To fall , in a great variety of applications (intransitive or causative, literal or figurative)
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נָפַל (naphal) is the ordinary Hebrew verb for falling, but its uses extend well beyond an accidental loss of balance. Cain's face falls in Genesis 4:5-6, Abraham falls on his face in Genesis 17:3, Joseph's brothers fall before him in Genesis 44:14, and battle narratives use the verb for those who fall slain.
Reader summary
Full entry for נָפַל (H5307) · Open the biblical lexicon
נָפַל (naphal) is the ordinary Hebrew verb for falling, but its uses extend well beyond an accidental loss of balance. Cain's face falls in Genesis 4:5-6, Abraham falls on his face in Genesis 17:3, Joseph's brothers fall before him in Genesis 44:14, and battle narratives use the verb for those who fall slain.
The BSB source-word alignment has 434 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include fell (42), will fall (40), fall (15), falls (15), have fallen (12).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 2:21. Its strongest book concentrations include Ezekiel (54), Jeremiah (45), 2 Samuel (30), Psalms (29).
This entry includes 3 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
נָפַל (naphal) is the ordinary Hebrew verb for falling, but its uses extend well beyond an accidental loss of balance. Cain's face falls in Genesis 4:5-6, Abraham falls on his face in Genesis 17:3, Joseph's brothers fall before him in Genesis 44:14, and battle narratives use the verb for those who fall slain. Some constructions can describe falling upon or attacking, while other contexts concern lots or events that fall to someone. The surrounding words determine whether the fall expresses posture, defeat, death, emotion, assignment, or assault.
Proverbs 24:16 says a righteous person may fall seven times and rise, whereas the wicked stumble in calamity. In this wisdom context, the fall should not be reduced to repeated moral failure or used as permission to continue sinning. Psalm 37:24 says that though the righteous person falls, he is not cast headlong because the Lord supports his hand. Micah 7:8 speaks defiantly from darkness: when the speaker falls, the speaker will rise because the Lord will be light. Together these passages sustain hope without promising instant recovery or freedom from serious consequences.
Falling prostrate can express fear, grief, petition, or reverence. Joshua 5:14 falls facedown before the commander of the Lord's army and asks for instruction; Numbers 14:5 says Moses and Aaron fall before the assembly during crisis. Isaiah 14:12 uses the verb in a taunt against the king of Babylon, whose proud ascent ends in a fall from heaven. Ezekiel 11:5 says the Spirit of the Lord fell upon the prophet and directed him to speak. These uses should remain distinct: prostration is not always worship, prophetic compulsion is not a required physical experience, and Isaiah's taunt is not by itself a full narrative of Satan's origin.
Naphal describes downward movement and several conventional extensions: a face falling, prostration, defeat or death, calamity, assignment, and falling upon someone. The same physical image can serve very different narrative and theological purposes.
Cain's face falls as anger rises after his offering is not regarded, and God addresses him before the murder of Abel.
Abram falls on his face as God speaks covenant promises to him.
Joshua falls facedown before the commander of the Lord's army and asks what his lord says to the servant.
The righteous person may fall but is not abandoned because the Lord supports his hand.
The righteous rise after repeated falls, while the wicked stumble when calamity comes.
A taunt against the king of Babylon depicts the proud ruler as fallen from heaven and cut down to earth.
The Spirit of the Lord falls upon Ezekiel and commands a prophetic message.
The speaker acknowledges falling and darkness while confessing confidence in rising and in the Lord's light.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Hebrew word. to fall , in a great variety of applications (intransitive or causative, literal or figurative)
How the stem changes the meaning of this verb across the biblical text.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
נָפַל is a primitive root - no further derivation.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Naphal helps a congregation distinguish many kinds of falling. Cain's fallen face is an early warning within a story of anger and violence, but negative emotion alone is not murder. Prostration can show reverence, fear, grief, or urgent appeal, so bodily posture must be interpreted rather than romanticized. Proverbs 24 and Psalm 37 offer durable hope: the righteous can fall, yet the Lord's support makes recovery possible.
The wisdom saying does not normalize repeated sin, and Micah's confession does not promise immediate restoration from every loss. Isaiah 14 warns that prideful ascent ends in humiliation, while its immediate target remains the king of Babylon. A careful sermon can call proud people to humility, fallen people to repentance and hope, and communities to support those getting up without turning a word study into a guarantee of effortless resilience.
Prov.24.16
The base image is falling, but idiom and syntax can yield fallen countenance, prostration, battlefield death, assigned lot, calamity, or attack. A single English gloss cannot represent every occurrence.
First Corinthians 10:12 warns those who think they stand to take heed lest they fall. Revelation takes up the fall of Babylon, and prostration recurs in scenes of worship. Luke 10:18 uses falling-from-heaven imagery for Satan, but that statement does not make Isaiah 14 a detailed biography of Satan apart from its Babylonian context.
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