rafa · let go, slacken

What it means

rafa (רָפָה) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “let go, slacken”.

Let go, leave alone; slacken, grow weak.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. To grow feeble, be discouraged.
2. To let go, leave: "let me go".
3. Unwilling to work.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

To slacken, to let go: to let drop what was held tight or gripped. Hence to leave someone, to desist, and also to lose heart: slack hands are the lack of courage to go on.

• “He will not let go of you or forsake you” Deuteronomy 31:6Joshua 1:51 Chronicles 28:20
• Letting go, leaving alone: “Let me alone”, “withdraw your hand” Deuteronomy 9:142 Samuel 24:16Joshua 10:6
• Hands that go slack: losing courage Nehemiah 6:92 Chronicles 15:7Jeremiah 38:4
• “Lazy”: those who slacken the work Exodus 5:17Proverbs 18:9Joshua 18:3
• “Desist, and know” Psalms 46:10

How we translate it

The verb is chosen according to what slackens: “let go” when someone is released (“he will not let go of you”, Deuteronomy 31:6), “Let me alone” (Deuteronomy 9:14), “slacken” or “go slack” when it is the hands (“Their hands will slacken from the work”, Nehemiah 6:9), and “weakening the hands” (Jeremiah 38:4). Pharaoh calls Israel “lazy” (Exodus 5:17). In Psalm 46:10, “Desist”, with a note; in Judges 8:3, “their spirit toward him subsided”.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• let go ×7
• go limp ×4
• Leave ×3
• lazy ×3
• they let down ×2
• weakening ×2
• Desist ×1
• Hold off ×1
• If you lose heart ×1
• Let me alone ×1
• others ×21

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Exodus×4
• Deuteronomy×4
• Joshua×3
• Judges×3
• 1 Samuel×2
• 2 Samuel×2
• 2 Kings×1
• 1 Chronicles×2
• 2 Chronicles×1
• Ezra×1
• Nehemiah×2
• Job×3
• Psalms×3
• Proverbs×3
• Song of Songs×1
• Isaiah×2
• Jeremiah×4
• Ezekiel×4
• Zephaniah×1

• Exodus 4:26

  So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “a bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.

• Exodus 5:8

  But the quota of bricks that they were making before you shall impose on them; you shall not reduce any of it, for they are lazy; that is why they cry out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our Elohim.’

• Exodus 5:17

  He said, “You are lazy, lazy! That is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to YHWH.’

• Deuteronomy 4:31

  For a merciful El is YHWH your Elohim; he will not fail you or destroy you or forget the covenant of your fathers that he swore to them.

• Deuteronomy 9:14

  Let me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under the heavens; and I will make you into a nation mightier and more numerous than they.”

• Deuteronomy 31:6

  Be strong and firm; do not fear and do not be terrified before them, for YHWH your Elohim, he is the one who goes with you; he will not let go of you or forsake you.”

• Deuteronomy 31:8

  And YHWH, he is the one who goes before you; he will be with you; he will not let go of you or forsake you. Do not fear and do not be dismayed.”

• Joshua 1:5

  No man shall stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, I will be with you; I will not let you go or abandon you.

• Joshua 10:6

  The men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal, saying, “Do not let your hands go from your servants. Come up to us quickly, save us, and help us, for all the kings of the Amorite who live in the hill country have gathered against us.”

• Joshua 18:3

  And Joshua said to the sons of Israel, “How long will you be slack about going in to take possession of the land that YHWH, the Elohim of your fathers, has given you?

• Judges 8:3

  Into your hand Elohim has given the chiefs of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and what was I able to do compared with you?” Then their spirit toward him subsided when he spoke this word.

• Judges 11:37

  And she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, so that I may go and go down upon the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions.”

• Judges 19:9

  And the man arose to go, he and his concubine and his young man; but his father-in-law, the father of the young woman, said to him, “Look, please, the day has waned toward evening; spend the night, please. Look, the day is ending; spend the night here, and let your heart be merry; and tomorrow you can rise early for your journey and go to your tent.”

• 1 Samuel 11:3

  The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Hold off from us seven days, and let us send messengers through all the territory of Israel. Then if there is no one to save us, we will come out to you.”

• 1 Samuel 15:16

  Samuel said to Saul, “Stop, and I will tell you what YHWH spoke to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.”

• 2 Samuel 4:1

  When the son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, his hands went limp, and all Israel was dismayed.

• 2 Samuel 24:16

  When the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, YHWH relented concerning the evil and said to the angel who was destroying among the people, “Enough! Now withdraw your hand.” And the angel of YHWH was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

• 2 Kings 4:27

  She came to the man of Elohim on the mountain and took hold of his feet. Gehazi came near to push her away, but the man of Elohim said, “Leave her alone, for her soul is bitter within her, and YHWH has hidden it from me and has not told me.”

• 1 Chronicles 21:15

  Elohim sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it; and as he was destroying it, YHWH saw and relented concerning the evil, and said to the angel who was destroying, “Enough! Now drop your hand.” And the angel of YHWH was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

• 1 Chronicles 28:20

  David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and firm, and do it; do not fear and do not be dismayed, for YHWH Elohim, my Elohim, is with you. He will not let go of you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of YHWH is finished.

• 2 Chronicles 15:7

  But you, be strong, and do not let your hands go slack, for there are wages for your work.”

• Ezra 4:4

  Then the people of the land were weakening the hands of the people of Judah and terrifying them from building,

• Nehemiah 6:3

  So I sent messengers to them, saying, “A great work I am doing, and I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and come down to you?”

• Nehemiah 6:9

  For all of them were frightening us, saying, “Their hands will slacken from the work, and it will not be done.” And now, strengthen my hands.

• Job 7:19

  How long will you not look away from me, nor let me go until I swallow my spittle?

• Job 12:21

  He pours contempt on nobles, and loosens the belt of the strong.

• Job 27:6

  To my righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go; my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.

• Psalms 37:8

  Let go of anger and abandon fury; do not get heated; it leads only to doing evil.

• Psalms 46:10

  “Desist, and know that I am Elohim; I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth.”

• Psalms 138:8

  YHWH will complete it for me; YHWH, your loyal love is forever; do not let go of the works of your hands.

• Proverbs 4:13

  Take hold of correction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life.

• Proverbs 18:9

  Also, one who is slack in his work is a brother he to the one who destroys.

• Proverbs 24:10

  If you lose heart in the day of distress, your strength is narrow.

• Song of Songs 3:4

  Scarcely had I passed from them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him and I will not let him go until I have brought him into the house of my mother, and into the chamber of her who conceived me.

• Isaiah 5:24

  Therefore, as a tongue of fire devours stubble, and dry grass sinks down in the flame, their root will be like rot, and their blossom will go up like dust; for they have rejected the instruction of YHWH Tsevaot and spurned the saying of the Holy One of Israel.

• Isaiah 13:7

  Therefore all hands will go limp, and every heart of a mortal will melt.

• Jeremiah 6:24

  We have heard the report of it; our hands go limp; anguish has seized us, pain as of a woman giving birth.

• Jeremiah 38:4

  And the princes said to the king, “Please let this man be put to death, for in this way he is weakening the hands of the men of war who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking to them words like these; for this man is not seeking the peace of this people, but evil.”

• Jeremiah 49:24

  Damascus has grown weak; she has turned to flee, and trembling has seized her; anguish and pangs have taken hold of her like a woman giving birth.

• Jeremiah 50:43

  The king of Babylon has heard the report of them, and his hands go limp; anguish has seized him, pain as of a woman giving birth.

And 6 more times.