to pursue
ra.daph denotes following after someone, often in hostile chase, and can also describe seeking a goal such as righteousness.
The verb most often describes following persons or forces in a chase, frequently with hostile intent and sometimes until they are overtaken or struck down. It also occurs for deliberately seeking non-personal aims, including righteousness, knowledge of the LORD, and rewards; a few clauses portray pursuit figuratively or in passive form.
Senses in use
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Chasing people or forces · dominant
Qal forms commonly describe one group or person following another in conflict or flight. In Exodus 14:23 the APB renders the Egyptians going after Israel into the sea, while in 1 Samuel 17:52 Israel and Judah follow the Philistines as far as Ekron; 2 Kings 25:5 adds that the Chaldean forces overtake the king.
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Seeking or striving after an aim · occasional
With non-personal objects, the Qal verb marks intentional seeking rather than a literal chase. Deuteronomy 16:20 places righteousness as the object, Hosea 6:3 joins the first-common-plural imperfect to knowing and to the knowledge of the LORD, and Isaiah 1:23 describes rulers who seek rewards while failing to defend the orphan.
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Pursuit portrayed passively or figuratively · rare
Some clauses present the action as something experienced rather than an active chase. Ecclesiastes 3:15 uses a Niphal passive participle in the clause the APB renders "what has been pursued," and Isaiah 17:13 uses a Pual form as peoples flee and are compared with chaff driven before the wind. Job 30:15 similarly depicts terrors as pursuing honor.
In the Anselm Project Bible: Across the supplied verses, the APB usually presents the action with "pursue" or "pursuers," especially in accounts of flight and conflict. In clauses with non-personal objects it also uses "pursue" for righteousness, knowledge, and rewards; these are whole-verse renderings.