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Strong's Concordance
Hebrew Word Study

Strong's H8193 שָׂפָה (saphah)

Saphah means “language” — full meaning, definition, and every linked Bible usage across the indexed canon.

Strong's Number H8193
Language Hebrew
Linked Usages 164
Books 25

Strong's H8193 Quick Answer

Strong's H8193 שָׂפָה שֶׂפֶת (saphah) is a Hebrew Strong's word-study entry. saphah (saw-faw') (or (in dual and plural) sepheth {sef-eth'}) n-f. 1. the lip (as a natural boundary) 2. (by implication) language It has 164 linked Bible usages across 25 books. Visible English usage signals include lips, language, lip, shore, and bank. Indexed coverage on this page includes Old Testament.

Meaning
saphah (saw-faw') (or (in dual and plural) sepheth {sef-eth'}) n-f. 1. the lip (as a natural boundary) 2. (by implication) language
Usage
164 linked usages
Books
25 indexed books
Corpus
Old Testament
Usage Words
lips, language, lip, shore, and bank

Meaning and Definition

saphah (saw-faw') (or (in dual and plural) sepheth {sef-eth'}) n-f. 1. the lip (as a natural boundary) 2. (by implication) language 3. (by analogy) a margin (of a vessel, water, cloth, etc.) [probably from H5595 or H8192 through the idea of termination] KJV: band, bank, binding, border, brim, brink, edge, language, lip, prating, ((sea-))shore, side, speech, talk, (vain) words. Root(s): H5595, H8192 Compare: H5490

Original Word
שָׂפָה שֶׂפֶת
Transliteration
saphah
Derivation
Root: שׁפה First root strongs: 5595 Second root strongs: 8192
Morphology
noun fem

Across Lexicons

How independent scholarly lexicons define Strong's H8193. Each definition is shown with its source so you can compare and cite the original reference works.

Extended Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (Brown-Driver-Briggs based)

lips

Usage: : lips/mouth 1) lip, language, speech, shore, bank, brink, brim, side, edge, border, binding 1a) lip (as body part) 1b) language 1c) edge, shore, bank (of cup, sea, river, etc)

STEPBible · Tyndale House, Cambridge · CC BY 4.0

How Strong's H8193 Is Translated

The English word each shown verse actually uses to render saphah, taken from the interlinear word alignment (the same word underlined in the excerpts below). Where a rendering is used more than once, the count is shown.

lips Exodus 6:12 76× language Genesis 11:1 lip Psalms 22:7 bank Genesis 41:17 shore Genesis 22:17

How Strong's H8193 Usage Compares

Indexed coverage includes Old Testament. Each section below keeps corpus counts and sample passages visible so readers can compare the word across contexts instead of reading one flat concordance list.

  • The largest indexed corpus on this page is Old Testament with 164 linked usages.
  • The linked rows are Old Testament Hebrew usage, grouped by book for fast canonical scanning.

Strong's H8193 by Corpus

Indexed usage grouped by testament and extended corpus so readers can compare this word across the Bible, Septuagint, deuterocanonical books, and 1 Enoch where present.

Strong's H8193 in the Old Testament

164 indexed usages in Old Testament.

Genesis 11:1 KJV

And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

Genesis 11:6 KJV

And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

Genesis 11:7 KJV

Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.

Usage Excerpts

First 120 linked usage excerpts for Strong's H8193.

Genesis 11:1 Old Testament, KJV
And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
Genesis 11:6 Old Testament, KJV
And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
Genesis 11:7 Old Testament, KJV
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
Genesis 11:9 Old Testament, KJV
Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
Genesis 22:17 Old Testament, KJV
That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
Genesis 41:3 Old Testament, KJV
And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill favoured and leanfleshed; and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river.
Genesis 41:17 Old Testament, KJV
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:
Exodus 2:3 Old Testament, KJV
And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink.
Exodus 6:12 Old Testament, KJV
And Moses spake before the LORD, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?
Exodus 6:30 Old Testament, KJV
And Moses said before the LORD, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?
Exodus 7:15 Old Testament, KJV
Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river's brink against he come; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thine hand.
Exodus 14:30 Old Testament, KJV
Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore.
Exodus 26:4 Old Testament, KJV
And thou shalt make loops of blue upon the edge of the one curtain from the selvedge in the coupling; and likewise shalt thou make in the uttermost edge of another curtain, in the coupling of the second.
Exodus 26:10 Old Testament, KJV
And thou shalt make fifty loops on the edge of the one curtain that is outmost in the coupling, and fifty loops in the edge of the curtain which coupleth the second.
Exodus 28:26 Old Testament, KJV
And thou shalt make two rings of gold, and thou shalt put them upon the two ends of the breastplate in the border thereof, which is in the side of the ephod inward.
Exodus 28:32 Old Testament, KJV
And there shall be an hole in the top of it, in the midst thereof: it shall have a binding of woven work round about the hole of it, as it were the hole of an habergeon, that it be not rent.
Exodus 36:11 Old Testament, KJV
And he made loops of blue on the edge of one curtain from the selvedge in the coupling: likewise he made in the uttermost side of another curtain, in the coupling of the second.
Exodus 36:17 Old Testament, KJV
And he made fifty loops upon the uttermost edge of the curtain in the coupling, and fifty loops made he upon the edge of the curtain which coupleth the second.
Exodus 39:19 Old Testament, KJV
And they made two rings of gold, and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, upon the border of it, which was on the side of the ephod inward.
Exodus 39:23 Old Testament, KJV
And there was an hole in the midst of the robe, as the hole of an habergeon, with a band round about the hole, that it should not rend.
Leviticus 5:4 Old Testament, KJV
Or if a soul swear, pronouncing with his lips to do evil, or to do good, whatsoever it be that a man shall pronounce with an oath, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty in one of these.
Numbers 30:6 Old Testament, KJV
And if she had at all an husband, when she vowed, or uttered ought out of her lips, wherewith she bound her soul;
Numbers 30:8 Old Testament, KJV
But if her husband disallowed her on the day that he heard it; then he shall make her vow which she vowed, and that which she uttered with her lips, wherewith she bound her soul, of none effect: and the LORD shall forgive her.
Numbers 30:12 Old Testament, KJV
But if her husband hath utterly made them void on the day he heard them; then whatsoever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond of her soul, shall not stand: her husband hath made them void; and the LORD shall forgive her.
Deuteronomy 2:36 Old Testament, KJV
From Aroer, which is by the brink of the river of Arnon, and from the city that is by the river, even unto Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us: the LORD our God delivered all unto us:
Deuteronomy 4:48 Old Testament, KJV
From Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even unto mount Sion, which is Hermon,
Deuteronomy 23:23 Old Testament, KJV
That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform; even a freewill offering, according as thou hast vowed unto the LORD thy God, which thou hast promised with thy mouth.
Joshua 11:4 Old Testament, KJV
And they went out, they and all their hosts with them, much people, even as the sand that is upon the sea shore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many.
Joshua 12:2 Old Testament, KJV
Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and ruled from Aroer, which is upon the bank of the river Arnon, and from the middle of the river, and from half Gilead, even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon;
Joshua 13:9 Old Testament, KJV
From Aroer, that is upon the bank of the river Arnon, and the city that is in the midst of the river, and all the plain of Medeba unto Dibon;
Joshua 13:16 Old Testament, KJV
And their coast was from Aroer, that is on the bank of the river Arnon, and the city that is in the midst of the river, and all the plain by Medeba;
Judges 7:12 Old Testament, KJV
And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude.
Judges 7:22 Old Testament, KJV
And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.
1 Samuel 1:13 Old Testament, KJV
Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.
1 Samuel 13:5 Old Testament, KJV
And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Bethaven.
1 Kings 4:29 Old Testament, KJV
And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.
1 Kings 7:23 Old Testament, KJV
And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.
1 Kings 7:24 Old Testament, KJV
And under the brim of it round about there were knops compassing it, ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about: the knops were cast in two rows, when it was cast.
1 Kings 7:26 Old Testament, KJV
And it was an hand breadth thick, and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies: it contained two thousand baths.
1 Kings 9:26 Old Testament, KJV
And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Eziongeber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom.
2 Kings 2:13 Old Testament, KJV
He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;
2 Kings 18:20 Old Testament, KJV
Thou sayest, (but they are but vain words,) I have counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?
2 Kings 19:28 Old Testament, KJV
Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
2 Chronicles 4:2 Old Testament, KJV
Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.
2 Chronicles 4:5 Old Testament, KJV
And the thickness of it was an handbreadth, and the brim of it like the work of the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies; and it received and held three thousand baths.
2 Chronicles 8:17 Old Testament, KJV
Then went Solomon to Eziongeber, and to Eloth, at the sea side in the land of Edom.
Job 2:10 Old Testament, KJV
But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
Job 8:21 Old Testament, KJV
Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing.
Job 11:2 Old Testament, KJV
Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be justified?
Job 11:5 Old Testament, KJV
But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against thee;
Job 12:20 Old Testament, KJV
He removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged.
Job 13:6 Old Testament, KJV
Hear now my reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips.
Job 15:6 Old Testament, KJV
Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.
Job 16:5 Old Testament, KJV
But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief.
Job 23:12 Old Testament, KJV
Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
Job 27:4 Old Testament, KJV
My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.
Job 32:20 Old Testament, KJV
I will speak, that I may be refreshed: I will open my lips and answer.
Job 33:3 Old Testament, KJV
My words shall be of the uprightness of my heart: and my lips shall utter knowledge clearly.
Psalms 12:2 Old Testament, KJV
They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.
Psalms 12:3 Old Testament, KJV
The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:
Psalms 12:4 Old Testament, KJV
Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?
Psalms 16:4 Old Testament, KJV
Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.
Psalms 17:1 Old Testament, KJV
Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.
Psalms 17:4 Old Testament, KJV
Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.
Psalms 21:2 Old Testament, KJV
Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah.
Psalms 22:7 Old Testament, KJV
All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
Psalms 31:18 Old Testament, KJV
Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.
Psalms 34:13 Old Testament, KJV
Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.
Psalms 40:9 Old Testament, KJV
I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest.
Psalms 45:2 Old Testament, KJV
Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.
Psalms 51:15 Old Testament, KJV
O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
Psalms 59:7 Old Testament, KJV
Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords are in their lips: for who, say they, doth hear?
Psalms 59:12 Old Testament, KJV
For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying which they speak.
Psalms 63:3 Old Testament, KJV
Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.
Psalms 63:5 Old Testament, KJV
My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:
Psalms 66:14 Old Testament, KJV
Which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble.
Psalms 71:23 Old Testament, KJV
My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee; and my soul, which thou hast redeemed.
Psalms 81:5 Old Testament, KJV
This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not.
Psalms 89:34 Old Testament, KJV
My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
Psalms 106:33 Old Testament, KJV
Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips.
Psalms 119:13 Old Testament, KJV
With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.
Psalms 119:171 Old Testament, KJV
My lips shall utter praise, when thou hast taught me thy statutes.
Psalms 120:2 Old Testament, KJV
Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.
Psalms 140:3 Old Testament, KJV
They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders' poison is under their lips. Selah.
Psalms 140:9 Old Testament, KJV
As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them.
Psalms 141:3 Old Testament, KJV
Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.
Proverbs 4:24 Old Testament, KJV
Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
Proverbs 5:2 Old Testament, KJV
That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
Proverbs 5:3 Old Testament, KJV
For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
Proverbs 7:21 Old Testament, KJV
With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.
Proverbs 8:6 Old Testament, KJV
Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things.
Proverbs 8:7 Old Testament, KJV
For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
Proverbs 10:8 Old Testament, KJV
The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a prating fool shall fall.
Proverbs 10:10 Old Testament, KJV
He that winketh with the eye causeth sorrow: but a prating fool shall fall.
Proverbs 10:13 Old Testament, KJV
In the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found: but a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding.
Proverbs 10:18 Old Testament, KJV
He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool.
Proverbs 10:19 Old Testament, KJV
In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.
Proverbs 10:21 Old Testament, KJV
The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.
Proverbs 10:32 Old Testament, KJV
The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness.
Proverbs 12:13 Old Testament, KJV
The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips: but the just shall come out of trouble.
Proverbs 12:19 Old Testament, KJV
The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment.
Proverbs 12:22 Old Testament, KJV
Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight.
Proverbs 13:3 Old Testament, KJV
He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.
Proverbs 14:3 Old Testament, KJV
In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.
Proverbs 14:7 Old Testament, KJV
Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge.
Proverbs 14:23 Old Testament, KJV
In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.
Proverbs 15:7 Old Testament, KJV
The lips of the wise disperse knowledge: but the heart of the foolish doeth not so.
Proverbs 16:10 Old Testament, KJV
A divine sentence is in the lips of the king: his mouth transgresseth not in judgment.
Proverbs 16:13 Old Testament, KJV
Righteous lips are the delight of kings; and they love him that speaketh right.
Proverbs 16:21 Old Testament, KJV
The wise in heart shall be called prudent: and the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning.
Proverbs 16:23 Old Testament, KJV
The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips.
Proverbs 16:27 Old Testament, KJV
An ungodly man diggeth up evil: and in his lips there is as a burning fire.
Proverbs 16:30 Old Testament, KJV
He shutteth his eyes to devise froward things: moving his lips he bringeth evil to pass.
Proverbs 17:4 Old Testament, KJV
A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue.
Proverbs 17:7 Old Testament, KJV
Excellent speech becometh not a fool: much less do lying lips a prince.
Proverbs 17:28 Old Testament, KJV
Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.
Proverbs 18:6 Old Testament, KJV
A fool's lips enter into contention, and his mouth calleth for strokes.
Proverbs 18:7 Old Testament, KJV
A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.
Proverbs 18:20 Old Testament, KJV
A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled.
Proverbs 19:1 Old Testament, KJV
Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.

All Indexed Usage Links

Every indexed verse link for Strong's H8193, grouped by book.

Genesis 7 usages, Old Testament
Exodus 13 usages, Old Testament
Leviticus 1 usage, Old Testament
Numbers 3 usages, Old Testament
Deuteronomy 3 usages, Old Testament
Joshua 4 usages, Old Testament
Judges 2 usages, Old Testament
1 Samuel 2 usages, Old Testament
1 Kings 5 usages, Old Testament
2 Kings 3 usages, Old Testament
2 Chronicles 3 usages, Old Testament
Job 12 usages, Old Testament
Psalms 28 usages, Old Testament
Proverbs 45 usages, Old Testament
Ecclesiastes 1 usage, Old Testament
Song of Solomon 4 usages, Old Testament
Isaiah 12 usages, Old Testament
Jeremiah 1 usage, Old Testament
Lamentations 1 usage, Old Testament
Ezekiel 7 usages, Old Testament
Daniel 2 usages, Old Testament
Hosea 1 usage, Old Testament
Habakkuk 1 usage, Old Testament
Zephaniah 1 usage, Old Testament
Malachi 2 usages, Old Testament

Strong's H8193 FAQ

What does saphah (שָׂפָה) mean?

Saphah (Strong's H8193) is a Hebrew word most simply glossed "language". saphah (saw-faw') (or (in dual and plural) sepheth {sef-eth'}) n-f. 1. the lip (as a natural boundary) 2. (by implication) language

How many times is saphah (שָׂפָה) used in the Bible?

This page currently indexes 164 linked usages for Strong's H8193 across 25 books.

Where can I study saphah (שָׂפָה) in context?

Use the linked verse references on this page to study Strong's H8193 in context. The indexed coverage includes Old Testament.

What English words translate saphah (שָׂפָה)?

The visible usage excerpts most often surface English words such as lips, language, lip, shore, and bank. These are scanning signals from the displayed verses, not replacements for the original-language definition.