לָקַק
to lick or lap
Definition
The Hebrew verb לָקַק (lâqaq) means 'to lick' or 'to lap,' specifically describing the action of an animal or person using the tongue to consume water or other substances. Its primary biblical usage is found in Judges 7:5-7, where it describes the manner in which Gideon's soldiers drank water from a stream—either kneeling to lap like a dog or bringing water to their mouth with their hand. In 1 Kings 21:19 and the parallel account in 1 Kings 22:38, the word is used metaphorically in a prophetic curse, where dogs are said to lick the blood of King Ahab, signifying a violent and dishonorable death.
Biblical Usage
This verb appears only four times in the Old Testament. It is used literally in the narrative of Judges 7 to distinguish between two groups of soldiers based on their drinking method, a test that revealed their alertness and suitability for battle. It is used figuratively in 1 Kings 21:19 (and its fulfillment implied in 22:38) within a prophetic judgment oracle, where the act of licking blood becomes a graphic symbol of divine retribution and the complete consumption of a condemned life.
Etymology
לָקַק is a primitive root verb in Hebrew. It is related to the Arabic word 'laqaqa,' which also means 'to lick.' The root conveys the basic, physical action of passing the tongue over a surface, and its meaning remained consistent in biblical usage without significant semantic development.
Semantic Range
While primarily a descriptive action verb, לָקַק gains theological significance in its figurative use. In 1 Kings 21, the prophecy that dogs will lick Ahab's blood is a direct, tangible sign of God's judgment for the king's sin of murder and theft (the story of Naboth's vineyard). This transforms a mundane action into a powerful symbol of the certainty and completeness of divine justice, showing that sin has concrete, often ignoble, consequences.
In the ancient Near East, the manner of drinking water from a stream, as described in Judges 7, was a practical test of military readiness. Those who lapped water directly, keeping their eyes on the surroundings, were considered more vigilant than those who knelt down, making themselves vulnerable. The image of dogs licking blood (1 Kings 21:19) would have been particularly repulsive and degrading, as dogs were not domestic pets but scavengers, and contact with a corpse's blood was ritually defiling, adding profound shame to the judgment.
לָחַךְ (lāḥak, H3897) — A less common synonym also meaning 'to lick,' used in the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:38) where fire 'licks' up water, emphasizing a rapid, consuming action.
Word Details
How this works
Hebrew definitions are from Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906) and Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (1890), both public domain. BDB was groundbreaking for its era but reflects 19th-century assumptions about Semitic etymology. Modern scholarship (HALOT, DCH) has revised many entries. Use these definitions as a starting point for exploration, not as the final word on a term's meaning in context.
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