Hebrew word · H4207

מִזְלָגָה

hamizlagot

fork

A fork or meat hook with prongs. The related form mazleg in 1 Samuel 2:13 is described as 'three-toothed'. It was used to turn and lift sacrificial portions on the altar and to fish meat out of a boiling pot.

Appears 7 times in 7 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

a sacrificial implement, three-pronged fork

Also means: maz.leg (מַזְלֵג "fork" H4207A)

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 2 Chronicles 4:16

Range of meaning

A fork or meat hook with prongs. The related form mazleg in 1 Samuel 2:13 is described as 'three-toothed'. It was used to turn and lift sacrificial portions on the altar and to fish meat out of a boiling pot.

Against the English

BSB and NIV say 'meat forks', KJV 'fleshhooks', WEB and YLT 'forks'. All are accurate. 'Meat forks' and 'fleshhooks' make the purpose clearer.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exodus 27:3; 38:3; Numbers 4:14; 1 Chronicles 28:17; 1 Samuel 2:13–14, where Eli's sons' servant plunges a three-pronged fork into the pot and takes whatever it brings up. This fits with sirot as boiling pots.

Where it appears

Exodus · 2

  1. Exodus 27:3 וּמִזְלְגֹתָ֖יו and forks its

    Make all its utensils of bronze—its pots for removing ashes, its shovels, its sprinkling bowls, its meat forks, and its firepans.

  2. Exodus 38:3 הַמִּזְלָגֹ֖ת the forks

    He made all the altar’s utensils of bronze—its pots, shovels, sprinkling bowls, meat forks, and firepans.

Numbers · 1

  1. Numbers 4:14 הַמִּזְלָגֹת֙ the forks

    and place on it all the vessels used to serve there: the firepans, meat forks, shovels, and sprinkling bowls—all the equipment of the altar. They are to spread over it a covering of fine leather and insert the poles.

1 Samuel · 2

  1. 1 Samuel 2:13 וְהַמַּזְלֵ֛ג and the fork

    or for the custom of the priests with the people. When any man offered a sacrifice, the servant of the priest would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling

  2. 1 Samuel 2:14 הַמַּזְלֵ֔ג the fork

    and plunge it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or cooking pot. And the priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh.

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 28:17 וְהַמִּזְלָג֧וֹת and the forks

    the weight of the pure gold for the forks, sprinkling bowls, and pitchers; the weight of each gold dish; the weight of each silver bowl;

2 Chronicles · 1

  1. 2 Chronicles 4:16 הַמִּזְלָגוֹת֙ the forks

    and the pots, shovels, meat forks, and all the other articles. All these objects that Huram-abi made for King Solomon for the house of the LORD were of polished bronze.

    Here: Pronged forks or meat hooks for handling sacrificial meat on the altar or pulling it out of the boiling pot. 1 Samuel 2:13–14 shows the same kind of tool at work.

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