H3719 H3719
to stretch out hungrily, long for with hunger
This verb appears to mean stretching out hungrily or desiring with hunger, appearing in Ezekiel 17:7 in the parable of two eagles and the vine. The text describes the vine stretching its roots hungrily toward one of the eagles, parallel to 'sending out its branches toward him.' However, the text is difficult and may be corrupt, with some questioning whether this is the correct reading. The verb is an Aramaic loan-word related to being hungry, suggesting the vine's roots reached out with something like hunger or desperate need toward the new source of water.
Senses
1. sense 1 — A verb describing hungry stretching or yearning movement, used metaphorically of a vine's roots in Ezekiel's allegory. The Spanish 'dobló' (bent, turned) takes a different approach, perhaps reflecting textual uncertainty. The context of the allegory—representing Judah's political shift from Babylon to Egypt—gives the image of roots reaching hungrily toward a new source emotional and political freight. The vocabulary of hunger applied to botanical behavior creates a vivid picture of desperate reorientation seeking survival. 1×
AR["ثَنَتْ"]·ben["বাঁকাল"]·DE["[כפנה]"]·EN["bent"]·FR["épine"]·heb["כפנה"]·HI["मोड़ी"]·ID["membengkokkan"]·IT["[כפנה]"]·jav["minger"]·KO["굽혔다"]·PT["curvou"]·RU["погнула"]·ES["dobló"]·SW["ulielekeza"]·TR["bükülmüş"]·urd["موڑی"]
Related Senses
H7200 1. Qal: to see, perceive (1257×)G4771 2. you (singular address) (1077×)H8085 1. Qal: hear, perceive aurally (921×)H0859a 1. you (2nd person masculine singular pronoun) (743×)H0398 1. eat (consume food) (697×)H4191 1. die (Qal: natural/general death) (645×)G3708 1. see, perceive visually (419×)G0191 1. hear, perceive sound (360×)H???? 3. (352×)G3708 2. behold, look (exclamatory) (256×)H7272 1. foot (body part) (236×)H8354 1. drink, consume liquid (209×)H3205 1. Qal active: bear/give birth (female subject) (204×)H3205 2. Qal active: beget/father (male subject) (198×)H2421 1. Qal: live, be alive (177×)H8085 2. Qal: listen, heed, pay attention (172×)H2416a 1. alive, living (state/attribute) (146×)H2416e 1. life, lifespan, lifetime (145×)G2198 1. be alive, have life (133×)H8193 1. lip, lips (body part) (123×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† [כָּפַן] vb. be hungry, hunger, perhaps also hungrily desire (Aramaic loan-word; cf. Aramaic כְּפֵין, כְּפַן, ܟܦܶܢ be hungry; Arabic كَفَنَ is spin wool, wrap a corpse in the shroud);—only Qal Pf. 3 fs. כָּֽפְנָה עַל Ez 17:7 (si vera l.) this vine stretched its roots hungrily toward (‖ שִׁלְּחָה לְ).