אָפַף ʼâphaph — to surround
Translated in the KJV as compass.
a primitive root; to surround.
ʼâphaph in each stem
Qal (Pa'al)
Simple · active — the plain action; the subject does it
Perfect (qatal) 5
אֲפָפֻ֖נִי 2Sam 22:5 Perfect (qatal), 3rd person common plural
When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid;
אֲפָפ֥וּנִי Ps 18:5 Perfect (qatal), 3rd person common plural
The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.
אָפְפ֥וּ Ps 40:13 Perfect (qatal), 3rd person common plural
Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me: O Lord, make haste to help me.
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 ›