Zepheth — H2203

Definition

feminine noun

asphalt (from its tendency to soften in the sun)

1. pitch, tar, asphalt

Usually translated as

pitch

Origin

from an unused root (meaning to liquify)

Occurrences

Zepheth occurs 3 times in 2 verses of the King James.

Distribution of the word across the Bible: Exodus (1), Isaiah (1)

• Exodus 2:3 — And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch (וּבַזָּ֑פֶת), and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink.
• Isaiah 34:9 — And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch (לְזֶ֔פֶת), and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.
• Isaiah 34:9 — And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch (לְזֶ֖פֶת).