Hebrew word · H3537
כַּד
kad
jar
A large earthenware jar, carried on the shoulder for water (Gen 24:14–20; Judg 7:16) or used for storing grain and flour in the house.
Appears 18 times in 17 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
jar, large jar (portable)
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 1 Kings 17:12
- Range of meaning
A large earthenware jar, carried on the shoulder for water (Gen 24:14–20; Judg 7:16) or used for storing grain and flour in the house.
- Against the English
KJV has 'barrel'. In 1611 that word could mean a storage vessel, but today it suggests a wooden cask. Modern versions have 'jar'.
- How it drifted
English 'barrel' narrowed to a wooden, hooped cask. A pottery storage jar was meant.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Large storage jars are among the most common finds in Iron Age houses in Israel and Phoenicia, including the excavations at Sarepta (Zarephath).
From the study of Genesis 24:15
- Range of meaning
A large earthenware jar, used for carrying and storing water (Gen 24), for flour (1 Kgs 17:12–16), or as the empty jars that hid Gideon's torches (Judg 7:16–20). It was big enough to give a thirsty man a drink and to be emptied into a trough over and over (v. 20).
- Against the English
KJV and WEB say 'pitcher'. BSB, ESV and NIV say 'jar', and NLT says 'water jug'. 'Jar' comes closest.
- How it drifted
In older English 'pitcher' meant a large earthenware vessel for carrying water. Today it suggests a small jug with a handle used to pour drinks at the table.
- Used elsewhere in the period
A cognate word, kd, names a storage jar in Ugaritic texts. Similar shoulder-carried water jars are well known from Bronze and Iron Age sites in the Levant.
From the study of Genesis 24:46
- Range of meaning
A large earthenware jar, used for carrying water (Gen 24; Judg 7:16, where Gideon's men hide torches in them) or storing flour (1 Kgs 17:12–16). It was carried on the shoulder or head.
- Against the English
KJV/WEB 'pitcher' can call up a small table jug. Modern 'jar' (BSB, NIV and others) is closer.
- How it drifted
In 1611 'pitcher' meant a large earthen water-vessel. Over time the word narrowed in everyday English to a small pouring jug.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint) renders it hydria, the standard word for a water jar, the same word used for the stone water jars at Cana in John 2:6.
Where it appears
Genesis · 9
-
Genesis 24:14 כַדֵּךְ֙ jar your
Now may it happen that the girl to whom I say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who responds, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels as well’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. By this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”
-
Genesis 24:15 וְכַדָּ֖הּ and jar her
Before the servant had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor.
Here: 'And her jar', a large earthenware water jar. It is the very object named in the servant's sign ('let down your jar', v. 14). The listener sees the sign begin to come true.
-
Genesis 24:16 כַדָּ֖הּ jar her
Now the girl was very beautiful, a virgin who had not had relations with any man. She went down to the spring, filled her jar, and came up again.
-
Genesis 24:17 מִכַּדֵּֽךְ׃ from jar your
So the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me have a little water from your jar.”
-
Genesis 24:18 כַּדָּ֛הּ jar her
“Drink, my lord,” she replied, and she quickly lowered her jar to her hands and gave him a drink.
-
Genesis 24:20 כַּדָּהּ֙ jar her
And she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran back to the well to draw water, until she had drawn water for all his camels.
-
Genesis 24:43 מִכַּדֵּֽךְ׃ from jar your
Here I am, standing beside this spring. Now if a maiden comes out to draw water and I say to her, ‘Please let me drink a little water from your jar,’
-
Genesis 24:45 וְכַדָּ֣הּ and jar her
And before I had finished praying in my heart, there was Rebekah coming out with her jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’
-
Genesis 24:46 כַּדָּהּ֙ jar her
She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels as well.’ So I drank, and she also watered the camels.
Here: 'Her jar.' This was a large clay jar carried on the shoulder to fetch water from the spring (v.45). It was a heavy everyday vessel, not a small pouring jug.
Judges · 4
-
Judges 7:16 וְכַדִּ֣ים הַכַּדִּֽים׃ and jars, the jars
And he divided the three hundred men into three companies and gave each man a ram’s horn in one hand and a large jar in the other, containing a torch.
-
Judges 7:19 הַכַּדִּ֖ים the jars
Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after the changing of the guard. They blew their horns and broke the jars that were in their hands.
Here: The empty clay jars, each hiding a lit torch (7:16). A kad was the everyday jar women used to carry water (Gen 24:14–20).
-
Judges 7:20 הַכַּדִּים֒ the jars
The three companies blew their horns and shattered their jars. Holding the torches in their left hands and the horns in their right hands, they shouted, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!”
1 Kings · 4
-
1 Kings 17:12 בַּכַּ֔ד in <the> jar
But she replied, “As surely as the LORD your God lives, I have no bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. Look, I am gathering a couple of sticks to take home and prepare a meal for myself and my son, so that we may eat it and die.”
Here: The household earthenware jar, the same kind of vessel women carried water in (Gen 24:14). 'The jar' means her one storage jar, now nearly empty. The word comes back in v.14 and v.16, where it is promised and then shown not to run out.
-
1 Kings 17:14 כַּ֤ד [the] jar of
for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be exhausted and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain upon the face of the earth.’”
Here: A clay storage or carrying jar, the same word as Rebekah's water jar (Gen 24:14). Here it holds the household's flour, and v.12 says only 'a handful' is left.
-
1 Kings 17:16 כַּ֤ד [the] jar of
The jar of flour was not exhausted and the jug of oil did not run dry, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through Elijah.
-
1 Kings 18:33 כַדִּים֙ jars
Next, he arranged the wood, cut up the bull, placed it on the wood,
Ecclesiastes · 1
-
Ecclesiastes 12:6 כַּד֙ [the] jar
Remember Him before the silver cord is snapped and the golden bowl is crushed, before the pitcher is shattered at the spring and the wheel is broken at the well,
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.