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Hebrew verb · H8259

שָׁקַף

shaqaphshaw-kaf'

to look

22 uses in the Hebrew text, one for each word STEP Bible has tagged with this key

Concordance spelling: shâqaph

Word page · Part of the concordance, one page for every word of the Hebrew and Greek text. Strong's H8259is this word's number in James Strong's 1890 index of the King James Bible.

  • 14 of 39
    Old Testament books
  • 19
    spellings

The definition in full

Strong's key (1890) · H8259

properly, to lean out (of a window), i.e. (by implication) peep or gaze (passively, be a spectacle)

The King James renders it: appear, look (down, forth, out).

James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), public domain. Strong indexed the King James text, and this site quotes his entry as that index.

Summary

shaqaph is rendered "to look". It stands 22 times in the Hebrew text, across fourteen books.

  • Four of the uses stand in Psalms, more than in any other book.
  • Its first use in canonical order opens the ledger below.Genesis 18:16When the men got up to leave, they looked out over Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them off.
  • The Greek text spells it nineteen different ways.

The first use

When the men got up to leave, they looked out over Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them off.

Genesis 18:16וַיַּשְׁקִ֖פוּ

The first use, in the order of the Old Testament's books.

Where the word stands

The word stands in fourteen of the 39 Old Testament books.

The other 25 Old Testament books never use the word.

What the word means

Each meaning, and the words it is translated by

How the Greek text is glossed, word by word

  • and he looked down4
  • she looked down3
  • and they looked down2
  • he looks down2
  • which looks down2
  • and it looked down1
  • and she looked down1
  • he has looked down1
  • he will look down1
  • I looked down1
  • it has looked down1
  • it looks down1

and 2 more, 22 uses in all

The words built on the same word-part

Each word below begins with the same letters this one begins with. A shared word-part shows a family. It does not settle what any one of them means, so each word carries its own uses on its own page. Scholars call that shared part the stem.

שָׁקָהshaqahto water: wateringUses61
שָׁקַטshaqatto quietUses41
שָׁקַלshaqalto weighUses22
שָׁקַדshaqadto watchUses12
שָׁקַץshaqatsto detestUses7
שָׁקַדshaqadbe almond shapedUses6
שָׁקַעshaqato sinkUses6
שָׁקַקshaqaqto rushUses6
שָׁקַרshaqarto dealUses6
שָׁקֵדshaqedalmondUses4
שָׁקֻףshaquphframeUses2
שָׁקshaqlegUses1

The words it stands beside

All 22, in canonical order

Every use, in order

Every use, grouped by book, with its verse.

19 spellings and their grammar

STEP Bible tags every word of the Hebrew and Greek text with its spelling and its grammar. Both lists below count the rows printed underneath, written out in English, with the code beside each one as it was tagged.

How it is spelled

  • הִשְׁקִ֪יף2
  • וַיַּשְׁקֵ֗ף2
  • נִשְׁקְפָ֣ה׀2
  • הַנִּשְׁקָ֖ף1
  • הַנִּשְׁקָ֛ף1
  • הַנִּשְׁקָפָ֖ה1
  • הִ֭שְׁקִיף1
  • הַשְׁקִיפָה֩1
  • וַיַּשְׁקִ֣יפוּ1
  • וַיַּשְׁקֵ֤ף1
  • וַיַּשְׁקֵ֣ף1
  • וַיַּשְׁקִ֖פוּ1

and 7 more spellings in the ledger below.

The grammar of each form

  • Hc/Vhw3ms4Hc/Vhw3ms
  • verb · passive or reflexive (niphal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person feminine singular4HVNp3fs
  • verb · causative (hiphil), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singular3HVhp3ms
  • Hc/Vhw3mp2Hc/Vhw3mp
  • the definite article (“the”) + verb · passive or reflexive (niphal), participle · masculine singular2HTd/VNrmsa
  • Hc/Vhw3fs1Hc/Vhw3fs
  • conjunction (“and”) + verb · passive or reflexive (niphal), participle · feminine singular1HC/VNrfsa
  • the definite article (“the”) + verb · passive or reflexive (niphal), participle · feminine singular1HTd/VNrfsa
  • verb · causative (hiphil), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singular1HVhi3ms
  • verb · causative (hiphil), command · 2nd person masculine singular + paragogic he1HVhv2ms/Sh
  • verb · passive or reflexive (niphal), qatal (perfect) · 1st person common singular1HVNp1cs
  • verb · passive or reflexive (niphal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singular1HVNp3ms

Genesis

three uses
  • When the men got up to leave, they looked out over Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them off.

    Genesis 18:16

    • וַיַּשְׁקִ֖פוּvaiyashkifuHc/Vhw3mptagged: and they looked down
  • He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain, and he saw the smoke rising from the land like smoke from a furnace.

    Genesis 19:28

    • וַיַּשְׁקֵ֗ףvaiyashkefHc/Vhw3mstagged: and he looked down
  • When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.

    Genesis 26:8

    • וַיַּשְׁקֵ֗ףvaiyashkefHc/Vhw3mstagged: and he looked down

Exodus

one use
  • At morning watch, however, the LORD looked down on the army of the Egyptians from the pillar of fire and cloud, and He threw their camp into confusion.

    Exodus 14:24

    • וַיַּשְׁקֵ֤ףvaiyashkefHc/Vhw3mstagged: and he looked down

Numbers

two uses
  • and from Bamoth to the valley in Moab where the top of Pisgah overlooks the wasteland.

    Numbers 21:20

    • וְנִשְׁקָ֖פָהvenishkafahconjunction (“and”) + verb · passive or reflexive (niphal), participle · feminine singulartagged: and it looked down
  • And Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the wasteland.

    Numbers 23:28

    • הַנִּשְׁקָ֖ףhanishkafthe definite article (“the”) + verb · passive or reflexive (niphal), participle · masculine singulartagged: which looks down

Deuteronomy

one use
  • Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land You have given us as You swore to our fathers—a land flowing with milk and honey.”

    Deuteronomy 26:15

    • הַשְׁקִיפָה֩hashkifahverb · causative (hiphil), command · 2nd person masculine singular + paragogic hetagged: look down

Judges

one use
  • Sisera’s mother looked through the window; she peered through the lattice and lamented: ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming? What has delayed the clatter of his chariots?’

    Judges 5:28

    • נִשְׁקְפָ֧הnishkefahverb · passive or reflexive (niphal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person feminine singulartagged: she looked down

1 Samuel

one use
  • another toward Beth-horon, and the third down the border road overlooking the Valley of Zeboim facing the wilderness.

    1 Samuel 13:18

    • הַנִּשְׁקָ֛ףhanishkafthe definite article (“the”) + verb · passive or reflexive (niphal), participle · masculine singulartagged: which looks down

2 Samuel

two uses
  • As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from a window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him in her heart.

    2 Samuel 6:16

    • נִשְׁקְפָ֣ה׀nishkefahverb · passive or reflexive (niphal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person feminine singulartagged: she looked down
  • When Araunah looked out and saw the king and his servants coming toward him, he went out and bowed facedown before the king.

    2 Samuel 24:20

    • וַיַּשְׁקֵ֣ףvaiyashkefHc/Vhw3mstagged: and he looked down

2 Kings

two uses
  • Now when Jehu arrived in Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. So she painted her eyes, adorned her head, and looked down from a window.

    2 Kings 9:30

    • וַתַּשְׁקֵ֖ףvatashkefHc/Vhw3fstagged: and she looked down
  • He looked up at the window and called out, “Who is on my side? Who?” And two or three eunuchs looked down at him.

    2 Kings 9:32

    • וַיַּשְׁקִ֣יפוּvaiyashkifuHc/Vhw3mptagged: and they looked down

1 Chronicles

one use
  • As the ark of the covenant of the LORD was entering the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from a window and saw King David dancing and celebrating, and she despised him in her heart.

    1 Chronicles 15:29

    • נִשְׁקְפָ֣ה׀nishkefahverb · passive or reflexive (niphal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person feminine singulartagged: she looked down

Psalms

four uses
  • The LORD looks down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if any understand, if any seek God.

    Psalms 14:2

    • הִשְׁקִ֪יףhishkifverb · causative (hiphil), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: he looks down
  • God looks down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if any understand, if any seek God.

    Psalms 53:2

    • הִשְׁקִ֪יףhishkifverb · causative (hiphil), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: he looks down
  • Faithfulness sprouts from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven.

    Psalms 85:11

    • נִשְׁקָֽף׃nishkafverb · passive or reflexive (niphal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: it looks down
  • For He looked down from the heights of His sanctuary; the LORD gazed out from heaven to earth

    Psalms 102:19

    • הִ֭שְׁקִיףhishkifverb · causative (hiphil), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: he has looked down

Proverbs

one use
  • For at the window of my house I looked through the lattice.

    Proverbs 7:6

    • נִשְׁקָֽפְתִּי׃nishkafetiverb · passive or reflexive (niphal), qatal (perfect) · 1st person common singulartagged: I looked down

Song of Solomon

one use
  • Who is this who shines like the dawn, as fair as the moon, as bright as the sun, as majestic as the stars in procession?

    Song of Solomon 6:10

    • הַנִּשְׁקָפָ֖הhanishkafahthe definite article (“the”) + verb · passive or reflexive (niphal), participle · feminine singulartagged: the looks down

Jeremiah

one use
  • “Run for cover, O sons of Benjamin; flee from Jerusalem! Sound the ram’s horn in Tekoa; send up a signal over Beth-haccherem, for disaster looms from the north, even great destruction.

    Jeremiah 6:1

    • נִשְׁקְפָ֥הnishkefahverb · passive or reflexive (niphal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person feminine singulartagged: it has looked down

Lamentations

one use
  • until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees.

    Lamentations 3:50

    • יַשְׁקִ֣יףyashkifverb · causative (hiphil), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: he will look down

The letters

Gematria 480· 1,200 mispar gadol

Where it leads

How the numbers are counted

Every count on this page comes from STEP Bible's tagged Hebrew and Greek text, the same text the ledger prints. A use is counted once each time the tagging marks a word with this key.

Spellings are counted as the Greek text spells them, with the sentence's own punctuation taken off the word first, so a form that ends a clause is not counted as a second spelling.

The words it stands beside are the nouns, verbs and adjectives immediately before or after it, counted in every verse where the word stands. The article, the conjunctions and the prepositions are left out, because they stand beside every word.

The family is read from the lexicon by the stem the two words share, with the accents off, and a person or a place named on the stem is left out.

Hebrew and Greek text, word tagging and grammar: STEP Bible (www.STEPBible.org), Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0. Their grammar codes are written out in English here and shown as tagged beside each one.

Meaning and senses: STEP Bible TBESH gloss (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary key: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890, public domain). English verse text: Berean Standard Bible (public domain, 2023).

Revised 2026-09-05. Every cited work, the sources registry →