- נפטְ
- נֵפְטְm. (prob. a transpos. of נטף, a readaptation of νάφθα) naphtha. Sabb.II, 2. Ib. 26a אין מדליקין בנ׳ לבן וכ׳ white naphtha must not be used for lighting … because it is explosive. Ib. ומה יעשו … אלא נ׳ and what shall the Cappadocians do who have … only naphtha? Yoma 38b, sq. Y.Snh.VII, 24b bot. (v. שְׂרֵפָה) בפתילה של נ׳ the Mishnah, describing capital punishment by burning, means a wick saturated with naphtha. Y.Sot.VII, beg.22b אש כנגד נ׳ שלהן ‘fire (Ps. 18:13) corresponds to the arrows of the human armies tipped in naphtha; Pesik. R. s. 17 רמה בהן נ׳ he (the besieger) throws naphtha (βέλη πυροφόρα or πυροβόλα).
Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature. Jastrow, Marcus. 1903.