---
title: רָחַף — hover · The Tanakh dictionary
description: רָחַף (7363), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 3 times: hover. BDB 1906: vb. Pi. hover. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# רָחַף

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«רָחַף» in the Tanakh dictionary: **hover** — 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:** 7363 · **BDB:** רָחַף²

### Glosses

\[was\].hovering (1); it.hovers (1); they.have.become.weak (1)

### Meaning (OSHB)

hover [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1512/7363/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

vb. Pi. hover [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1512/7363/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** vb. Pi. hover (NH id., cf. Grünbaumzmg xxxix (1885), 607; Syriac Pa. ܪܰܚܶܦ move gently, also cherish, and brood, cf. Thess. v.; connexion with I. ר׳ dub.);— Impf. 3 ms. יְרַחֵף עַל Dt 32:11 (poem) of vulture hovering over young; Pt. רוּחַ א׳ מְרַחֶפֶת עַל־פְּנֵי הַמָּ֑יִם Gn 1:2 (P); hovering over face of waters, or perhaps (v. Syriac) brooding (and fertilizing), so JerQuaest. in Gen. ed. Lag. 4 (reading ‘marahaefeth’), cf. Di Gunk.

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

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «רָחַף» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1512/7363/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Deuteronomy 32:11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/DEU.32.11/)

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כְּנֶ֙שֶׁר֙ יָעִ֣יר קִנּ֔וֹ עַל־גּוֹזָלָ֖יו יְרַחֵ֑ף יִפְרֹ֤שׂ כְּנָפָיו֙ יִקָּחֵ֔הוּ יִשָּׂאֵ֖הוּ עַל־אֶבְרָתֽוֹ׃

*Word for word:* like an.eagle \[which\].it.stirs.up nest its over ones its.young it.hovers it.spreads.out wings its it takes.it it carries.it on pinion its

*JPS 1917:* As an eagle that stirreth up her nest, hovereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her pinions —

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[Genesis 1:2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/GEN.1.2/)

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וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְה֑וֹם וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם׃

*Word for word:* and the earth it.was formlessness and emptiness and darkness \[was\].over the.surface of.the.deep and the.spirit of.God \[was\].hovering over the.surface of the.waters

*JPS 1917:* Now the earth was unformed and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters.

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