exposes ritual cynicism: “You also say, ‘Look, what a nuisance!’ and you sniff at it.” The priests’ contemptuous “sniff” at worship inversely mirrors God’s life-giving breath, revealing the moral chasm between holy vocation and casual irreverence.

Cosmic and Creaturely Imagery

Job 41:20 depicts Leviathan: “Smoke streams from his nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning reeds.” The creature’s terrifying respiration magnifies God’s power in creation; even monstrous breaths remain subdued under His rule. In Jeremiah 1:13 the “boiling pot” tilting from the north evokes roiling steam driven by unseen breath, signaling the imminent Babylonian invasion.

Theological Trajectory

Across Scripture, נָפַח links breath with both origin and destiny. Humanity’s existence is contingent on divine respiration; community life revives only when God breathes anew; conversely, prosperity, nations, and even the wicked’s confidence evaporate when He withdraws or turns His breath toward judgment. This dual motif anticipates the New Covenant promise of the Spirit poured out on all flesh, where the life-imparting breath becomes internalized rather than merely external (compare John 20:22; Acts 2:2-4).

Ministerial Applications

1. Dependence: Every ministry thrives only as God breathes upon it. Prayer meetings seeking revival rightly invoke Genesis 2:7 and Ezekiel 37:9, pleading for fresh divine exhalation.
2. Purity: The smelter’s furnace warns that the Spirit’s wind will expose and purge hypocrisy (Haggai 1:9; Ezekiel 22). Leaders must welcome refining rather than resist it.
3. Stewardship: Job 31:39 charges believers to honor the breath in others—protecting laborers, migrants, and the oppressed whose lives are precious to the One who breathed them into being.
4. Worship: Malachi 1:13 rebukes perfunctory service. Genuine awe replaces the dismissive “sniff,” aligning the congregation’s breath with the One whose glory fills the sanctuary.

Summary

Strong’s Hebrew 5301 portrays breath as a dynamic force wielded by God to create, sustain, purify, or disperse. Whether animating Adam, reviving dry bones, fueling a forge, or scattering selfish gain, נָפַח unveils a Lord whose slightest breath commands life and history. Faithful readers are summoned to receive that breath with humility, to echo it in righteous action, and to watch for the day when every living thing will praise the Breath-Giver without restraint.

Forms and Transliterations
הִפָּֽחְתִּי׃ הפחתי׃ וְהִפַּחְתֶּ֣ם וְנָפַ֣חְתִּי וְנָפַחְתִּ֥י וַיִּפַּ֥ח וּפְחִ֛י והפחתם ויפח ונפחתי ופחי לָפַֽחַת־ לפחת־ נָפ֙וּחַ֙ נָפ֣וּחַ נָפְחָ֥ה נֹפֵ֙חַ֙ נֻפָּ֑ח נפוח נפח נפחה hip·pā·ḥə·tî hipPacheti hippāḥətî lā·p̄a·ḥaṯ- lafachat lāp̄aḥaṯ- nā·p̄ə·ḥāh nā·p̄ū·aḥ nafeChah naFuach nāp̄əḥāh nāp̄ūaḥ nō·p̄ê·aḥ noFeach nōp̄êaḥ nup·pāḥ nupPach nuppāḥ ū·p̄ə·ḥî ufeChi ūp̄əḥî vaiyipPach vehippachTem venafachTi way·yip·paḥ wayyippaḥ wə·hip·paḥ·tem wə·nā·p̄aḥ·tî wəhippaḥtem wənāp̄aḥtî
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Englishman's Concordance
Genesis 2:7
HEB: מִן־ הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה וַיִּפַּ֥ח בְּאַפָּ֖יו נִשְׁמַ֣ת
NAS: from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils
KJV: the ground, and breathed into his nostrils
INT: of the ground and breathed his nostrils the breath

Job 20:26
HEB: אֵ֣שׁ לֹֽא־ נֻפָּ֑ח יֵ֖רַע שָׂרִ֣יד
NAS: for his treasures, And unfanned fire
KJV: a fire not blown shall consume
INT: fire not and unfanned ill the survivor

Job 31:39
HEB: וְנֶ֖פֶשׁ בְּעָלֶ֣יהָ הִפָּֽחְתִּי׃
NAS: Or have caused its owners to lose their lives,
KJV: or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:
INT: their lives owners to lose

Job 41:20
HEB: עָשָׁ֑ן כְּד֖וּד נָפ֣וּחַ וְאַגְמֹֽן׃
NAS: goes forth As [from] a boiling pot
KJV: smoke, as [out] of a seething pot
INT: smoke pot As a boiling and rushes

Isaiah 54:16
HEB: בָּרָ֣אתִי חָרָ֔שׁ נֹפֵ֙חַ֙ בְּאֵ֣שׁ פֶּחָ֔ם
NAS: the smith who blows the fire
KJV: the smith that bloweth the coals
INT: have created the smith blows the fire of coals

Jeremiah 1:13
HEB: וָאֹמַ֗ר סִ֤יר נָפ֙וּחַ֙ אֲנִ֣י רֹאֶ֔ה
NAS: I see a boiling pot,
KJV: I see a seething pot;
INT: saying pot A boiling I see

Jeremiah 15:9
HEB: יֹלֶ֣דֶת הַשִּׁבְעָ֗ה נָפְחָ֥ה נַפְשָׁ֛הּ [בָּאָה
NAS: [sons] pines away; Her breathing is labored. Her sun
KJV: languisheth: she hath given up the ghost;
INT: bore seven her breathing the ghost abide

Ezekiel 22:20
HEB: תּ֣וֹךְ כּ֔וּר לָפַֽחַת־ עָלָ֥יו אֵ֖שׁ
NAS: into the furnace to blow fire
KJV: of the furnace, to blow the fire
INT: the midst the furnace to blow and fire

Ezekiel 22:21
HEB: וְכִנַּסְתִּ֣י אֶתְכֶ֔ם וְנָפַחְתִּ֥י עֲלֵיכֶ֖ם בְּאֵ֣שׁ
NAS: I will gather you and blow on you with the fire
KJV: Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire
INT: will gather and blow on the fire

Ezekiel 37:9
HEB: בֹּ֣אִי הָר֔וּחַ וּפְחִ֛י בַּהֲרוּגִ֥ים הָאֵ֖לֶּה
NAS: O breath, and breathe on these
KJV: O breath, and breathe upon these slain,
INT: Come breath and breathe slain these

Haggai 1:9
HEB: וַהֲבֵאתֶ֥ם הַבַּ֖יִת וְנָפַ֣חְתִּי ב֑וֹ יַ֣עַן
NAS: [it] home, I blow it [away]. Why?
KJV: [it] home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith
INT: bring home blow Because Why

Malachi 1:13
HEB: הִנֵּ֨ה מַתְּלָאָ֜ה וְהִפַּחְתֶּ֣ם אוֹת֗וֹ אָמַר֙
NAS: tiresome it is!' And you disdainfully sniff at it, says
KJV: also, Behold, what a weariness [is it]! and ye have snuffed at it, saith
INT: behold A weariness disdainfully says the LORD

12 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 5301
12 Occurrences


hip·pā·ḥə·tî — 1 Occ.
lā·p̄a·ḥaṯ- — 1 Occ.
nā·p̄ə·ḥāh — 1 Occ.
nā·p̄ū·aḥ — 2 Occ.
nō·p̄ê·aḥ — 1 Occ.
nup·pāḥ — 1 Occ.
ū·p̄ə·ḥî — 1 Occ.
way·yip·paḥ — 1 Occ.
wə·hip·paḥ·tem — 1 Occ.
wə·nā·p̄aḥ·tî — 2 Occ.

5300
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