R-D-P is pursuit: chase after, hound, harry, hunt, drive someone toward harm. It begins in the body, not an idea: someone has your scent, the distance is closing, footsteps follow. Yet the last Beatitude speaks inside that fear, declaring heaven’s reign to those hunted for what is right.
| Form | Pattern | Transliteration | Script | Standard | Qala rendering |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verb (Peal) | simple stem | rdap | רדף ܪܕܦ | to pursue, persecute | to hunt |
| Active participle, pl. | peal participle | radpin (wradpin) | ורדפין ܘܪܳܕ݂ܦ݁ܺܝܢ | they persecute | they hunt (you) |
| Passive (Ethpeel) | et- prefix | etrdep (detrdepw) | — | be persecuted | those hunted (Matthew 5:10) |
| Noun | -ya abstract | rdupya | — | persecution | the hunting (lexicon form, not in this corpus) |
| Stem | Force | This root | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peal | simple | rdap | to pursue, hunt (Matthew 5:44; 10:23; John 5:16) |
| Ethpeel | simple passive | etrdep | to be hunted (Matthew 5:10) |
| Pael | intensive | not attested | — |
| Ethpaal | intensive passive | not attested | — |
| Aphel | causative | not attested | — |
| Ettaphal | causative passive | not attested | — |
| Shaphel | rare causative | not attested | — |
Recall what pursues you: a person, deadline, debt, reputation. Notice your shoulders and breath. Stay with the tightness, then pray for the one whose footsteps you hear.
Speak rdap with closing footsteps in your voice, then let goodness become the pursuer.
The Hebrew cognate is radaf (רָדַף), the identical root, most famously turned kind in Psalm 23:6, where goodness and mercy pursue the psalmist all the days of his life.