---
title: נֵפֶל — untimely birth · The Tanakh dictionary
description: נֵפֶל (5309), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 3 times: untimely birth. BDB 1906: n.m. miscarriage, abortion. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# נֵפֶל

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«נֵפֶל» in the Tanakh dictionary: **untimely birth** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

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**Used:** 3 times · **Key:** 5309 · **BDB:** נֵ֫פֶל

### Glosses

a.miscarriage (2); miscarriage (1)

### Meaning (OSHB)

untimely birth [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1504/5309/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

n.m. miscarriage, abortion [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1504/5309/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** \[נֶפֶל\] n.m. Jb 3:16 miscarriage, abortion;—נֵ֫פֶל abs. Jb 3:16 (Baer, Ginsb., \> van d. H. נֶפֶל), נָ֑פל Ec 6:3; cstr. נֵפֶל אֵשֶׁת ψ 58:9.

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 3 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (2 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 0 words shared with the BDB entry, 0 with the glosses (2 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «נֵפֶל» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1504/5309/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Psalms 58:9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.58.9/)

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כְּמ֣וֹ שַׁ֭בְּלוּל תֶּ֣מֶס יַהֲלֹ֑ךְ נֵ֥פֶל אֵ֝֗שֶׁת בַּל־חָ֥זוּ שָֽׁמֶשׁ׃

*Word for word:* like a.snail \[which\].melting.away it.goes a.miscarriage of.a.woman (of).\[which\].not they.have.seen \[the\].sun

*JPS 1917:* Let them be as a snail which melteth and passeth away; like the untimely births of a woman, that have not seen the sun.

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[Job 3:16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/JOB.3.16/)

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א֤וֹכְנֵ֣פֶל טָ֭מוּן לֹ֣א אֶהְיֶ֑ה כְּ֝עֹלְלִ֗ים לֹא־רָ֥אוּ אֽוֹר׃

*Word for word:* or like a.miscarriage hidden not was.I? like children \[who\].not they.have.seen light

*JPS 1917:* Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants that never saw light.

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