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Jul 15, 2012

how to say "to knock" in Hebrew


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לִדְפוֹק


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This active-simple פָּעַל verb means to knock - לִדְפוֹק (leed-FOHK). It appears in the Biblical book, שִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים - The Song of Songs (sheer hah-shee-REEM), in the phrase, קוֹל דּוֹדִי דּוֹפֵק - the sound of my beloved is knocking (kohl doh-DEE doh-FEK). The root is ד.פ.ק (d.p.k).


A common example:


מִי דּוֹפֵק עַל הַדֶּלֶת?
Who's knocking on the door?
(mee doh-FEK ahl hah-DEH-let)


Beyond the literal knocking, this verb has several non-literal applications. One of these applications is the expression, for things to run smoothly.


For example:


הַצֶּוֶת הִתְחִיל לַעֲבוֹד בִּשְׁמוֹנֶה בַּבֹּקֶר, וּמֵאָז הַכֹּל דּוֹפֵק כְּמוֹ שָׁעוֹן.
The team started working at eight in the morning, and since then everything is ticking (literally, knockinglike a clock.


For other applications, check out the Morfix entry on the word.

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