סָעִף

saif · divided opinion

Hebrew word · Strong’s number H5587 · appears 3 times in the Bible

What is the Strong number?Strong’s number identifies this word: use it to find the same word in other study tools.

What it means

saif (סָעִף) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “divided opinion”.

Thought that goes two ways. It comes from a word meaning "branch" or "division"; it appears only in 1 Kings 18:21, and its exact sense is debated.

How to say it

sa·if

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. Going back and forth without deciding.
  2. Ideas that give no rest.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

How it is translated

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

  • disquieting thoughts ×2
  • opinions ×1

Related words

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

Where it appears

  • 1 Kings 18:21

    Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between the two opinions? If YHWH is Elohim, go after him; and if Baal, go after him.” And the people did not answer him a word.

  • Job 4:13

    In disquieting thoughts from visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men,

  • Job 20:2

    “Therefore my disquieting thoughts make me answer, and because of the haste that is in me.