Hebrew word · H1249
בַּר
bar
pure
Pure, clean, clear, unmixed. It comes from the root b-r-r, "to purify, sift, sort out, select." A related noun bar means grain that has been threshed and winnowed (cleaned of chaff), as in Gen 41:35 and Prov 11:26.
Appears 7 times in 7 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
adj
1) pure, clear, sincere
2) clean, empty
adv
3) purely
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
Pure, clean, clear, unmixed. It comes from the root b-r-r, "to purify, sift, sort out, select." A related noun bar means grain that has been threshed and winnowed (cleaned of chaff), as in Gen 41:35 and Prov 11:26. The adjective is used of a bride "clear as the sun" (Song 6:10) and of God's commandment "pure, enlightening the eyes" (Ps 19:8).
- Against the English
"Pure" (BSB, NIV, ESV, NASB, NLT) and "clean" (KJV) are accurate. But in modern English "pure" easily suggests sexual purity or being completely without sin. The Hebrew picture is closer to unmixed or sifted clean: no hidden chaff, no double motive.
- How it drifted
Modern church usage tied "purity" closely to sexual morality, and devotional readings of Matt 5:8 made "pure in heart" mean an inner state free of all sin. Neither is the focus of the Hebrew.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Ps 24:4 is the closest parallel: "clean of hands and pure of heart (bar levav)" describes the person fit to enter the temple. Job 11:4 has "my teaching is pure (zakh)." The Septuagint translates bar-levav here as "upright in heart" (εὐθέσι τῇ καρδίᾳ), so it understood the phrase as integrity, not ritual or sexual purity. Jesus' beatitude "Blessed are the pure in heart" (Matt 5:8) draws on this Psalms language.
- Range of meaning
Clean, clear, pure. It comes from barar, 'to sift, purify, select, polish' (an arrow is 'polished', Isa 49:2), and is related to bar 'threshed grain' with the chaff removed. Of the heart it means unmixed, without a hidden agenda.
- Against the English
'Pure' in modern church use often means sexual purity, or a general innocence of feeling. The Hebrew picture is something sifted until nothing else is mixed in: single-minded, sincere, undivided intention.
- How it drifted
The word 'pure' became strongly tied to sexual morality in English religious speech, and especially in modern 'purity' movements. The Hebrew word has no particular sexual focus.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Ps 73:1: 'God is good to Israel, to those who are bar levav (pure in heart).' Ps 19:8: 'the commandment of the LORD is bar (clear), enlightening the eyes.' Job 11:4: 'my teaching is pure (zakh)', a related idea. The Septuagint renders it katharos tē kardia, the phrase Jesus uses in Matthew 5:8.
- Range of meaning
Clean, pure (of heart: Ps 24:4, 73:1); clear, bright, radiant (Song 6:10, "bright as the sun"). A related noun bar means threshed, winnowed grain, the clean kernel with the chaff gone. The verb barar means to purify or sift out.
- Against the English
KJV, ESV and WEB give "pure" (moral and ritual cleanness). BSB and NIV give "radiant" (brightness). NLT gives "clear". Each choice keeps one side of the word. In the Hebrew, clean and clear-bright are one idea: nothing clouded or mixed in.
- How it drifted
Modern English "pure" usually means moral innocence or sexual purity. The Hebrew picture is more physical and visual: unclouded, sifted clean, shining.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Song 6:10 (barah kachammah, "clear as the sun") uses this exact feminine form for brightness like the sun. The LXX renders it tēlaugēs, "far-shining, shining clearly". The Vulgate has lucidum, "bright, clear". So the ancient translators heard brightness here.
Where it appears
Job · 1
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Job 11:4 וּ֝בַ֗ר and clean
You have said, ‘My doctrine is sound, and I am pure in Your sight.’
Psalms · 3
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Psalm 19:8 בָּ֝רָ֗ה [is] clean
The precepts of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart; the commandments of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
Here: Clean and clear: like grain with the chaff winnowed out, or like the sun, which Song of Songs 6:10 calls barah ("bright as the sun"). Both "pure" and "radiant" catch part of it.
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Psalm 24:4 וּֽבַר־ and a [person] pure of
He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear deceitfully.
Here: From a root meaning to sift or winnow and so make clean and clear, like grain with the chaff removed. Applied to the heart it means unmixed, with no hidden agenda and no divided loyalty.
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Psalm 73:1 לְבָרֵ֥י to [people] pure of
A Psalm of Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.
Here: "To the pure ones of …". The word comes from a verb meaning to sift or purify, and the same root gives the word for threshed, cleaned grain. It describes people who are clean on the inside: sincere and free of hidden mixture. It does not mean ritually clean or sinless.
Proverbs · 1
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Proverbs 14:4 בָּ֑ר [is] clean
Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but an abundant harvest comes through the strength of the ox.
Song of Songs · 2
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Song of Songs 6:9 בָּרָ֥ה [is] a pure [daughter]
but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, the favorite of the mother who bore her. The maidens see her and call her blessed; the queens and concubines sing her praises.
Here: "Clear, shining, pure." The root also covers "sifted, picked out," which is why translators offer both "pure" and "choice/favorite." The same word comes back in the next verse, "bright (bārâ) as the sun" (6:10).
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Song of Songs 6:10 בָּרָה֙ pure
Who is this who shines like the dawn, as fair as the moon, as bright as the sun, as majestic as the stars in procession?
Here: 'Pure, unclouded, radiant.' The same word ended a line in 6:9 ('the pure/favourite one of her mother'), so the praise repeats the word just used of her and turns it into blazing brightness.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.