צֶפַע Viper (tzefa)
Every verse in which this word stands — 5 places, in canonical order, first appearance to last. These are the places the lexicon carries under this word's own entry, counting every form the text writes it in, which is the number on the list.
The tzefa, and its longer form tzif'oni — the serpent's own worse offspring in Yeshayahu 14:29, the uncharmable biters of Yirmiyahu 8:17. Traditionally the viper or adder; the identification is discussed.
וְשִֽׁעֲשַׁע יוֹנֵק עַל־חֻר פָּתֶן וְעַל מְאוּרַת צִפְעוֹנִי גָּמוּל יָדוֹ הָדָֽה
And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, And the weaned child shall put his hand on the basilisk’s den.
אַֽל־תִּשְׂמְחִי פְלֶשֶׁת כֻּלֵּךְ כִּי נִשְׁבַּר שֵׁבֶט מַכֵּךְ כִּֽי־מִשֹּׁרֶשׁ נָחָשׁ יֵצֵא צֶפַע וּפִרְיוֹ שָׂרָף מְעוֹפֵֽף
Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of thee, Because the rod that smote thee is broken: For out of the serpent’s root shall come forth a basilisk, And his fruit shall be a flying serpent.
בֵּיצֵי צִפְעוֹנִי בִּקֵּעוּ וְקוּרֵי עַכָּבִישׁ יֶאֱרֹגוּ הָאֹכֵל מִבֵּֽיצֵיהֶם יָמוּת וְהַזּוּרֶה תִּבָּקַע אֶפְעֶֽה
They hatch basilisks’eggs, And weave the spider’s web; He that eateth of their eggs dieth, And that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper.
כִּי הִנְנִי מְשַׁלֵּחַ בָּכֶם נְחָשִׁים צִפְעֹנִים אֲשֶׁר אֵין־לָהֶם לָחַשׁ וְנִשְּׁכוּ אֶתְכֶם נְאֻם־יְהוָֽה
For, behold, I will send serpents, basilisks, among you, which will not be charmed; and they shall bite you, saith the LORD.
אַחֲרִיתוֹ כְּנָחָשׁ יִשָּׁךְ וּֽכְצִפְעֹנִי יַפְרִֽשׁ
At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like a basilisk.
Every Hebrew word for “viper”, with its gematria →
Quick answers
What is the Hebrew word for viper?
Viper in Hebrew is צפע, with a gematria of 240 in the standard method.
How many times is the viper mentioned in the Tanakh?
The word stands 5 times in the Tanakh, first at Isaiah 11:8.
A spelling is not a word. The bare letters צפע stand 1 time in the corpus, which is a different question and often a different number: the same letters can spell a name or another word entirely, and the creature written with a particle attached is a spelling that search never returns. It is here, as itself.
See the one occurrence of the spelling צפע →