סֵפֶרçêpher

סֵ֫פֶר: missive, document, writing, book

Pronunciation: say'-fer · Hebrew/Aramaic (Old Testament) · H5612

Meanings

1. missive

a. letter of instruction, written order, commission, or request (2 Samuel 11:14; 2 Samuel 11:15; 1 Kings 21:8)

2. legal document (Deuteronomy 24:1; Deuteronomy 24:3; Jeremiah 3:8)

3. book, or scroll, in which something is written to preserve it for future use (Exodus 17:14; Joshua 18:9; 1 Samuel 10:25)

a. book of prophecies (Jeremiah 25:13; Jeremiah 30:2; Jeremiah 36:1-200)

b. genealogical register (Genesis 5:1; Nehemiah 7:5)

c. law-book, Nedarim (Exodus 24:7; 2 Kings 23:2; 2 Chronicles 34:30)

d. book (Numbers 21:14; Joshua 10:13; 2 Samuel 1:18)

e. book (1 Kings 11:41; 1 Kings 14:19; 1 Kings 14:29)

f. once (Daniel 9:2)

4. = book-learning, especially writing (Isaiah 29:11; Isaiah 29:12; Daniel 1:4)

סִפְרָה: book (Psalms 56:9)

Same root

Where it appears

Appears 186 times in the Bible.

  • Genesis 5:1 This is the written account of the descendants of Adam. When God created human beings, he made them to be like himself.
  • Exodus 17:14 After the victory, the Lord instructed Moses, “Write this down on a scroll as a permanent reminder, and read it aloud to Joshua: I will erase the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”
  • Exodus 24:7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people. Again they all responded, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded. We will obey.”
  • Exodus 32:32 But now, if you will only forgive their sin—but if not, erase my name from the record you have written!”
  • Exodus 32:33 But the Lord replied to Moses, “No, I will erase the name of everyone who has sinned against me.
  • Numbers 5:23 And the priest will write these curses on a piece of leather and wash them off into the bitter water.
See every passage

Source: Brown, Driver and Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain; markup by unfoldingWord, CC BY (github.com/unfoldingWord/Brown-Driver-Briggs-Enhanced).