Bible Dictionary
Lapping
Lapping describes Gideon’s selected soldiers drinking water by bringing it to their mouths with their hands, like dogs. Their manner of drinking was used to distinguish the three hundred whom God chose.
Definition
Lapping describes drinking water by taking it up in the hand and bringing it to the mouth, like a dog drinking. The term is used for the manner in which Gideon’s chosen soldiers drank.
Biblical Usage
Gideon’s three hundred men lapped water from their hands. Their manner of drinking distinguished them in the selection of the force that accompanied Gideon.
Historical Background
The described action involves filling the hand with water and putting it to the mouth. The comparison is to the rapid manner in which a dog lifts water with its tongue.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Of water like a dog, i.e., by putting the hand filled with water to the mouth. The dog drinks by shaping the end of his long thin tongue into the form of a spoon, thus rapidly lifting up water, which he throws into his mouth. The three hundred men that went with Gideon thus employed their hands and lapped the water out of their hands (Judg. 7:7).