H5612 — סֵפֶר (cepher)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H5612
Original: סֵפֶר
Transliteration: cepher
Pronunciation: say'-fer
Part of Speech: Masculine/feminine noun
Root: סָפַר (caphar, H5608) — to inscribe, enumerate, recount
Occurrences: 174 unique verses (194 tokens) across 22 books
First Occurrence: Gen 5:1 — "This is the book (sepher) of the generations of Adam"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

Properly, writing (the art or a document); by implication, a book. Or (feminine) siphra (Psa 56:8), from H5608. KJV renderings: bill, book, evidence, learned, learning, letter, register, scroll.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
book (all forms: the book, a book, in the book, etc.)	132	75.9%
letter/letters	24	13.8%
evidence/evidences	7	4.0%
bill (a bill, the bill)	4	2.3%
scroll (as a scroll)	1	0.6%
register	1	0.6%
learned/learning	3	1.7%
Other (in, of, that)	8	4.6%

Note: "learned" and "learning" (Dan 1:4, 1:17, Isa 29:11–12) reflect the metonymic sense "knowledge gained through books."

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
2 Kings	41	5.7
2 Chronicles	21	2.6
Jeremiah	23	1.7
1 Kings	15	1.8
Esther	11	6.6
Deuteronomy	11	1.1
Isaiah	9	0.7
Nehemiah	9	2.2
Joshua	7	1.1
Daniel	5	1.4
Exodus	4	0.3
Psalms	4	0.2
2 Samuel	3	0.4
Numbers	2	0.2
Job	2	0.2
Genesis	1	0.1
1 Samuel	1	0.1
1 Chronicles	1	0.1
Ezekiel	1	0.1
Ecclesiastes	1	0.5
Nahum	1	2.1
Malachi	1	1.8

Concentration is heaviest in the historical books (2 Kings 5.7/100v, Esther 6.6/100v) due to the formulaic "written in the book of the chronicles" refrain. Jeremiah and Deuteronomy are secondary centers reflecting the "book of the law" and prophetic scroll traditions.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Authoritative Religious Document — "Book of the Law"¶

The Torah scroll as written authority, governing covenant life. - Deu 17:18 — "he shall write him a copy of this law in a book" - Jos 1:8 — "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth" - 2Ki 22:8 — "I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD" - Neh 8:1 — "bring the book of the law of Moses"

2. Royal Annals and Historical Records¶

The formulaic citation of now-lost source documents. - 1Ki 11:41 — "are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon?" - 2Ki 10:34 — "written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel" - 2Ch 20:34 — "written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani" - Est 2:23 — "written in the book of the chronicles before the king" - Est 6:1 — "he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles"

3. Divine Register — God's Book¶

A heavenly record of persons or deeds maintained by God. - Exo 32:32 — "blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book" - Psa 69:28 — "Let them be blotted out of the book of the living" - Psa 139:16 — "in thy book all my members were written" - Mal 3:16 — "a book of remembrance was written before him" - Dan 12:1 — "every one that shall be found written in the book"

4. Prophetic Scroll¶

A written medium for recording and transmitting prophetic oracles. - Isa 29:11 — "the words of a book that is sealed" - Isa 30:8 — "note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come" - Jer 30:2 — "Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book" - Jer 36:2 — "Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words" - Jer 51:60 — "Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon" - Eze 2:9 — "a roll of a book was therein" - Dan 12:4 — "shut up the words, and seal the book"

5. Official Correspondence — Letter¶

A written communication sent between persons, especially royalty. - 2Sa 11:14 — "David wrote a letter to Joab" - 2Ki 5:5–7 — "I will send a letter unto the king of Israel… when the king of Israel had read the letter" - 2Ki 10:1–2 — "Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria" - 1Ki 21:8–9 — "she wrote letters in Ahab's name… she wrote in the letters" - Jer 29:1 — "the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent" - Est 9:20, 25, 30 — "Mordecai wrote… and sent letters"

6. Legal Document — Bill / Deed of Evidence¶

A formal written instrument for legal transactions. - Deu 24:1 — "write her a bill of divorcement" - Isa 50:1 — "Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement?" - Jer 32:10–12 — "I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it… I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch" - Jer 32:44 — "Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them"

7. Genealogical Record¶

Written enrollment of lineage. - Gen 5:1 — "This is the book of the generations of Adam" - Neh 7:5 — "I found a register of the genealogy" - 1Ch 9:1 — "all Israel were reckoned by genealogies… written in the book of the kings of Israel"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
דָּבָר (dabar)	H1697	82x (47%)	"the words of this book"
מֶלֶךְ (melek)	H4428	73x (42%)	"the book of the chronicles of the kings"
יְהֹוָה (YHWH)	H3068	49x (28%)	"the book of the LORD" / "the LORD… in a book"
יוֹם (yowm)	H3117	49x (28%)	"the book of the chronicles" / temporal setting
עָשָׂה (asah)	H6213	44x (25%)	"all that he did… written in the book"
יֶתֶר (yether)	H3499	41x (24%)	"the rest of the acts… written in the book"
קָרָא (qara)	H7121	29x (17%)	"read in the book" / "read the book"
תּוֹרָה (towrah)	H8451	25x (14%)	"the book of the law (towrah)"
שָׁלַח (shalach)	H7971	23x (13%)	"sent letters"

Synonym¶

לוּחַ (luach) H3871 — tablet; a flat writing surface (stone or wood), not a rolled scroll

Word Family / Cognates¶

H5608 סָפַר (caphar) — root verb: to inscribe, enumerate, recount, tell
H5609 סְפַר (cephar) — Aramaic cognate: a book (Dan 7:10, Ezra 4:15, 6:1)
H5610 סְפָר (cephar) — a census, numbering
H5613 סָפֵר (capher) — Aramaic: scribe
H5608a סֹפֵר (sopher) — scribe (participle of H5608)

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
βιβλίον (biblion)	G975	"book"	NT Greek equivalent; scroll or codex
βίβλος (biblos)	G976	"book"	Papyrus plant → book; used for major works (e.g., "book of the generation" Mat 1:1)
אִגֶּרֶת (iggereth)	H107	"letter"	Specifically a missive/epistle; sepher covers letters but also much more
γράμμα (gramma)	G1121	"letter"	Individual character, short document, or learning; narrower than sepher
ἐπιστολή (epistole)	G1992	"letter"	NT letter/epistle; more specific than sepher

Semantic Domain¶

[001002008001014] Scrolls — Other domain members: iggerah (A104), iggereth (H107), gillayown (H1549), dabar (H1697), dikrown (A1799)

[003001005] Names of Documents

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
βιβλίον (biblion) G975	142	34.56	Primary — the standard LXX rendering
γράφω (grapho) G1125	106	28.56	"written in the book" contexts
λοιποί (loipoi) G3062	39	22.36	"the rest of the acts… written in the book" formula
ἀναγινώσκω (anaginosko) G314	26	20.50	"read the book" contexts
βίβλος (biblos) G976	9	15.26	Alternate rendering for major works
νόμος (nomos) G3551	26	12.87	"book of the law" → nomos contexts
σφραγίζω (sphragizo) G4972	7	11.50	"seal the book" contexts
ἀποστάσιον (apostasion) G647	4	11.33	"bill of divorcement" specialized usage

The dominant LXX equivalent is βιβλίον (G975) at 142 co-occurrences, establishing a near-complete one-to-one bridge into the NT.