3728. kaphash
Lexical Summary
kaphash: To subdue, to bring into bondage, to subject

Original Word: כָּפַשׁ
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: kaphash
Pronunciation: kah-fash'
Phonetic Spelling: (kaw-fash')
KJV: cover
NASB: cower
Word Origin: [a primitive root]

1. to tread down
2. (figuratively) to humiliate

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
cover

A primitive root; to tread down; figuratively, to humiliate -- cover.

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
a prim. root
Definition
to make bent, press or bend together
NASB Translation
cower (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
[כָּפַשׁ] verb only

Hiph`il make bent, press or bend together (Late Hebrew Hiph`il id.; כָּפַשׁ furnish a vessel with a bent rim, כּוֺפֶשׁ a broad-rimmed vessel; Arabic have bent or crooked feet; Tel Amarna kappâšu, sole of foot DlHWB 348 (doubtfully), but infinitive from כבשׁ according to WklTel Am. Letters, Vocab.); —

Hiph`il Perfect3masculine singular suffix בָּאֵפֶרהִכְמִּישַׁנִי Lamentations 3:16 he made me cower in the ashes.

Topical Lexicon
Semantic Range and Nuances

The verb conveys the idea of forcefully pressing down, trampling, or overwhelming so thoroughly that the object is brought low and covered. The imagery combines external pressure (“trampled”) with the result of humiliation (“in the dust”), painting a picture of total subjection.

Textual Occurrence

Lamentations 3:16: “He has ground my teeth with gravel; He has trampled me in the dust.”

Jeremiah’s lament over Jerusalem reaches a climax of helplessness. The term depicts the invading power of Babylon as the very hand of God pressing His people to the ground—an act that feels both crushing and inescapable.

Historical Setting

After the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC, survivors faced physical ruin, social disgrace, and spiritual desolation. Dust, ashes, and gravel were literal and symbolic: the shattered masonry of the city now underfoot, mixed with tears and blood. By choosing a term that pictures trampling, the prophet underlines the completeness of judgment—walls, temple, and people alike flattened beneath divine wrath executed through human agents.

Theological Themes

1. Divine Discipline. The verb underscores that the exile was not random cruelty but purposeful chastening (Hebrews 12:6).
2. Humiliation before Restoration. Scripture repeatedly links being “brought low” with future lifting up (Psalm 147:6; James 4:10). The crushing prepares the way for comfort (Lamentations 3:22-23).
3. Dust Imagery. Humanity formed from dust (Genesis 2:7) returns to dust in judgment (Genesis 3:19). The verb thus recalls mortality and the need for redemption.

Canonical Echoes

Though 3728 itself appears only once, its concept reverberates:
Psalm 44:5 – “Through You we will push back our foes; through Your name we will trample them.”
Isaiah 63:6 – “I trampled the nations in My anger.”
Micah 7:19 – “You will subdue our iniquities.”

These passages show God both permitting His people to be trampled and promising to trample evil for their sake, highlighting His sovereign consistency.

Christological Overtones

The Servant’s humiliation foretold in Isaiah 53:10 and the Psalmist’s cry, “You lay Me in the dust of death” (Psalm 22:15), anticipate Jesus Christ, who was voluntarily crushed that many might be lifted. The single use of the verb in Lamentations pre-echoes the unique, once-for-all crushing of the Messiah (Hebrews 9:26).

Pastoral and Devotional Insights

• Seasons of being “pressed into the dust” may signal God’s refining rather than His abandonment.
• Lament has a place in faithful living; honest grief coexists with hope (Lamentations 3:24-26).
• In ministry, the verse offers vocabulary for those who feel pulverized by loss, directing them to the God who both humbles and heals (Psalm 147:3).

Homiletical Suggestions

1. Title: “When God Feels Heavy: Lessons from the Dust.”
2. Outline:

a. The Crushing (Lamentations 3:16).

b. The Confession (3:18-20).

c. The Covenant Hope (3:21-26).
3. Application: Embrace lament, expect renewal, extend compassion to the crushed.

Practical Ministry Application

In counseling, invite sufferers to articulate their “dust” moments, then guide them to recall God’s steadfast love (Lamentations 3:22). Encourage communal lament in worship settings; it validates pain and opens the way for corporate healing and revival (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Forms and Transliterations
הִכְפִּישַׁ֖נִי הכפישני hichpiShani hiḵ·pî·ša·nî hiḵpîšanî
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Interlinear GreekInterlinear HebrewStrong's NumbersEnglishman's Greek ConcordanceEnglishman's Hebrew ConcordanceParallel Texts
Englishman's Concordance
Lamentations 3:16
HEB: בֶּֽחָצָץ֙ שִׁנָּ֔י הִכְפִּישַׁ֖נִי בָּאֵֽפֶר׃
NAS: with gravel; He has made me cower in the dust.
KJV: with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes.
INT: gravel my teeth cower the dust

1 Occurrence

Strong's Hebrew 3728
1 Occurrence


hiḵ·pî·ša·nî — 1 Occ.

3727
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