sha.aph depicts urgent longing or breath-like striving, whether for shade, night, commandments, wealth, or wind.

The verb most often occurs in clauses of urgent desire directed toward something sought, such as night, shade, commandments, or wealth. It also describes panting or straining activity in imagery of labor, animals sniffing the wind, and the sun hastening to its place.

1. Urgent desire for what is sought · common

   The Qal forms occur with a desired object or goal: in Job 36:20 the APB renders the prohibition, “Do not long for the night,” while Job 7:2 compares a slave’s desire for shade with a hired man’s waiting for wages. In Psalm 119:131 the first-person form stands with opening the mouth and panting for commandments, and in Job 5:5 the APB describes the snare as panting after wealth.

   Job 36:20Job 5:5Job 7:2Psalm 119:131
2. Panting or straining movement · common

   In Isaiah 42:14 the first-person imperfect occurs in the comparison to a woman in labor, where the APB renders “I will pant and gasp together.” The participle in Ecclesiastes 1:5 appears as the sun returns toward its place, while the perfect forms in Jeremiah 2:24 and Jeremiah 14:6 occur when wild donkeys sniff the wind.

   Ecclesiastes 1:5Isaiah 42:14Jeremiah 14:6Jeremiah 2:24

In the Anselm Project Bible: Across these verses, the APB uses “longed,” “long for,” and “pants” for clauses of desire, and “pant,” “gasp,” “sniffs,” and “hastens” in bodily or motion imagery. These renderings show the verses’ presentations rather than fixed English equivalents.