H4046 — מַגֵּפָה (maggephah)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H4046
Original: מַגֵּפָה
Transliteration: maggephah
Pronunciation: mag-gay-faw
Part of Speech: Feminine noun
Root: נָגַף (nagaph, H5062) — to push, gore, defeat, strike, plague
Occurrences: 25 unique verses (29 tokens) across 9 books
First Occurrence: Exo 9:14 — "For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From H5062 (nagaph); a pestilence; by analogy, defeat: — (be) plague(-d), slaughter, stroke.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
the plague	11	44%
plague	3	12%
in the plague	2	8%
slaughter	2	8%
my plagues	1	4%
a plague	1	4%
a slaughter	1	4%
by the plague	1	4%
with a stroke	1	4%
plagued (verbal use)	1	4%
Other	3	12%

Overall: ~84% rendered as "plague" in various forms; ~12% as "slaughter"; one as "stroke."

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Zechariah	3	1.4
Numbers	9	0.7
2 Samuel	4	0.6
1 Chronicles	2	0.2
1 Samuel	2	0.2
Exodus	1	0.1
Psalms	2	0.1
2 Chronicles	1	0.1
Ezekiel	1	0.1

The word clusters heavily in Numbers (9 of 25 verses, 36%), reflecting the wilderness plague narratives. The 2 Samuel occurrences center on David's census plague and the battle of the forest of Ephraim. Zechariah's three uses are all in chapter 14's eschatological scenario. Absent from the Prophets except Ezekiel (once) and Zechariah — not found in Isaiah, Jeremiah, or the Minor Prophets outside Zechariah.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Divine Judgment Plague — Mass Mortality Sent by God¶

The dominant use: a lethal epidemic or mass death that YHWH sends against Israel or the nations as punishment for sin. - Num 16:48 — "And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed." - Num 16:49 — "Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred" - Num 25:8–9 — "So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand." - 2 Sam 24:21 — "To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the LORD, that the plague may be stayed from the people."

2. Plague Stayed / Restrained Through Intercession¶

A recurring sub-pattern: the maggephah is "stayed" (H6113, atsar) by priestly or royal intercession — Aaron with the censer (Num 16:48), Phinehas with the spear (Num 25:8), David with the altar (2 Sam 24:25). - Num 16:48, 50 — Aaron stood between the dead and the living; the plague was stayed. - Psa 106:30 — "Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and so the plague was stayed." - 2 Sam 24:25 — "So the LORD was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel."

3. Threatened / Announced Plague¶

God announces the maggephah before it falls, as warning or consequence. - Exo 9:14 — "For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart" - 2 Chr 21:14 — "Behold, with a great plague will the LORD smite thy people" - Num 31:16 — "there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD" (retrospective)

4. Military Slaughter / Defeat¶

The word extends to large-scale battlefield casualties — defeat as divine striking. - 1 Sam 4:17 — "there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also... are dead" - 2 Sam 18:7 — "there was there a great slaughter that day of twenty thousand men" - 2 Sam 17:9 — "There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom"

5. Eschatological Plague¶

Zechariah 14 uses maggephah for the plague YHWH will send on the nations that fight against Jerusalem in the last days. - Zec 14:12 — "this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem" - Zec 14:15 — "so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass" - Zec 14:18 — "there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen"

6. Personal Stroke / Sudden Loss¶

One occurrence applies to personal bereavement rather than mass death. - Eze 24:16 — "I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke" (Ezekiel's wife)

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
עָצָר (atsar)	H6113	7x (28%)	"the plague was stayed" — restraining the plague through intercession
עַם (am)	H5971	9x (36%)	"plague among the people" — the plague strikes the people collectively
יְהוָה (YHWH)	H3068	10x (40%)	YHWH as agent: sends, stays, or threatens the plague
מוּת (muth)	H4191	5x (20%)	"those that died in the plague" — mortality counts
נָגַף (nagaph)	H5062	4x (16%)	Root verb co-occurring with its derivative noun for emphasis
דָּוִד (David)	H1732	5x (20%)	David's census plague narrative (2 Sam 24; 1 Chr 21)
גָּדוֹל (gadol)	H1419	3x (12%)	"a great slaughter / great plague" — intensifier

Word Family / Cognates¶

H5062 נָגַף (nagaph) — root verb: to push, gore, strike, plague (49 occurrences). The maggephah is the result-noun of this action.
H5063 נֶגֶף (negeph) — masculine noun from same root: a trip, stumbling, infliction of disease (7 occurrences). Narrower: focused on "stumbling" and the striking-event itself.

Synonyms¶

No synonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for H4046.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for H4046.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
נֶגַע (nega)	H5061	plague (37v for nega vs. 25v for maggephah)	nega = a blow/mark, especially skin disease (Levitical leprosy); maggephah = mass lethal pestilence or slaughter
נֶגֶף (negeph)	H5063	plague (3v for negeph)	negeph = the act/event of striking; maggephah = the resulting pestilence. Both from nagaph, but negeph is rarer.
מַכָּה (makkah)	H4347	plague, slaughter (48v for makkah)	makkah = broader: any wound, blow, or carnage; maggephah = more specifically divine pestilence. Makkah used for battle wounds and national punishments.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
πληγή (plege) G4127	9	6.93	Primary equivalent — "stroke, wound, plague"
πτῶσις (ptosis) G4431	4	7.74	"fall, downfall" — used when maggephah = military defeat
θνήσκω (thnesko) G2348	4	5.89	"to die" — LXX paraphrases "those who died in the plague"
κοπάζω (kopazo) G2869	3	7.02	"to cease" — LXX renders "the plague was stayed"

The primary LXX equivalent is G4127 πληγή (plege), which is also the dominant NT word for divine plagues (especially in Revelation).

Semantic Domains¶

UBS / Relationship Domains¶

[002001001024] Impact — search_relationships.py places maggephah in the strike/blow field, alongside neighbors such as H76 אֲבַעְבֻּעָה, H402 אָכְלָה, H779 ארר, H816 אשׁם, H919 בֶּדֶק, and H933 בֹּהַק.