מַהְפֶּ֫כֶת

From the study of Jeremiah 20:2

Range of meaning

Built from the root h-p-k, 'turn, overturn, twist' (the same root used for the 'overthrow' of Sodom). The noun means a device that forced the body into a twisted or bent position, usually translated 'stocks'. It occurs only in Jeremiah 20:2–3, Jeremiah 29:26 and 2 Chronicles 16:10 ('the house of the mahpekhet').

Against the English

'Stocks' is the standard rendering (KJV, BSB, WEB, YLT and most modern versions). It is roughly right, but it calls up the wooden village stocks of later Europe and loses the root picture of being twisted or bent out of shape.

How it drifted

English 'stocks' comes from the European wooden frame, often remembered as mild public mockery. The Hebrew word stresses bodily contortion and pain.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jeremiah 29:26 describes the temple overseer's duty to put any 'madman who prophesies' into the mahpekhet and the tsinoq (probably a neck collar). That shows it was a standard tool of temple discipline. In 2 Chronicles 16:10 King Asa puts the seer Hanani in 'the house of the mahpekhet', which suggests a place of confinement built around the device. The Greek translators were unsure what it was (see textual notes). The Latin Vulgate has 'nervus', a fetter or stocks.

From the study of 2 Chronicles 16:10

Range of meaning

An instrument of punishment and restraint, traditionally 'stocks'. It is formed from h-p-k, 'to turn, overturn, twist' (the root used of Sodom's overthrow). That suggests a device that held the body bent or contorted. It occurs only three times: here, Jer 20:2–3, and Jer 29:26, where it is paired with tsinoq, probably a neck-collar or shackle.

Against the English

BSB, KJV ('prison house') and WEB have just 'prison', and that loses the instrument. YLT's 'house of torture' gets the cruelty but turns a specific device into a general idea. Some modern versions keep 'stocks' in the text or in a footnote.

How it drifted

Translators flatten 'house of the stocks' into 'prison' because ancient punishment mostly did not include long prison sentences, so they reach for the nearest modern idea. The cost is that the physical torment drops out.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Jer 20:2 Pashhur, the priest in charge of the temple, beats Jeremiah and puts him 'in the mahpekhet' at the Upper Benjamin Gate overnight. In Jer 29:26 a letter calls on the temple overseer to put any 'madman who prophesies' into 'the mahpekhet and the collar'. So it was a recognised way of punishing and humiliating troublesome prophets. Jerome's Latin renders it nervus, a fetter or stocks.

From the study of Jeremiah 29:26

Range of meaning

From hafakh, "to turn, overturn." It names a restraining device that held the body in a turned or bent posture: stocks. It appears three times in the Bible: Jer 20:2–3 (Pashhur puts Jeremiah in it at the Upper Benjamin Gate), here, and 2 Chr 16:10 ("the house of the stocks," where King Asa confined the seer Hanani).

Against the English

Most modern versions have "stocks." The KJV has "prison," and YLT has "torture." "Prison" makes a modern reader picture a cell, but this was a device that locked and contorted the body, often in a public place.

How it drifted

KJV gave "stocks" to the second word (tsinoq), so it moved mahpekhet to "prison."

Used elsewhere in the period

In all its uses the word belongs to the punishment of prophets: Jeremiah (twice) and Hanani. It seems to have been the standard way to silence a troublesome seer.