The noun hephek denotes a turning or overturning — a reversal or transformation of something. It is related to the verb haphak (H2015), meaning to turn, overturn, or change. Hephek can refer to a moral or social reversal, where what is right is turned upside down, or it can describe God's ability to reverse desperate situations.
The theological significance of hephek lies in both warning and hope. The prophets lament that Israel has practiced hephek — calling evil good and good evil, turning everything upside down (Isaiah 29:16). But God himself is the great overturner: he overturns the plans of the wicked, reverses the fortune of his people, and transforms mourning into dancing (Psalm 30:11). The resurrection of Jesus is the ultimate divine hephek — death itself overturned, and the apparent defeat of the cross transformed into the victory of new life.