Hebrew word · H2134

זַךְ

zakh

pure

Pure, clean, unmixed, free of anything added. It is used of materials: pure beaten olive oil for the lamp (Exod 27:20; Lev 24:2) and pure frankincense (Exod 30:34; Lev 24:7). 20:11). The related verb zakhakh/zakhah means 'to be clean, to come out clean'.

Appears 11 times in 11 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) clean, pure

1a) pure

1b) pure, clean, righteous (fig.)

2) the pure one (subst)

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

From the study of Proverbs 16:2

Range of meaning

Pure, clean, unmixed, free of anything added. It is used of materials: pure beaten olive oil for the lamp (Exod 27:20; Lev 24:2) and pure frankincense (Exod 30:34; Lev 24:7). It is also used of character: 'I am pure, without transgression' (Job 33:9), 'my prayer is pure' (Job 16:17), and 'the conduct of the pure is upright' (Prov 21:8; cf. 20:11). The related verb zakhakh/zakhah means 'to be clean, to come out clean'.

Against the English

BSB, YLT and the ESV say 'pure'. KJV, WEB and NASB say 'clean'. Both are fair. 'Pure' can sound too much like sexual purity or holiness in general. 'Clean' can sound like simple hygiene. What the Hebrew pictures is a substance tested and found free of anything mixed in.

Used elsewhere in the period

Hebrew Bible: Exod 27:20; 30:34; Lev 24:2, 7; Job 8:6; 11:4; 16:17; 33:9; Prov 20:11; 21:8. It is close in meaning to tahor ('ritually clean'), but zakh leans toward 'unmixed, unadulterated' rather than ritual status.

From the study of Proverbs 21:8

Range of meaning

Pure, clean, unmixed, clear. Used of physical substances and, by extension, of moral integrity and of being innocent or cleared.

Against the English

"Innocent" (BSB, WEB, NIV) brings out the moral and legal side. "Pure" (KJV, ESV) keeps the picture of something with nothing mixed in. A modern ear may take "pure" to mean sexual purity or religious holiness in general, which is narrower than or different from the word here.

How it drifted

In modern church usage "purity" often means sexual purity in particular. Zakh here is about being clean of wrongdoing in general, with nothing hidden or adulterated.

Used elsewhere in the period

Used of the clear, beaten olive oil for the lamp (Exod 27:20; Lev 24:2) and of pure frankincense (Exod 30:34). It is used of moral integrity in Job 8:6 ("if you are pure and upright": zakh weyashar, the same pair as here), Job 11:4 and 33:9 ("I am pure, without transgression"), and Prov 16:2 ("all a man's ways are pure in his own eyes"). The closest parallel is Prov 20:11: a child shows by his deeds "whether his conduct is pure and whether it is upright" ('im-zakh we'im-yashar po'olo), almost the same words as this verse. The related Aramaic word means "innocent, acquitted" (Dan 6:22).

From the study of Job 8:6

Range of meaning

Clean, pure, unmixed. Used of physical substances that have no impurity: 'pure beaten olive oil' for the lamp (Exodus 27:20; Leviticus 24:2) and 'pure frankincense' (Exodus 30:34; Leviticus 24:7). By extension it describes moral cleanness or integrity of conduct, speech or prayer (Proverbs 16:2; 20:11; 21:8).

Against the English

English 'pure' is a fair rendering. To modern ears it can drift toward sexual purity or toward flawless sinlessness. The Hebrew picture is closer to 'clean, nothing mixed in': conduct with no hidden contamination.

How it drifted

In modern church language 'purity' is often narrowed to sexual ethics, which is not the point here.

Used elsewhere in the period

The word is unusually frequent in Job, and always in the debate over Job's innocence. Zophar quotes Job as saying 'my teaching is pure' (11:4). Job says 'my prayer is pure' (16:17). Bildad later asks how a human can be pure before God, when even the stars are not (25:5). Elihu quotes Job as claiming 'I am pure' (33:9).

Where it appears

Exodus · 2

  1. Exodus 27:20 זָ֛ךְ pure

    And you are to command the Israelites to bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to keep the lamps burning continually.

    Here: Clear and unmixed: oil with no pulp, water or sediment in it. Oil like that burns brightly with little smoke. The word describes physical quality, not morality.

  2. Exodus 30:34 זַכָּ֑ה pure

    The LORD also said to Moses, “Take fragrant spices—gum resin, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense—in equal measures,

Leviticus · 2

  1. Leviticus 24:2 זָ֛ךְ pure

    “Command the Israelites to bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to keep the lamps burning continually.

    Here: The oil is clear and unmixed, with no sediment or pulp. This is a word for physical quality, not the ritual-purity word tahor (which v. 4 uses for the lampstand). Clear oil burns brightly with little smoke.

  2. Leviticus 24:7 זַכָּ֑ה pure

    And you are to place pure frankincense near each row, so that it may serve as a memorial portion for the bread, a food offering to the LORD.

Job · 4

  1. Job 8:6 זַ֥ךְ [are] pure

    if you are pure and upright, even now He will rouse Himself on your behalf and restore your righteous estate.

    Here: Literally 'clean, unmixed', the word used for pure olive oil and pure frankincense. Here it means morally unadulterated: nothing hidden or mixed into one's conduct.

  2. Job 11:4 זַ֣ךְ [is] pure

    You have said, ‘My doctrine is sound, and I am pure in Your sight.’

  3. Job 16:17 זַכָּֽה׃ [is] pure

    yet my hands are free of violence and my prayer is pure.

    Here: "Is pure". The adjective is feminine to agree with "prayer". It means unmixed and unadulterated, like the pure olive oil or pure incense used in worship. Job's prayer has no hidden wrongdoing mixed into it.

  4. Job 33:9 זַ֥ךְ [am] pure

    ‘I am pure, without transgression; I am clean, with no iniquity in me.

Proverbs · 3

  1. Proverbs 16:2 זַ֣ךְ [are] pure

    All a man’s ways are pure in his own eyes, but his motives are weighed out by the LORD.

    Here: The word for pure olive oil and pure incense, with nothing mixed in. Here it is what a person concludes about himself: 'my conduct is clean, nothing wrong in it.' It is singular because it describes 'all the ways' taken as one whole.

  2. Proverbs 20:11 זַ֖ךְ [is] pure

    Even a young man is known by his actions—whether his conduct is pure and upright.

    Here: "Pure" in the sense of clean and unadulterated, like refined oil or incense. Morally it means free of guilt or hidden crookedness. It is not specifically sexual.

  3. Proverbs 21:8 וְ֝זַ֗ךְ and a pure [person]

    The way of a guilty man is crooked, but the conduct of the innocent is upright.

    Here: "But the clean one." Zakh describes something with nothing mixed in, like the clear olive oil for the sanctuary lamp, and so a person with no hidden wrong. Its sound echoes zar just before it (zar / zakh), which sharpens the contrast.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.