H1612 — גֶּפֶן (gephen)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H1612
Original: גֶּפֶן
Transliteration: gephen
Pronunciation: gheh'-fen
Part of Speech: Masculine noun
Root: From an unused root meaning to bend / to twine
Occurrences: 53 unique verses (63 tokens) across 19 books
First Occurrence (gephen): Gen 40:9 — "In my dream, behold, a vine [gephen] was before me" (chief butler's dream)
Hapax Legomenon: No

Note on "first vine" terminology: Gen 9:20 — Noah's planting after the Flood — uses כֶּרֶם (kerem, H3754, "vineyard"), not gephen. The first occurrence of gephen proper is the butler's dream in Gen 40:9. Kerem = the planted vineyard (collective cultivated plot); gephen = the vine-plant itself (individual twining plant). See Easily Confused Words below.

Lexicon Definition¶

gheh'-fen; from an unused root meaning to bend; a vine (as twining), especially the grape:—vine, tree.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
vine(s) (various forms: the vine, a vine, his vine, their vines, my vine, etc.)	~50	~94%
tree (Num 6:4 — "vine tree")	1	~2%
Other (articular / prepositional fragments in KJV parsing)	remainder	—

Effectively one-word semantic range: "vine" (Vitis vinifera, the grape-producing plant). The single outlier "tree" is the Nazirite phrase "vine tree" (gephen ha-yayin), still denoting the grape plant.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Joel	3	4.1
Haggai	1	2.6
Malachi	1	1.8
Habakkuk	1	1.8
Hosea	3	1.5
Micah	1	1.0
Zechariah	2	0.9
Ezekiel	6	0.5
Judges	3	0.5
Isaiah	7	0.5
Jeremiah	5	0.4
2 Kings	2	0.3
Genesis	3	0.2
Psalms	5	0.2
Numbers	2	0.2
Deuteronomy	2	0.2
1 Kings	1	0.1
Job	1	0.1
Song of Songs	4	—

Pattern: Heavy concentration in the Twelve Prophets (especially the agricultural judgment/restoration prophets Joel, Hosea, Micah, Habakkuk, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi — together ~25% of all uses in a small corpus). Strong presence in Isaiah (7x) and Ezekiel (6x) where it carries metaphorical weight for Israel. The word is not a Pentateuch-dominated term despite vineyard culture being foundational — only 7 total occurrences in Genesis–Deuteronomy. Most concentrated usage is prophetic/poetic.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Literal Grape Vine (agricultural / botanical)¶

Gen 40:9–10 — chief butler's dream: a vine with three branches budding and bringing forth clusters
Num 6:4 — Nazirite law: "he shall eat nothing that is made of the vine tree (gephen ha-yayin)"
Deut 8:8 — the Land described as "a land of wheat, and barley, and vines (gephen), and fig trees"
2 Kings 4:39 — a "wild vine" (gephen sadeh, vine of the field) found while gathering herbs

2. Covenant Blessing Formula: "every man under his vine and fig tree"¶

Canonical Shalom formula for peace and prosperity under YHWH's rule. - 1 Kings 4:25 — Solomonic peak: "Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree" - Micah 4:4 — eschatological Zion: "they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid" - Zech 3:10 — "In that day... shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree" - 2 Kings 18:31 / Isa 36:16 — Rabshakeh's counterfeit offer ("eat every one of his own vine") — an Assyrian parody of the formula

3. Israel as the Vine (national metaphor)¶

Ps 80:8, 14 — "Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt… return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven… and visit this vine"
Jer 2:21 — "I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?"
Hos 10:1 — "Israel is an empty vine (gephen boqeq), he bringeth forth fruit unto himself"
Ezek 17:6–8 — allegory of the eagle and the vine (Zedekiah's covenant-breaking)
Ezek 19:10 — lament: "Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters"

4. Judgment / Withering of the Vine¶

Failure of the gephen signals covenant curse and Day-of-the-Lord disaster. - Isa 24:7 — "The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth" (global apocalyptic judgment) - Isa 34:4 — "all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine" (cosmic dissolution) - Jer 8:13 — "there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree" - Hos 2:12 — "I will destroy her vines and her fig trees" - Joel 1:7, 12 — "He hath laid my vine waste… the vine is dried up" - Hab 3:17 — "neither shall fruit be in the vines"

5. Eschatological Restoration of the Vine¶

The vine's renewed fruitfulness marks the age to come. - Joel 2:22 — "Be not afraid… for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength" - Hag 2:19 — "from this day will I bless you… the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree" - Zech 8:12 — "the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit" - Mal 3:11 — "neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field" - Hos 14:7 — "they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine"

6. Deviant / Alien Vine (the false vine)¶

Deut 32:32 — "their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall"
Jer 2:21 — "the degenerate plant of a strange vine"
Hos 10:1 — "empty vine" (boqeq, emptying itself)

7. Judah's Messianic Vine (Gen 49)¶

Gen 49:11 — Shiloh oracle: "Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine"

8. Judges 9 Fable¶

Jdg 9:12–13 — Jotham's parable: the trees offer the kingship to the vine, which replies, "Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man…?"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
תְּאֵן (tᵉʼên) — fig tree	H8384	18x (34%)	"vine and fig tree" — paired shalom/judgment formula
עֵץ (ʻêts) — tree	H6086	8x (15%)	"vine tree" / vine among forest trees
רִמּוֹן (rimmôwn) — pomegranate	H7416	6x (11%)	triadic fruit list (vine/fig/pomegranate)
זַיִת (zayith) — olive	H2132	5x (9%)	quartet fruit formula (vine/fig/pomegranate/olive)
שָׂדֶה (sâdeh) — field	H7704	7x (13%)	"vine of the field" / wild vine / field agriculture
אָכַל (ʼâkal) — eat	H398	7x (13%)	eating of the vine's fruit (Nazirite / covenant meals)
נָתַן (nâthan) — give	H5414	7x (13%)	"the vine shall give her fruit" (blessing)
מַיִם (mayim) — waters	H4325	5x (9%)	vine "planted by great waters" (Ezek 17, 19)

Key collocation: "vine and fig tree" (gephen u-tᵉʼenah) — this pairing is the single most stable formula, appearing in covenant-blessing (1 Kings 4:25; Mic 4:4; Zech 3:10), counterfeit-offer (2 Kings 18:31 / Isa 36:16), judgment (Jer 8:13; Hos 2:12; Joel 1:7, 12), and restoration (Joel 2:22; Hag 2:19) contexts.

Word Family / Conceptual Cluster¶

H3754 כֶּרֶם (kerem) — vineyard (the cultivated plot); used in Gen 9:20 (Noah) and Isa 5:1ff (Song of the Vineyard)
H8321 שׂוֹרֵק (soreq) — choice red vine (Isa 5:2; Jer 2:21)
H3196 יַיִן (yayin) — wine (product of the vine)
H8492 תִּירוֹשׁ (tirosh) — new wine / must
H6025 עֵנָב (ʻenav) — grape
H811 אֶשְׁכּוֹל (ʼeshkol) — cluster of grapes
H2156 זְמוֹרָה (zᵉmowrah) — branch / vine-shoot

Synonyms¶

H8321 שֹׂרֵקָה / שׂוֹרֵק (soreq / soreqah) — choice vine / noble vine; a more specific varietal term within the broader vine field.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms returned by search_relationships.py for H1612.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
כֶּרֶם (kerem)	H3754	both associated with "vine" in English	kerem = vineyard (the planted plot/estate); gephen = the individual vine-plant. Gen 9:20 (Noah plants a kerem) and Isa 5 (Song of the kerem) use kerem, not gephen
שׂוֹרֵק (soreq)	H8321	"choice vine" / noble vine	soreq specifies a named superior varietal; gephen is the generic plant term
יַיִן (yayin)	H3196	sometimes translated "(of the) vine"	yayin = the fermented product (wine); gephen = the source plant
ἄμπελος (ampelos)	G288	NT "vine"	Primary LXX/NT counterpart — see LXX Mapping

Semantic Domains¶

UBS / Relationship Domains¶

[001002004001] Plants — search_relationships.py places gephen squarely in the botanical field, which fits the study's literal vine-plant sense and its agricultural metaphor extensions.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI	Notes
ἄμπελος (ampelos)	G288	46	8.74	Dominant equivalent — "vine" (the plant). Carried directly into NT: John 15:1 "I am the true vine"
συκῆ (sykē)	G4808	15	8.04	"Fig tree" — co-occurs because of the vine-and-fig-tree collocation, not as translation
σταφυλή (staphylē)	G4718	4	6.80	Cluster of grapes
ἐλαία (elaia)	G1636	5	6.62	Olive — co-occurs in fruit quartets
καρπός (karpos)	G2590	7	5.05	Fruit — frequent in "vine giving her fruit" contexts
οἶνος (oinos)	G3631	6	4.05	Wine — the vine's product
ξύλον (xylon)	G3586	8	3.99	Tree/wood — sometimes used for "vine tree"

Primary bridge: H1612 gephen ↔ G288 ampelos (PMI 8.74, 46 co-occurrences). Strong candidate for a cross-testament trace.