6463. paah
Lexical Summary
paah: Corner, edge, side

Original Word: פָעָה
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: pa`ah
Pronunciation: pah-ah
Phonetic Spelling: (paw-aw')
KJV: cry
NASB: groan
Word Origin: [a primitive root]

1. to scream

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
cry

A primitive root; to scream -- cry.

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
a prim. root
Definition
to groan
NASB Translation
groan (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
[מָּעָה] verb groan (onomatopoetic according to Thes; Late Hebrew Hiph`il bleat, so Arabic , , Dozy; Aramaic מְּעָא bleat,); — Imperfect1singular כַּיּוֺלֵדָה אֶפְעֶה Isaiah 42:14 (of ׳י staining himself to deliver Israel, +אֶשֹּׁם [נשׁם], אֶשְׁאַף). — [אֶפַע] Isaiah 41:26..

Topical Lexicon
Overview

Paʿah (Strong’s Hebrew 6463) appears only once in Scripture, Isaiah 42:14. The verb depicts an intense, involuntary release of breath—comparable to the sudden gasp or groan that accompanies extreme exertion or labor pains. Scripture employs this singular instance to convey the moment when long-restrained divine patience gives way to decisive action.

Biblical Occurrence

Isaiah 42:14: “I have kept silent from ages past; I have been quiet and restrained Myself. But now I will cry out like a woman in labor; I will gasp and pant.”

Here paʿah stands parallel to “cry out” and “pant,” intensifying the image of a woman’s travail. The prophet sets the stage for Yahweh’s forthcoming deliverance and judgment: silence is broken, hidden purposes are unveiled, and redemptive history moves forward with unstoppable force.

Theological Themes

1. Divine Restraint and Sudden Intervention
• God’s self-imposed silence mirrors His longsuffering toward a rebellious world (2 Peter 3:9).
• The gasp marks the transition from patience to action, assuring the faithful that apparent delay never equals indifference.

2. Birth Imagery and New Creation
• Labor pains appear elsewhere to portray cosmic renewal (Romans 8:22) and eschatological upheaval (Matthew 24:8).
• In Isaiah 42, the gasp anticipates new sight for the blind, release for prisoners, and light for nations (Isaiah 42:6-7), foreshadowing the Messianic mission of Jesus Christ (Luke 4:18-19).

3. Judgment Coupled with Redemption
• The same breath that heralds deliverance for the oppressed also uproots idolatry and topples oppressors (Isaiah 42:15-17).
• Paʿah thus encapsulates the dual edge of God’s intervention—comfort for the faithful, upheaval for the unrepentant.

Historical Setting

Isaiah addressed a people either already in exile or soon to be. They questioned God’s silence amid Babylonian dominance. The solitary use of paʿah becomes a prophetic anchor: the very restraint that seemed to negate covenant promises would climax in a gasp signaling Babylon’s fall and Israel’s restoration. History vindicates the prophecy in Cyrus’s decree (Ezra 1:1-4), while ultimate fulfillment awaits the return of Christ.

Christological and Eschatological Implications

• Jesus applied labor-pain language to His disciples’ sorrow turned to joy (John 16:21-22), echoing Isaiah 42.
• At Calvary the Son of God “cried out with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit” (Matthew 27:50), the ultimate paʿah that birthed the new covenant.
• Revelation depicts final judgments accompanied by thunderous outbursts (Revelation 11:15-18), the eschatological counterpart to Isaiah’s gasp—God again breaks silence to consummate redemption.

Ministry Application

1. Encouragement in Waiting
• Believers wrestling with apparent divine silence can rest in the certainty that God’s timing is purposeful; His gasp will arrive.

2. Call to Holiness
• The suddenness of God’s intervention urges readiness (2 Peter 3:11-12). Complacency during the quiet season invites rebuke once the gasp resounds.

3. Mission to the Nations
Isaiah 42 links paʿah to light for the Gentiles. The church, entrusted with that light (Acts 13:47), proclaims salvation while the window of silence remains open.

Related Imagery and Intertextual Links

• Groaning of creation: Romans 8:22.
• Labor pains of judgment: Jeremiah 30:6-7; Micah 4:9-10.
• Divine shout at the Parousia: 1 Thessalonians 4:16.

Summary

Paʿah captures the electrifying instant when divine forbearance transforms into action. Its solitary appearance in Isaiah 42:14 magnifies its weight: one breath that alters history, ushers in redemption, and warns of judgment. The church lives between the silence and the gasp, called to faith, holiness, and mission until God again breaks forth in decisive power.

Forms and Transliterations
אֶפְעֶ֔ה אפעה ’ep̄‘eh ’ep̄·‘eh efEh
Links
Interlinear GreekInterlinear HebrewStrong's NumbersEnglishman's Greek ConcordanceEnglishman's Hebrew ConcordanceParallel Texts
Englishman's Concordance
Isaiah 42:14
HEB: אֶתְאַפָּ֑ק כַּיּוֹלֵדָ֣ה אֶפְעֶ֔ה אֶשֹּׁ֥ם וְאֶשְׁאַ֖ף
NAS: Myself. [Now] like a woman in labor I will groan, I will both
KJV: [and] refrained myself: [now] will I cry like a travailing woman;
INT: and restrained labor will groan gasp and pant

1 Occurrence

Strong's Hebrew 6463
1 Occurrence


’ep̄·‘eh — 1 Occ.

6462
Top of Page
Top of Page