נָפַשׁ nâphash — to breathe
Translated in the KJV as refresh selves.
a primitive root; to breathe; passively, to be breathed upon , i.e. (figuratively) refreshed (as if by a current of air).
nâphash in each stem
Niph'al
Wayyiqtol 2Imperfect (yiqtol) 1
Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.
It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
And the king, and all the people that were with him, came weary, and refreshed themselves there.
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 ›