Bible Word Study
רָפוּא
Râphûwʼ · Raphu, an Israelite
רָפוּא
Raphu, an Israelite
Definition
Raphu is a proper noun identifying an Israelite man from the tribe of Benjamin, mentioned only once in the Bible. He is noted as the father of Palti, who was one of the twelve spies sent by Moses to explore the land of Canaan (Numbers 13:9). The name itself is derived from a Hebrew root meaning 'healed' or 'cured,' functioning as a passive participle. As a personal name, it does not carry multiple senses or meanings beyond this singular identification of an individual within a specific genealogical and narrative context.
Biblical Usage
The word is used exclusively in Numbers 13:9, within the list of the twelve leaders chosen as spies from each tribe of Israel. Its usage is purely genealogical and onomastic, serving to identify Palti's lineage ('Palti the son of Raphu') from the tribe of Benjamin. There are no other occurrences or contextual patterns in the Old Testament.
Etymology
The name Raphu (רָפוּא) is the passive participle of the root verb רָפָא (rapha', H7495), meaning 'to heal,' 'to mend,' or 'to cure.' Thus, the name literally translates as 'healed' or 'cured.' It shares this etymological foundation with other Hebrew names and words related to healing and restoration.
Semantic Range
In ancient Israelite culture, names often carried significant meaning, reflecting circumstances of birth, parental hopes, or attributes of God. A name like Raphu ('healed') likely indicated a story or prayer related to healing at the time of the individual's birth or naming. While we have no specific narrative about Raphu himself, his name fits a common pattern where personal names served as testimonies or reminders of God's character and actions. רְפָאֵל (Repha'el, H7501) — A proper name meaning 'God has healed,' highlighting the divine agent of healing. רָפָה (raphah, H7503) — A verb meaning 'to sink, relax, abandon,' a different root despite similar spelling. רְפָאִים (Rephaim, H7497) — A term for a legendary race of giants or the dead, unrelated to healing.
Word Details
How this works
Definitions are from the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (BDB, 1906, public domain). Concordance and morphology data are from the OSHB (Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible).
Full methodology & sources →References
- Abbott-Smith, G. (1921) A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Brown, F., Driver, S.R. and Briggs, C.A. (1906) A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press. [Public Domain]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Tyndale Brief lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (TBESG). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Formatted full LSJ (TFLSJ). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Thayer, J.H. (1889) A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. [Public Domain]
- Gesenius, W. (1846) Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament. [Public Domain]
- Dodson, J. (2010) Greek Lexicon. Biblical Humanities. [CC0]