הָפַךְ (ha.phakh)
ha.phakh
to overturn
H:VQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 85 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:V
Word Overview
The Hebrew verb ha.phakh describes a decisive turning or overturning action, ranging from physically flipping an object to radically changing a situation. In its simplest form, it means to turn something over, such as turning a dish or a bed, but it frequently carries the weight of total reversal. This is most vividly seen in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, where God overthrows the cities (Genesis 19:25), signaling a complete dismantling of their former state.
Beyond physical movement, the word often signifies transformation or perverting justice. In Leviticus, it describes how a skin disease can change color, shifting from one condition to another (Leviticus 13:3). The sources note that this sense of turning against something appears in Job and Psalms, where enemies turn back or God’s plans are reversed. It captures not just motion, but a fundamental shift in direction or nature.
Its theological force lies in its ability to describe both judgment and mercy. While it marks the overturning of wickedness, it also describes God turning away from disaster (Genesis 19:29). Translators render this range with words like "overthrow," "change," and "turn back," depending on whether the subject is a city, a disease, or a person’s heart. The word consistently points to a moment where things are no longer as they were.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word ha.phakh describes a decisive turning or overturning action, ranging from physically flipping an object to radically changing a situation. In its simplest form, it means to turn something over, such as turning a dish or a bed, but it frequently carries the weight of total reversal. This is most vividly seen in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, where God overthrows the cities (Genesis 19:25), signaling a complete dismantling of their former state.
Beyond physical movement, the word often signifies transformation or perverting justice. In Leviticus, it describes how a skin disease can change color, shifting from one condition to another (Leviticus 13:3). The sources note that this sense of turning against something appears in Job and Psalms, where enemies turn back or God’s plans are reversed. It captures not just motion, but a fundamental shift in direction or nature.
Its theological force lies in its ability to describe both judgment and mercy. While it marks the overturning of wickedness, it also describes God turning away from disaster (Genesis 19:29). Translators render this range with words like "overthrow," "change," and "turn back," depending on whether the subject is a city, a disease, or a person’s heart. The word consistently points to a moment where things are no longer as they were.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 85 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- it has turned7×
- he turned6×
- it was changed4×
- and/ he turned4×
- it has been turned3×
- turn around2×
- they have turned2×
- it is changed2×
- it has been changed2×
- and/ they will be changed2×
- and/ I will turn2×
- and/ I will overthrow2×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- נֶהְפַּ֥ךְ5×
- הָפַ֣ךְ4×
- נֶהְפַּ֤ךְ3×
- וַ/יַּהֲפֹ֧ךְ2×
- וְ/נֶהֶפְכ֥וּ2×
- וְ/הָפַכְתִּ֨י2×
- הָפַ֥ךְ2×
- תֵּהָפֵ֣ךְ1×
- תִּ֭תְהַפֵּךְ1×
- נֶהֶפְכ֥וּ1×
- נֶהֶפְכ֤וּ1×
- נֶהְפָּֽכֶת\׃1×
Key Verses
-
Genesis 19:25
He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew on the ground.
This verse demonstrates the word's most severe application, describing the total dismantling of Sodom and Gomorrah as an act of divine judgment.
-
Genesis 19:29
When God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.
Here the same root describes mercy, showing God rescuing Lot from the midst of the overthrow because He remembered Abraham.
-
Leviticus 13:3
The priest shall examine the plague in the skin of the body. If the hair in the plague has turned white, and the appearance of the plague is deeper than the body’s skin, it is the plague of leprosy; so the priest shall examine him and pronounce him unclean.
This occurrence shifts the meaning to physical transformation, detailing how a skin disease changes color as part of a diagnostic process.
-
Judges 7:13
When Gideon had come, behold, there was a man telling a dream to his fellow. He said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream; and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, came to the tent, and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.”
The word describes a dream where a barley cake strikes a tent and turns it upside down, symbolizing the sudden reversal of military power.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Hebrew word ha.phakh mean?
How is ha.phakh used in the story of Sodom?
Does this word only mean destruction?
Why is this word important for understanding biblical judgment?
Every Occurrence (85 verses across 25 books)
Genesis 4 verses
So he drove out the man; and he placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned…
Genesis 19:21He said to him, “Behold, I have granted your request concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of…
Genesis 19:25He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew on the ground.
Genesis 19:29When God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow,…