אָפִיל (a.phil)
a.phil
late
H:AQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 1 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:A
Word Overview
The Hebrew adjective apil describes crops that are late in ripening or have been darkened by hail. It appears only once in the Old Testament, in Exodus 9:32, where it modifies wheat and spelt. The context is the plague of hail, which struck the fields after the flax and barley had already been ruined but before the wheat and spelt were fully mature.
The word’s root suggests a state of being darkened or concealed, likely referring to how the hail damage obscured the natural color of the grain or delayed its development. This specific usage highlights the precision of the judgment: the later-ripening crops survived the initial destruction, offering a narrow window for harvest before the next plague.
Translators typically render apil as "late" or "ripe," capturing the agricultural reality of the scene. The term underscores the timing of divine actions in Exodus, showing how natural cycles were interrupted to serve a theological purpose. Its rarity in Scripture makes this single occurrence particularly significant for understanding the narrative’s details.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word apil appears only once in Scripture, describing crops that were late to ripen or darkened by hail. In Exodus 9:32, this term highlights how the wheat and spelt survived the plague because they had not yet grown up. This detail shows that God’s judgments are precise and measured, affecting different stages of growth in specific ways.
For your faith, this reminds us that God sees the timing of every season in your life. Just as the late crops were spared for a time, there are moments when protection or delay serves a greater purpose. You can trust that your current struggles or waiting periods are known and ordered by Him, even when the reasons are not immediately clear.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 1 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- [are] late [crops]1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- אֲפִילֹ֖ת1×
Key Verses
-
Exodus 9:32
But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they had not grown up.
This verse uses apil to explain why wheat and spelt were spared from the hail, showing their late growth stage provided protection.