קִפֹּד (qip.pod)
qip.pod
porcupine
H:N-MQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 3 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:N-M
Word Overview
The Hebrew word qippod refers to a small, spiny mammal, typically identified as either a porcupine or a hedgehog. Its name likely derives from the creature’s characteristic behavior of curling into a tight ball when threatened, a defensive posture that gives the term its root sense of "shrinking" or contracting.
In Scripture, this animal appears in only three verses, all within prophetic literature. Isaiah 34:11 and Zephaniah 2:14 use qippod to describe desolate ruins where humans no longer dwell. The presence of these spiny creatures signals that a place has become wild and abandoned, serving as a vivid image of judgment and emptiness.
Translators often render qippod as "hedgehog" or "porcupine," depending on the specific species known in their region. The choice reflects the animal’s role as a marker of wilderness, emphasizing that divine judgment leaves places uninhabited by people but occupied by nature’s more resilient inhabitants.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word qippod describes a small creature known for its sharp quills and defensive habit of curling into a tight ball when threatened. In the biblical text, this animal is never mentioned in contexts of comfort or safety. Instead, it appears exclusively in prophetic warnings to mark places that have been abandoned by people and left to the wild. The image suggests a total reversal of order: where human civilization once stood, only resilient, solitary creatures remain.
For a reader today, this imagery highlights the seriousness of divine judgment. It is not merely about physical destruction but about the loss of community and purpose. When God says He will make a place a possession for the qippod, He is describing a state of complete desolation. Yet, even in these stark descriptions, there is an invitation to reflect on what we build and how we treat our communities.
Understanding this word helps us see the weight behind prophetic language. It reminds us that peace and habitation are gifts, not permanent fixtures. The presence of such animals signals that a place has lost its human purpose, becoming a refuge only for those who can survive in isolation. This challenges us to value the connections and structures that bring life to our own environments.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 3 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- hedgehog[s]1×
- hedgehog1×
- and/ hedgehog1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- קִפֹּ֖ד1×
- קִפֹּ֔ד1×
- וְ/קִפּ֔וֹד1×
Key Verses
-
Isaiah 34:11
But the pelican and the porcupine will possess it. The owl and the raven will dwell in it. He will stretch the line of confusion over it, and the plumb line of emptiness.
This verse pairs the qippod with the pelican and owl to depict Edom's total transformation into a wasteland, emphasizing that judgment leaves no room for human habitation.
-
Zephaniah 2:14
Herds will lie down in the middle of her, all kinds of animals. Both the pelican and the porcupine will lodge in its capitals. Their calls will echo through the windows. Desolation will be in the thresholds, for he has laid bare the cedar beams.
Here, the porcupine lodges in the capitals of Nineveh’s buildings, illustrating how divine wrath turns once-great cities into ruins inhabited only by wild animals.
-
Isaiah 14:23
“I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and pools of water. I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” says Yahweh of Armies.
The prophet uses the qippod to describe the fate of Babylon, showing that pride leads to a place where even the most resilient creatures claim ownership over human ruins.