What does צָפַן (tsaphan) mean in the Bible?
Hiding or storing something receives its significance from what is kept and why. Moses' mother hides her infant for three months before she can no longer conceal him and places him in a basket.
Hebrew · H6845
צָפַן
Hiding or storing something receives its significance from what is kept and why. Moses' mother hides her infant for three months before she can no longer conceal him and places him in a basket.
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צָפַןH6845
Pronunciationtsaphan
What does צָפַן (tsaphan) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for צָפַן (H6845) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H6845?
The BSB source-word alignment has 31 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [is] passed (1), [is] stored up (1), and hidden them (1), and hide (1), and treasure (1).
Where does צָפַן (tsaphan) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Exodus 2:2. Its strongest book concentrations include Proverbs (9), Job (8), Psalms (7), Exodus (2).
What This Word Actually Means
Hiding or storing something receives its significance from what is kept and why. Moses' mother hides her infant for three months before she can no longer conceal him and places him in a basket. The psalmist hides God's word in the heart with the stated purpose of not sinning, while Proverbs calls for receiving and keeping instruction. The same Hebrew verb can occur with criminals lying in wait for innocent blood, whose ambush is then described as directed against their own lives.
Psalm 31 speaks of goodness laid up and people sheltered from schemes and accusing tongues. A shared act of keeping out of view is therefore not uniformly protective or harmful. Name the stored object, protected person or intended victim. Treasuring instruction differs from trapping another person, and protection must not become permission to silence disclosure or avoid accountability for wrongdoing.
How the Bible Uses It
The protected infant, treasured instruction, hidden goodness, sheltered people and violent ambush provide different objects and purposes. The passage's actor and intended outcome determine the evaluation.
- Exod.2.2
And she conceived and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him for three months.
The mother hides her son for three months, and the next verse marks the limit of concealment before her basket action, preserving practical vulnerability and change.
- Ps.119.11
I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.
The speaker hides God's word in the heart so as not to sin, alongside seeking and asking to be taught, rather than claiming automatic sinlessness through memory.
- Prov.1.11
If they say, “Come along, let us lie in wait for blood, let us ambush the innocent without cause,
The enticing speakers propose an ambush of innocent people, and verses 18-19 reverse the danger onto their own lives, explicitly condemning the violent plan.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It[is] passed1×Proverbs 13:22
[is] stored up1×Hosea 13:12
and hidden them1×Joshua 2:4
and hide1×Proverbs 2:1
and treasure1×Proverbs 7:1
are reserved1×Job 15:20
concealed1×Jeremiah 16:17
for his treasures1×Job 20:26
He stores up1×Proverbs 2:7
He will hide me1×Psalms 27:5
hide him1×Exodus 2:3
I have hidden1×Psalms 119:11
I have treasured1×Job 23:12
is like holding back1×Proverbs 27:16
lays up1×Job 21:19
let us ambush1×Proverbs 1:11
My treasured place1×Ezekiel 7:22
reserve1×Job 24:1
restraining her1×Proverbs 27:16
she hid him1×Exodus 2:2
store up1×Proverbs 10:14
that I have treasured up1×Song Of Solomon 7:13
they ambush1×Proverbs 1:18
they lurk1×Psalms 56:6
those You cherish1×Psalms 83:3
watch in stealth1×Psalms 10:8
Yet You concealed1×Job 10:13
You conceal them1×Psalms 31:20
You have closed1×Job 17:4
You have laid up1×Psalms 31:19
You would hide me1×Job 14:13
Show sample aligned rows
Exodus 2:2וַֽתִּצְפְּנֵ֖הוּtoshe hid himConjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular | third person masculine singularExodus 2:3הַצְּפִינוֹ֒tohide himVerb - Hifil - Infinitive construct | third person masculine singularJoshua 2:4וַֽתִּצְפְּנ֑וֹtoand hidden themConjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular | third person masculine singularJob 10:13צָפַ֣נְתָּtoYet You concealedVerb - Qal - Perfect - second person masculine singularJob 14:13תַּצְפִּנֵ֗נִיtoYou would hide meVerb - Hifil - Imperfect - second person masculine singular | first person common singularJob 15:20נִצְפְּנ֥וּtoare reservedVerb - Nifal - Perfect - third person common pluralJob 17:4צָפַ֣נְתָּtoYou have closedVerb - Qal - Perfect - second person masculine singularJob 20:26לִצְפּ֫וּנָ֥יוtofor his treasuresPreposition-l | Verb - Qal - QalPassParticiple - masculine plural construct | third person masculine singularJob 21:19יִצְפֹּן־tolays upVerb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singularJob 23:12צָפַ֥נְתִּיtoI have treasuredVerb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowExodus 2:2
Aligned rows31
Books represented9
Exodus2Joshua1Job8Psalms7Proverbs9Song Of Solomon1Jeremiah1Ezekiel1Hosea1
Source forms
צָפַ֣נְתָּ2xṣā·p̄an·tāJob 10:13, Job 17:4
צָפַ֥נְתִּי2xṣā·p̄an·tîJob 23:12, Song Of Solomon 7:13
תִּצְפֹּ֥ן2xtiṣ·pōnProverbs 2:1, Proverbs 7:1
הַצְּפִינוֹ֒1xhaṣ·ṣə·p̄î·nōwExodus 2:3
וְצָפ֥וּן1xwə·ṣā·p̄ūnProverbs 13:22
וְצָפַן1xwə·ṣå̄·p̄anProverbs 2:7
וַֽתִּצְפְּנֵ֖הוּ1xwat·tiṣ·pə·nê·hūExodus 2:2
וַֽתִּצְפְּנ֑וֹ1xwat·tiṣ·pə·nōwJoshua 2:4
Parsing patterns
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural3xPsalms 10:8, Proverbs 1:18, Proverbs 10:14
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular3xJob 23:12, Psalms 119:11, Song Of Solomon 7:13
Verb - Qal - Perfect - second person masculine singular3xJob 10:13, Job 17:4, Psalms 31:19
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular | third person masculine singular2xExodus 2:2, Joshua 2:4
Verb - Nifal - Perfect - third person common plural2xJob 15:20, Job 24:1
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular2xProverbs 2:1, Proverbs 7:1
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular2xJob 21:19, Proverbs 2:7
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - QalPassParticiple - masculine singular1xProverbs 13:22
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Protect vulnerable people without suppressing truthful reports or accountable examination of harm.
- Encourage learning and remembrance without shaming difficulty or promising that retention eliminates every failure.
Avoid claiming...
- Every secret action is protective, or every hidden person is morally suspect.
- The verb guarantees sinlessness through memorization or grants private spiritual control.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Concealment with ambiguous moral valence: protective secrecy versus malicious lurking or hoarding.
Strong'sH6845
Lexical occurrences34 versesWord forms3 forms21 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study linkProverbs 10:14Source Gloss
to hide (by covering over); by implication, to hoard or reserve ; figuratively to deny ; specifically (favorably) to protect , (unfavorably) to lurk
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Concealment with ambiguous moral valence: protective secrecy versus malicious lurking or hoarding.
to hide (by covering over); by implication, to hoard or reserve; figuratively to deny; specifically (favorably) to protect, (unfavorably) to lurk BDB: hide Usage: esteem, hide(-den one, self), lay up, lurk (be set) privily, (keep) secret(-ly, place).
Grammatical Forms
How the stem changes the meaning of this verb across the biblical text.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Form groups3Aligned forms21
Qalbasic active stem — the word in its most common, direct sense17×
ImperfectProv 1:18 · Prov 10:14 · Ps 10:8 · Ps 56:7 · Job 21:19 · Prov 2:7 · Prov 2:1 · Prov 7:18×
PerfectJob 10:13 · Job 17:4 · Ps 31:20 · Job 23:12 · Ps 119:11 · Song 7:14 · Prov 27:167×
Participle passiveHos 13:121×
CohortativeProv 1:111×
Niphalpassive or reflexive — the subject receives or experiences the action3×
PerfectJob 15:20 · Job 24:1 · Jer 16:173×
Hiphilcausative active — the subject causes someone else to perform the action1×
ImperfectPs 56:71×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Old Testament Witnesses
to treasure, store, or preserve carefully
You have stored up; you have hidden; you have treasured; implies a purposeful preparation for future need
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 34 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
צָפַן is a primitive root - no further derivation.
Why This Word Matters
The term highlights wisdom's practice of preserving knowledge thoughtfully for proper use.Proverbs 10:14
Canonical Themes
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Keeping something hidden can preserve life, retain instruction or prepare harm. Exodus records the mother's months of concealment and then the point where that arrangement cannot continue. Psalm 119 combines inwardly kept words with seeking, teaching and the purpose of avoiding sin. Proverbs supplies the opposite purpose when speakers invite an ambush of the innocent, then shows the destructive end of their plan.
Psalm 31 describes goodness and shelter in the midst of hostile schemes and accusing speech. These passages require the teacher to attend to object and outcome rather than praising secrecy as a virtue in itself. Encourage attentive reception of instruction and practical protection, while refusing concealment that serves wrongdoing. The word alone does not establish a complete safety strategy, promise that memorization removes every failure, or authorize an institution to hide reports that need accountable attention.
Anchor passage
Ps.119.11
Doctrinal connections
- Exodus 2:1-4 records the hidden infant, the limit of concealment, the prepared basket and the sister watching, preserving multiple practical actions in the protection account.
- Psalm 119:9-13 joins hidden words, wholehearted seeking, a request for teaching and spoken judgments, locating inward retention within responsive learning.
- Proverbs 1:10-13 names the proposed ambush of the innocent and commands the hearer not to yield to the enticement.
- Proverbs 1:16-19 describes the violent plan as an ambush of the planners' own lives, supplying the wisdom passage's explicit condemnation.
- Psalm 31:19-22 speaks of laid-up goodness and shelter from schemes and accusing tongues while preserving the speaker's alarm and heard plea.
- Proverbs 2:1-9 pairs keeping commands with seeking understanding and names the Lord's stored sound wisdom, maintaining instruction and justice as the stated aim.
The licensed Hebrew range includes hiding, laying up, protecting and lurking. The selected witnesses distinguish these through the objects and purposes named; a stored word, sheltered person and concealed ambush are not interchangeable moral actions.
From Old to New Testament
Luke 2:17-20 describes Mary treasuring the reported things and pondering them in her heart while the shepherds return praising God. This separate Greek account is not the Hebrew verb, but it offers a particular example of attentive inward reception. It should be read alongside the psalmist's retained word without claiming that quiet reflection grants private revelation authority or excludes questions and further learning.