CLAP

An emphatic expression of joy, "They clapped their hands (nakhah), and said, Long live (the King James Version "God save") the king" (2 Kings 11:12); "Oh clap your hands (taqa`), all ye peoples" (Psalms 47:1); or exultation (caphaq, Lamentations 2:15; macha', Ezekiel 25:6; taqa`, Nahum 3:19); or repudiation (caphaq, Job 27:23; 34:37).

Figurative: To denote Nature's "sympathy" with God's people. "Let the floods clap (macha') their hands" (Psalms 98:8); "All the trees of the field shall clap their hands" (Isaiah 55:12; compare Judges 5:20).

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.