Hebrew noun (masculine) · H8314
שָׂרָף
saraphsaw-rawf'
serpent; Seraph
7 uses in the Hebrew text, one for each word STEP Bible has tagged with this key
Concordance spelling: sârâph
Word page · Part of the concordance, one page for every word of the Hebrew and Greek text. Strong's H8314is this word's number in James Strong's 1890 index of the King James Bible.
- 3 of 39Old Testament books
- 6spellings
- 2meanings
The definition in full
Strong's key (1890) · H8314
burning, i.e. (figuratively) poisonous (serpent); specifically, a saraph or symbolical creature (from their copper color)
The King James renders it: fiery (serpent), seraph.
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
saraph is rendered "serpent; Seraph". It stands 7 times in the Hebrew text, across three books.
- Four of the uses stand in Isaiah, more than in any other book.
- The lexicon lists two meanings for it, beginning with "serpent".
- Its first use in canonical order opens the ledger below.Numbers 21:6So the LORD sent venomous snakes among the people, and many of the Israelites were bitten and died.
- The Greek text spells it six different ways.
The first use
So the LORD sent venomous snakes among the people, and many of the Israelites were bitten and died.
Numbers 21:6הַשְּׂרָפִ֔ים
The first use, in the order of the Old Testament's books.
Where the word stands
Four of the word's seven uses are in Isaiah.
What the word means
The word carries two meanings: serpent, and Seraph.
Each meaning, and the words it is translated by
| Meaning | Tagged as | Where |
|---|---|---|
| serpentStrong's entry A | Tagged aslisted under the table | WhereNumbers 21:6So the LORD sent venomous snakes among the people… |
| SeraphStrong's entry B | Tagged aslisted under the table | Wherein the ledger below |
How the Greek text is glossed, word by word
- a saraph1
- a serpent1
- and serpent1
- fiery1
- seraphim1
- the saraphs1
- the seraphim1
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.
| Word | Written | Meaning | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| שָׂרַף | saraph | to burn | Uses117 |
| שָׂרִיד | sarid | survivor | Uses28 |
| שָׂרָה | sarah | princess | Uses5 |
| שָׂרַר | sarar | to rule | Uses5 |
| שָׂרַט | sarat | to incise | Uses3 |
| שָׂרַע | sara | to extend | Uses3 |
| שָׂרִיג | sarig | tendril | Uses3 |
| שָׂרַג | sarag | to intertwine | Uses2 |
| שָׂרָה | sarah | to strive | Uses2 |
| שָׂרַד | sarad | to escape | Uses1 |
| שָׂרֻק | saruq | sorrel | Uses1 |
| שָׂרוּק | saruq | tendril | Uses1 |
and 1 more on the stem.
Other numbers on this spelling
Strong gave these words the same spelling and different numbers, so the site counts and defines them apart.
All 7, in canonical order
Every use, in order
Every use, grouped by book, with its verse.
6 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
- הַשְּׂרָפִ֔ים2
- וְשָׂרָ֣ף1
- שָׂרָ֔ף1
- שָׂרָף֙1
- שָׂרָ֥ף1
- שְׂרָפִ֨ים1
The grammar of each form
- noun · masculine singular3HNcmsa
- conjunction (“and”) + noun · masculine singular1HC/Ncmsa
- noun · masculine plural1HNtmpa
- the definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine plural1HTd/Ncmpa
- the definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine plural1HTd/Ntmpa
Numbers
two uses
So the LORD sent venomous snakes among the people, and many of the Israelites were bitten and died.
- הַשְּׂרָפִ֔יםhaserafimthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine pluraltagged: the saraphs
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.”
- שָׂרָ֔ףsarafnoun · masculine singulartagged: a saraph
Deuteronomy
one use
He led you through the vast and terrifying wilderness with its venomous snakes and scorpions, a thirsty and waterless land. He brought you water from the rock of flint.
- שָׂרָף֙sarafnoun · masculine singulartagged: fiery
Isaiah
four uses
Above Him stood seraphim, each having six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.
- שְׂרָפִ֨יםserafimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: seraphim
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.
- הַשְּׂרָפִ֔יםhaserafimthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine pluraltagged: the seraphim
Do not rejoice, all you Philistines, that the rod that struck you is broken. For a viper will spring from the root of the snake, and a flying serpent from its egg.
- שָׂרָ֥ףsarafnoun · masculine singulartagged: a serpent
This is the burden against the beasts of the Negev: Through a land of hardship and distress, of lioness and lion, of viper and flying serpent, they carry their wealth on the backs of donkeys and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people of no profit to them.
- וְשָׂרָ֣ףvesarafconjunction (“and”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: and serpent
The letters
Gematria 580· 1,300 mispar gadol
Where it leads
Studies that open this word1
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 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.