Senses
1. be beautiful, be fair — Qal stem of יָפָה meaning 'to be beautiful, to be fair in appearance.' Used of physical beauty in Song 4:10 ('how beautiful are your cheeks'), Song 7:6 ('how beautiful you are'), Ezek 16:13 ('you became exceedingly beautiful'), and Ezek 31:7 ('it was beautiful in its greatness'). Piel intensive form יָפְיָפִיתָ in Ps 45:2 ('you are fairer than the sons of men') expresses the same quality in intensified degree. All inflections (Qal perfect 3cp, 2fs; Qal consecutive imperfect 3ms, 2fs; Piel perfect 2ms) describe the state or becoming of beauty. Multilingual glosses consistently render as 'beautiful/hermoso/beau/सुंदर/아름다운.' 5×
AR["أَجْمَلَكِ","جَميلٌ-أَنْتَ","فَجَمُلَ","فَجَمُلْتِ","يَفُو"]·ben["আর-সুন্দর-হলে","আর-সে-সুন্দর-হয়েছিল","সুন্দর","সুন্দরতম-তুমি","সুন্দরী"]·DE["[וייף]","[ותיפי]","[יפו]","[יפית]","du-sind-fairer"]·EN["You-are-fairer","and-it-was-beautiful","and-you-became-beautiful","beautiful"]·FR["et-être-beau","sont-belles","tu-es-belle","être-beau"]·heb["ו-ייפה","ו-תיפי","יפו","יפיפית","יפית"]·HI["और-सुंदर-था","और-सुंदर-हुई-तू","सुंदर-हैं","सुंदर-हो-तू","सुन्दर-है-तू"]·ID["Dan-jadilah-indah","cantik-engkau","dan-engkau-menjadi-cantik","indah"]·IT["[וייף]","[ותיפי]","[יפיפית]","beautiful"]·jav["Lan-dados-éndah","Panjenengan-paling-bagus","lan-panjenengan-dados-ayu","éndah","éndah-panjenengan"]·KO["그리고-너는-아름다웠다","그리고-아름다웠다-그것이","아름다운가","아름답도다"]·PT["E-era-belo","belos","e-ficaste-bela","formosa","s-mais-formoso"]·RU["и-стал-красивым","и-стала-прекрасной","прекрасна-ты","прекраснейший","прекрасны"]·ES["Eres-hermoso","Y-era-hermoso","hermosa","hermosos","y-te-embelleciste"]·SW["Na-ulikuwa-mzuri","Wewe-ni-mzuri","na-ukapendeza","ulivyo-mzuri"]·TR["En-güzelsin","guzel","guzelsin","ve-güzel-oldu","çok"]·urd["اور-تُو-خوبصورت-ہوئی","اور-خوبصورت-ہوا","تُو-خوبصورت-ہے","خوبصورت-ہے","خوبصورت-ہے-تُو"]
2. make beautiful, adorn — Causative/factitive senses of יָפָה: the Hitpael reflexive 'to make oneself beautiful, to adorn oneself' in Jer 4:30 (תִּתְיַפִּי 'you make yourself beautiful'), and the Piel transitive 'to beautify, to adorn (something)' in Jer 10:4 (יְיַפֵּהוּ 'they beautify it,' referring to idols decorated with silver and gold). Both express active causation of beauty rather than the stative/intransitive quality of the Qal. Arabic تَتَجَمَّلِينَ 'you adorn yourself' and يُزَيِّنُونَهُ 'they decorate it,' Hindi सजाते हैं उसे 'they decorate it,' confirm the distinct transitive/reflexive semantics. 2×
AR["تَتَجَمَّلِينَ","يُزَيِّنُونَهُ"]·ben["সাজায়-তাকে-সে","সুন্দরী-করবে"]·DE["[ייפהו]","[תתיפי]"]·EN["they-beautify-it","you-make-yourself-beautiful"]·FR["[ייפהו]","[תתיפי]"]·heb["ייפהו","תתיפי"]·HI["सजाते-हैं-उसे","सुंदर-बनाएगी-तू"]·ID["kamu-mempercantik-diri","mereka-memperindahnya"]·IT["[ייפהו]","[תתיפי]"]·jav["panjenengan-ngayu","piyambakipun-ngias-piyambakipun"]·KO["그것을-꾸미고","아름답게-하려는가"]·PT["embelezam-no","embelezas-te"]·RU["украшаешься","украшают-его"]·ES["lo-embellecen","te-embelleces"]·SW["unajipamba","wanaupamba"]·TR["güzelleştirirler","güzelleştiriyorsun"]·urd["خوبصورت-بنے-گی","سجاتے-ہیں-اُسے"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† [יָפָה] vb. be fair, beautiful (NH id. Pi. and deriv.; Aramaic Aph. ܐܰܘܦܺܝ is suffice, finish, fail; cf. Aramaic ܦܶܐܐ (PS 3015) beautiful, fit, Nö§ 172 C. Anm. G H [offmann] LCB 1882, 321; Arabic وَفَى fulfil, perform; Ethiopic አወፈየ: II. 2, give (entirely) over to, into power of, Di 949)— Qal Pf. יָפִיתְ Ct 7:7; יָפוּ 4:10; 7:2; Impf. 2 fs. וַתִּ֫יפִי Kö Lgb. i. 581) Ez 16:13; 3 ms. apoc.…