An edge or extremity ; specifically (of a bird or army) a wing , (of a garment or bedclothing) a flap , (of the earth) a quarter , (of a building) a pinnacle
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H3671, kānāp̄, is a feminine Hebrew noun whose concrete range includes a wing and the outer edge, corner, flap, or extremity of something. The same lexeme can name a bird's wing, a cherub's wing, the corner of a garment, an outer reach of the earth, or another projecting edge.
Reader summary
Full entry for כָּנָף (H3671) · Open the biblical lexicon
H3671, kānāp̄, is a feminine Hebrew noun whose concrete range includes a wing and the outer edge, corner, flap, or extremity of something. The same lexeme can name a bird's wing, a cherub's wing, the corner of a garment, an outer reach of the earth, or another projecting edge.
The BSB source-word alignment has 109 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include their wings (11), wings (11), the wings (8), . . . (7), of Your wings (5).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 1:21. Its strongest book concentrations include Ezekiel (26), 1 Kings (12), Psalms (12), 2 Chronicles (10).
H3671, kānāp̄, is a feminine Hebrew noun whose concrete range includes a wing and the outer edge, corner, flap, or extremity of something. The same lexeme can name a bird's wing, a cherub's wing, the corner of a garment, an outer reach of the earth, or another projecting edge. These uses share the idea of an extending edge, but that observation is a range description, not a hidden spiritual equation.
Teachers must identify the referent before deciding whether English wing, corner, edge, skirt, or end best fits. The noun appears in singular, dual, and plural forms, including construct and suffixed forms; those grammatical forms do not create separate mystical senses. Genesis 1:21 uses the noun in the description of winged birds, establishing the ordinary creaturely sense.
Exodus 19:4 turns eagle wings into an image of the Lord's deliverance and movement of Israel to Himself. Psalms and Ruth likewise speak of refuge under God's wings. The image communicates God's protective welcome in those passages, but it does not make God a bird, promise immunity from suffering, or authorize a pastor, spouse, or institution to claim divine-style covering over another person.
The garment-edge sense matters in covenant and narrative settings. Numbers 15:38 places tassels on the corners of Israel's garments as part of a commanded practice of remembrance. Ruth 2:12 blesses Ruth for taking refuge under the Lord's wings, and Ruth 3:9 uses the same noun when she asks Boaz to spread the corner of his garment over her because he is a kinsman-redeemer.
The book joins divine refuge to responsible human covenant action without making Boaz a replacement for God or supplying a timeless ritual for courtship, marriage, or male control. First Samuel 24 uses the garment corner David cuts from Saul's robe; the edge becomes narrative evidence, but the noun itself does not carry an automatic doctrine of anointing. Elsewhere H3671 can mark geographical extremities, as in the four corners of the earth, and can participate in poetic images such as healing in the sun's wings.
Those phrases gain meaning from prophecy and poetry, not from a universal code attached to the word. H3671 helps readers see how a concrete edge can carry protection, remembrance, reach, evidence, or poetic movement while keeping each claim inside its passage.
H3671 names literal wings, cherubic and poetic wings, garment corners, robe edges, geographical extremities, and projecting edges. The repeated noun can create meaningful literary connections, especially in Ruth, but the meaning of each referent and theological claim depends on its context.
So God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters teemed according to their kinds, and every winged bird after its kind. And God saw that it was good.
The noun participates in the ordinary description of winged birds within creation, establishing a concrete creaturely sense before later poetic uses.
‘You have seen for yourselves what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.
Eagle wings image the Lord's deliverance and His bringing Israel to Himself; the surrounding exodus claim governs the metaphor.
“Speak to the Israelites and tell them that throughout the generations to come they are to make for themselves tassels for the corners of their garments, with a blue cord on each tassel.
Garment corners provide the appointed location for tassels within Israel's commanded practice of remembrance; the corner itself is not a talisman.
May the Lord repay your work, and may you receive a rich reward from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have taken refuge.”
Boaz blesses Ruth as one who has sought refuge under the Lord's wings, placing her welcome within the Lord's protective care.
“Who are you?” he asked. “I am your servant Ruth,” she replied. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, for you are a kinsman-redeemer.”
Ruth uses the same noun for Boaz's garment corner while naming his redeemer responsibility. The book connects divine refuge and accountable human action without equating Boaz with God.
So David’s men said to him, “This is the day about which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do with him as you wish.’” Then David crept up and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
David cuts the robe's corner as a concrete act within the encounter; its evidentiary and royal significance comes from the following narrative, not from an automatic meaning in the noun.
He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; He will collect the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
The plural names the earth's extremities within a promise of gathering the scattered, not a claim about the earth's physical geometry.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Extremity or protective edge; metaphorically divine protection ("shadow of your wings") and vulnerable exposure.
Extremity or protective edge; metaphorically divine protection ("shadow of your wings") and vulnerable exposure.
an edge or extremity; specifically (of a bird or army) a wing, (of a garment or bedclothing) a flap, (of the earth) a quarter, (of a building) a pinnacle BDB: wing Usage: bird, border, corner, end, feather(-ed), × flying, (one an-) other, overspreading, × quarters, skirt, × sort, uttermost part, wing(-ed).
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 111 lexical occurrence verses.
כָּנָף is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Ruth 2:12 and 3:9 give H3671 an especially rich but carefully bounded teaching doorway. Boaz first blesses Ruth as one who has sought refuge under the Lord's wings. Later Ruth asks Boaz to spread the corner, or wing, of his garment over her because he is a kinsman-redeemer. The repeated noun lets the narrative join divine refuge to responsible human action. Boaz does not become God, and Ruth does not surrender her agency; she names his covenant responsibility, and the story tests his response through lawful, public redemption.
Elsewhere the same noun can mean a literal bird's wing, a garment corner bearing tassels, a robe edge cut as evidence, a geographical extremity, or a poetic wing. Context, not an imagined secret essence, determines the sense. Teachers can speak of God's shelter and the human practices that embody faithful care while refusing authoritarian covering language, romanticized possession, talismanic garment claims, or promises that every appeal for refuge will remove danger immediately.
Ruth.2.12
H3671 is a feminine noun with singular, dual, plural, construct, and pronominally suffixed forms. Its SBL Academic citation form is kānāp̄; the final pe is spirantized in the pointed spelling and the attested forms. English wing, corner, edge, fold, skirt, or extremity must follow the referent.
Jesus' lament in Matthew 23:37 uses Greek G4420 for a hen gathering chicks under her wings, continuing the canonical refuge image. Revelation also uses Greek wing language. These are thematic continuities, not proof that H3671 and G4420 are interchangeable or that every wing passage makes the same claim.