Hebrew word · H610
אָסוּךְ
'asukh
flask
This word occurs only here in the Bible. Most lexicons (BDB, HALOT) derive it from the root סוך (sukh), 'to anoint oneself, rub oil on the body'. The verb is used for ordinary grooming in Ruth 3:3, 2 Samuel 12:20 and 2 Samuel 14:2, and for everyday anointing in Deuteronomy 28:40 and Micah 6:15.
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
flask, small oil jug
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
- Range of meaning
This word occurs only here in the Bible. Most lexicons (BDB, HALOT) derive it from the root סוך (sukh), 'to anoint oneself, rub oil on the body'. The verb is used for ordinary grooming in Ruth 3:3, 2 Samuel 12:20 and 2 Samuel 14:2, and for everyday anointing in Deuteronomy 28:40 and Micah 6:15. So the noun means a small oil flask, a container for the oil a person rubbed on their skin. HALOT glosses it 'oil-flask'.
- Against the English
BSB, ESV and NASB say 'jar'. KJV and WEB say 'pot'. To a modern reader 'jar' or 'pot' can suggest a kitchen or storage vessel of fair size. NIV ('small jar') and NLT ('flask') keep the smallness better.
- How it drifted
The word is rare. Older English 'pot' was a general word for a vessel. Modern 'jar' sounds like a pantry container, so the point that this was a tiny personal flask fades.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The Septuagint reads the same consonants as a verb: 'except what I anoint myself with, oil' (ἀλλ᾿ ἢ ὃ ἀλείψομαι ἔλαιον). The Vulgate says 'except a little oil with which I may be anointed' (nisi parum olei quo ungar). Both ancient translations take it as the oil for anointing the body, and both stress how little there was. Compare the widow of Zarephath in 1 Kings 17:12, who has only 'a little oil in a jug'.
Where it appears
2 Kings · 1
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2 Kings 4:2 אָס֥וּךְ a jar of
“How can I help you?” asked Elisha. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”
Here: This word appears only here in the Bible. It is tied to the verb 'to anoint or rub with oil', so it means a small flask of oil for the body, not a storage jar. It holds very little.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.