רָכַךְ
𐤓𐤊𐤊
râkak
H7401 verb
SILEX Entry
Definition
To be soft or tender, in a physical or figurative sense; to become tender, gentle, weak, or mild; to make or become emotionally soft or yielding. The word is used to express both physical softness (e.g., tenderness of flesh) and emotional or psychological softness (e.g., faintheartedness, gentleness, or leniency). It can denote a literal softening (e.g., of food or physical material), but more often carries figurative meaning of emotional, moral, or psychological yielding, such as becoming compassionate or losing courage.
Semantic Range
to be soft (physically), to be tender, to become gentle or mild, to be fainthearted or emotionally yielding, to be lenient, to be or become weak, to mollify or soften (transitive), to experience compassion or emotional tenderness
Root / Etymology
From the root ר-כ-ך (רך), meaning 'to be soft, tender, or weak.' The verb form is a qal (simple) verbal root indicating the state or process of becoming soft or tender, either physically or metaphorically. The meaning extends from tactile softness to broader metaphorical senses like emotional tenderness or weakness.
Historical & Contextual Notes
רָכַךְ occurs a handful of times in the Hebrew Bible and often appears in contexts emphasizing a change of state, whether physical (as in food or flesh being softened, e.g. 2 Kings 22:19) or emotional/psychological (as in a heart being softened to compassion or, conversely, to faintheartedness, e.g. Isaiah 7:4). In post-exilic and later Hebrew, the sense of 'softness' persists in a slightly broader psychological and ethical domain. The term may contrast with roots denoting hardness or strength (such as חזק or קשה), marking a range from physical pliability to emotional and moral responsiveness. English translations may render it as 'tender,' 'soft,' 'mild,' 'fainthearted,' or 'compassionate,' but these capture only parts of the semantic range. Later tradition sometimes imports a negative sense ('weakness'), but in biblical texts, the context determines whether the sense is positive (tenderness, leniency) or negative (softness as lack of courage). The noun derivative רַךְ (rak), 'tender, soft,' has similar connotations, often applied to young people or sensitive individuals.
Translation Consistency
Softening covers both literal and figurative senses in the SILEX range (physical becoming soft and emotional/moral yielding). "Soften" works naturally as intransitive and transitive English (e.g., "the flesh softened," "his heart was softened"), is common Bible-style wording, and avoids the adjectival ambiguity of "tender."
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
a primitive root; to soften (intransitively or transitively), used figuratively; (be) faint(-hearted), mollify, (be, make) soft(-er), be tender.
Bantu Hebrew
No Bantu Hebrew comparisons have been recorded for this word yet.
Root Family
רכך (r-k-k) — softness, tenderness, weakness, gentleness
| Strong's | Lemma | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|
| H7390 | רַךְ | the tender one |
| H7391 | רֹךְ | and from softness |
| H7397 | רֵכָה | the Rekah-ites |
Word Forms
5 distinct forms
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H7401-05 |
יֵרַ֣ךְ | yerakhe | HVqj3ms |
be faint | let him become soft | be faint | 3 |
H7401-02 |
רַךְ | rakhe | HVqp3ms |
tender | soft | tender | 2 |
H7401-03 |
רַכּ֖וּ | raku | HVqp3cp |
they made soft | they became soft | they are softer | 1 |
H7401-04 |
רֻכְּכָ֖ה | rukekhah | HVPp3fs |
softened | was made soft | was softened | 1 |
H7401-01 |
הֵרַ֣ךְ | herakhe | HVhp3ms |
has-made-soft | he made soft | he made soft | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
8 occurrences
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H7401-05 |
Deuteronomy 20:3 | יֵרַ֣ךְ | yerakhe | HVqj3ms |
be faint | let him become soft | be faint |
H7401-02 |
2 Kings 22:19 | רַךְ | rakhe | HVqp3ms |
tender | soft | tender |
H7401-04 |
Isaiah 1:6 | רֻכְּכָ֖ה | rukekhah | HVPp3fs |
softened | was made soft | was softened |
H7401-05 |
Isaiah 7:4 | יֵרַ֔ךְ | yerakhe | HVqj3ms |
be-faint | let him become soft | be faint |
H7401-05 |
Jeremiah 51:46 | יֵרַ֤ךְ | yerakhe | HVqi3ms |
grow-faint | let him become soft | your heart grow faint |
H7401-03 |
Psalms 55:22 | רַכּ֖וּ | raku | HVqp3cp |
they made soft | they became soft | they are softer |
H7401-01 |
Job 23:16 | הֵרַ֣ךְ | herakhe | HVhp3ms |
has-made-soft | he made soft | he made soft |
H7401-02 |
2 Chronicles 34:27 | רַךְ | rakhe | HVqp3ms |
tender | soft | tender |