Proverbs 20:2:7Prov.20.2.W7TAB
נַפְשֽׁוֹ׃
nafsho
“his life”
- Transliteration
- naf-SHO
- Extended
- nahf-SHOH
- IPA
- /naf.ˈʃoː/
Meaning by language
- English
- his life
Hebrew · tap a syllable to hear it
Alphabet Analysis
| Nun | n as in new | |
| Patach | short 'ah' as in father | |
| Pe | p with dagesh; f without | |
| Sheva | silent sheva — no sound; closes the syllable | |
| Shin | shin with right dot; sin with left dot | |
| Vav | v as in vine; marks long ō / ū | |
| Holem | long 'oh' as in go |
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The word
Word in context
- word
naf-SHO
- phraseyour reading level
kho-TE naf-SHO
- clause
mi-ta-be-RO kho-TE naf-SHO
- sentence
NA-ham kak-ke-FIR E-mat ME-lekh mi-ta-be-RO kho-TE naf-SHO
Exegesis
The Hitpael participle mitabberô {מִתְעַבְּר֗וֹ | mit-ʿabbĕrô} ‘when he becomes angry’ introduces a circumstantial clause of cause, leading to the result clause ḥōṭēʼ nap̄šô {חוֹטֵ֥א נַפְשֽׁוֹ | ḥō·ṭēʼ nap̄·šô} ‘sins his soul.’ This protasis–apodosis structure emphasizes that provoking royal anger results in self-inflicted harm. The translation preserves the Hebrew construct chain as ‘terror of a king’ and maintains the causal sequence in English.
Root and etymology
n-p-šnun–pe–shin
“breath, life, soul”
In context — Proverbs 20:2
The terror of a king is like the roar of a young lion; whoever provokes his anger sins against his own soul .
About this coordinate
Proverbs 20:2:7 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 7 of Proverbs 20:2, so the Hebrew word נַפְשֽׁוֹ׃ (nafsho) can be cited, linked and studied at exactly this position rather than somewhere in the verse. In the Biblical Knowledge Coordinate System the same position is written Prov.20.2.W7, which extends further down to each syllable (Prov.20.2.W7.S1) and character.