חָפָא châphâʼ — properly, to cover, i.e. (in a sinister sense) to act covertly
Translated in the KJV as do secretly.
an orthographical variation of H2645; properly, to cover, i.e. (in a sinister sense) to act covertly.
châphâʼ in each stem
Pi'el
Intensive · active — the action intensified, repeated or brought about; the subject does it
Wayyiqtol 1
וַיְחַפְּא֣וּ 2Kgs 17:9 Wayyiqtol, 3rd person masculine plural
And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the Lord their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
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 ›