To GAPE, to open wide — a stronger and rarer verb than the ordinary patach, 'to open', and used of a mouth being thrown open. ⭐ With 'its mouth' and the earth as subject it stands in exactly three verses: Genesis 4:11, where the ground opens its mouth to take Abel's blood from Cain's hand; Numbers 16:30, where Moses PREDICTS what will swallow the rebels; and Deuteronomy 11:6. ⚠ The distinction that makes it worth an entry: the NARRATION of the event, at Numbers 16:32 and Numbers 26:10, uses the ordinary patach — so Deuteronomy reaches back past the report to the prophecy and reuses Moses' own word, which is defensible since Moses is the speaker. No version on the shelf keeps the two verbs apart in English; this translation renders patsah 'gape' and reserves 'open' for patach. → first discussed at Deut 11:6