Hebrew word · H4746
מְקָרֶה
hamekareh
rafter
The framework of roof beams. It appears only here. The verb qarah in the piel means 'to lay beams, to roof over' (Neh 2:8; 3:3, 6; Ps 104:3, where God 'lays the beams' of his upper rooms on the waters).
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
beam work
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 Ecclesiastes 10:18
- Range of meaning
The framework of roof beams. It appears only here. The verb qarah in the piel means 'to lay beams, to roof over' (Neh 2:8; 3:3, 6; Ps 104:3, where God 'lays the beams' of his upper rooms on the waters).
- Against the English
BSB/WEB/ESV 'roof', NIV/NASB 'rafters', KJV 'building', YLT 'wall'. 'Rafters' or 'beam-work' is closest. YLT's 'wall' is a misreading.
- Used elsewhere in the period
LXX: hē dokōsis, 'the beaming, the roof timbers'. Vulgate: contignatio, 'joisting, floor or roof framing'. Both ancient versions understood a timber framework.
Where it appears
Ecclesiastes · 1
-
Ecclesiastes 10:18 הַמְּקָרֶ֑ה the rafter[s]
Through laziness the roof caves in, and in the hands of the idle, the house leaks.
Here: "The beam-work": the timber frame of the flat roof. The word appears only here in the Bible; it comes from a root meaning 'to lay beams' (Neh 2:8; Ps 104:3).
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.