נָטַף nâṭaph — to ooze, i.e. distil gradually
Translated in the KJV as drop, prophesy.
a primitive root; to ooze, i.e. distil gradually; by implication, to fall in drops; figuratively, to speak by inspiration.
nâṭaph in each stem
Qal (Pa'al)
Perfect (qatal) 4Imperfect (yiqtol) 4Participle (active) 1
Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water.
After my words they spake not again; and my speech dropped upon them.
Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary.
Hiph'il
Imperfect (yiqtol) 4Imperative 2Perfect (qatal) 1Jussive 1Participle (active) 1
Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel,
And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord God.
Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac.
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 ›