עָלַף ʻâlaph — to veil or cover
Translated in the KJV as faint, overlaid, wrap self.
a primitive root; to veil or cover; figuratively, to be languid.
ʻâlaph in each stem
Hitpa'el
Wayyiqtol 2Imperfect (yiqtol) 1
And she put her widow’s garments off from her, and covered her with a vail, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife.
In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.
And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
Pu'al
Participle (passive) 1Perfect (qatal) 1
His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.
Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as a wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of the Lord, the rebuke of thy God.
What the stems mean
A Hebrew verb is its root letters set into a pattern. The pattern — the binyan — is the grammar's way of saying three things at once: whether the action is simple, intensive or causative, and whether its subject is active, passive or reflexive. That is why one Hebrew word can need six English ones. All seven binyanim, explained ›