צרפת

Hebrew

Etymology

Appears twice in the Hebrew Bible. In the Book of Obadiah next to ספרד, when that word acquired its meaning as Spain, צרפת acquired a meaning of the country bordering Spain, France.

Pronunciation

• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /tsaʁˈfat/
• (Tiberian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /sˤɔrˈfaθ/, /sˤaːrˈfaθ/

• Audio (IL)

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Proper noun

צָרְפַת • (tsar'fát) f

1. (biblical, historical) Sarepta, Zarephath (Phoenician city in modern-day Lebanon)
   • Tanach, 1 Kings 17:9, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     קוּם לֵךְ צָרְפַתָה אֲשֶׁר לְצִידוֹן וְיָשַׁבְתָּ שָׁם הִנֵּה צִוִּיתִי שָׁם אִשָּׁה אַלְמָנָה לְכַלְכְּלֶךָ׃

     kúm lékh tsar'fáta 'asher l'tsidón v'yashavtá shám hiné tsivíti shám 'ishá 'almaná l'khalk'lékha.
     qūm lēḵ ṣārəp̄áṯā ʾăšer ləṣīḏōn wəyāšaḇtā šām hinnē ṣiwwī́ṯī šām ʾiššā ʾalmānā ləḵalkəléḵā.

     ‘Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to sustain thee.’

   • Tanach, Obadiah 1:20, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     וְגָלֻת הַחֵל־הַזֶּה לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר־כְּנַעֲנִים עַד־צָרְפַת וְגָלֻת יְרוּשָׁלִַם אֲשֶׁר בִּסְפָרַד יִרְשׁוּ אֵת עָרֵי הַנֶּגֶב׃

     v'galút hakhél-hazé liv'néi yisra'él 'asher-k'na'aním 'ad-tsar'fát v'galút y'rushaláyim 'ashér bis'farád yir'shú 'ét 'aréi hanégev.
     wḡālūṯ haḥēl-hazze liḇənē yiśrāʾēl ʾăšer-kənaʿănīm ʿaḏ-ṣārəp̄aṯ wəḡālūṯ yərūšāláyim ʾăšer bisəp̄āraḏ yīrəšū ʾēṯ ʿārē hannéḡeḇ.

     And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel, that are among the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath, and the captivity of Jerusalem, that is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the South.

2. (Medieval Hebrew, Modern Hebrew) France (a country in Western Europe)

   Synonym: הרפובליקה הצרפתית

Derived terms

• צרפת המטרופוליטנית
• צָרְפָתִי (tsar'fatí)
• צָרְפָתִית (tsar'fatít)

References

• H6886 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible