Hebrew word · H6168

עָרָה

'erah

to uncover

To lay bare or uncover (Lev 20:18-19, of nakedness), and from that, to empty a vessel by tipping it out (Gen 24:20, Rebekah 'emptied her jar into the trough'), or to pour out one's life (Isa 53:12, 'he poured out his soul to death'; Ps 141:8).

Appears 15 times in 14 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to be bare, be nude, uncover, leave destitute, discover, empty, raze, pour out

1a) (Piel)

1a1) to bare, lay bare

1a2) to lay bare by emptying, empty

1a3) to pour out

1b) (Hiphil)

1b1) to make naked, strip bare (of sexual offences)

1b2) to pour out

1c) (Niphal) to be poured out, be exposed

1d) (Hithpael)

1d1) to expose oneself, make oneself naked

1d2) pouring oneself, spreading oneself (participle)

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 Isaiah 32:15

Range of meaning

To lay bare or uncover (Lev 20:18-19, of nakedness), and from that, to empty a vessel by tipping it out (Gen 24:20, Rebekah 'emptied her jar into the trough'), or to pour out one's life (Isa 53:12, 'he poured out his soul to death'; Ps 141:8). The core idea is that something is exposed or emptied until nothing is held back.

Against the English

English versions say 'poured out' or 'poured,' which is fair. YLT's 'emptied out' keeps more of the verb's force. Other 'pouring' passages use different verbs: šāpak in Joel 2:28 / 3:1 and yāṣaq in Isa 44:3. ʿārâ adds the picture of the container being drained completely.

Used elsewhere in the period

The passive (Niphal) form occurs only here. Active and causative forms appear in Gen 24:20, Isa 53:12, Ps 141:8, and Zeph 2:14 (cedar-work 'laid bare'). BDB and HALOT list both 'lay bare' and 'pour out / empty' as senses.

From the study of Psalm 141:8

Range of meaning

Basic sense: to be bare or to make bare. In the intensive form used here it means 'to empty out' or 'pour out' (Gen 24:20, a water jar emptied; 2 Chr 24:11, a money chest emptied) and 'to strip bare' or 'expose' (Isa 3:17; Hab 3:13, laying bare a foundation; Zeph 2:14). In a related form it is used in Isaiah 53:12: 'he poured out his life (nefesh) to death.'

Against the English

BSB, NASB and ESV choose 'defenseless', from the sense of being stripped bare. KJV and WEB say 'destitute', meaning deprived or abandoned. YLT says 'make not bare.' NIV moves to the outcome, 'do not give me over to death', reading it as 'pour out (my life).' The Septuagint has 'do not take away my life.'

How it drifted

KJV's 'destitute' is now heard mainly as poverty, which is not the point. 'Defenseless' is accurate but covers only one half of the word's range.

Used elsewhere in the period

BDB and HALOT list both 'lay bare' and 'pour out, empty' for this form. Isaiah 53:12 shows that the verb with nefesh could mean dying, a life emptied out like liquid. Both Leviticus 17:11 and Deuteronomy 12:23 link the nefesh with blood, which is 'poured out.'

From the study of Isaiah 53:12

Range of meaning

To be bare. The intensive forms mean to lay bare, expose, or strip (Isa 3:17; 22:6; Zeph 2:14), and also to empty out or pour out (Gen 24:20, Rebekah 'emptied her jar into the trough'; Ps 141:8, 'do not pour out / leave defenseless my life'). In Lev 20:18–19 the causative form is used for exposing the source of a woman's blood.

Against the English

Most versions render it 'poured out'. YLT has 'exposed'. Both strands are in the word: emptying out and stripping bare.

Used elsewhere in the period

The phrase in Ps 141:8 (ʾal-təʿar napšî) is close to this verse. The Septuagint has 'his soul was handed over to death' (paredothē), which loses the pouring image but strongly shaped early Christian language: 'handed over for our trespasses' (Rom 4:25).

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 24:20 וַתְּעַ֤ר and she emptied

    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.

Leviticus · 2

  1. Leviticus 20:18 הֶֽעֱרָ֔ה he has made naked

    If a man lies with a menstruating woman and has sexual relations with her, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has uncovered the source of her blood. Both of them must be cut off from among their people.

  2. Leviticus 20:19 הֶעֱרָ֖ה he has made naked

    You must not have sexual relations with the sister of your mother or your father, for it is exposing one’s own kin; both shall bear their iniquity.

2 Chronicles · 1

  1. 2 Chronicles 24:11 וִיעָ֙רוּ֙ so they may pour out

    Whenever the chest was brought by the Levites to the king’s overseers and they saw that there was a large amount of money, the royal scribe and the officer of the high priest would come and empty the chest and carry it back to its place. They did this daily and gathered the money in abundance.

Psalms · 4

  1. Psalm 37:35 וּ֝מִתְעָרֶ֗ה and spreading himself

    I have seen a wicked, ruthless man flourishing like a well-rooted native tree,

    Here: A reflexive form from a root meaning 'lay bare, empty out, pour out.' Here it most likely pictures a man spreading himself out, showing off and taking up room like a tree flinging out its branches. The word is rare and its exact sense is uncertain (see debates).

  2. Psalm 137:7 עָ֤רוּ׀ עָ֑רוּ lay bare

    Remember, O LORD, the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem fell: “Destroy it,” they said, “tear it down to its foundations!”

    Here: A plural command, urging the attackers on. The root means to lay bare, expose or empty out, the same family as the words for nakedness. With Jerusalem pictured as a woman, it carries the picture of stripping her as well as knocking the city down.

  3. Psalm 141:8 תְּעַ֥ר you lay bare

    But my eyes are fixed on You, O GOD the Lord. In You I seek refuge; do not leave my soul defenseless.

    Here: A request form ('do not…') of a verb that means emptying something out or stripping it bare. Rebekah 'emptied' her jar into the trough (Gen 24:20). With 'life' as its object it suggests 'do not let my life drain out' (into death) and also 'do not leave me stripped and exposed.'

Isaiah · 4

  1. Isaiah 3:17 יְעָרֶֽה׃ ס he will lay bare

    the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will make their foreheads bare.”

  2. Isaiah 22:6 עֵרָ֖ה it uncovered

    Elam takes up a quiver, with chariots and horsemen, and Kir uncovers the shield.

  3. Isaiah 32:15 יֵ֨עָרֶ֥ה it will be poured out

    until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high. Then the desert will be an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest.

    Here: Passive form: 'is emptied out / is poured out.' The verb is used for tipping a jar until it is empty (Gen 24:20), so the picture is of a container emptied completely over the people, not a light sprinkling. This passive form occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible.

  4. Isaiah 53:12 הֶעֱרָ֤ה he poured out

    Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He has poured out His life unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors. Yet He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.

    Here: 'He emptied out / laid bare.' The picture is a jar tipped until it is empty (Gen 24:20) or something left exposed with no protection (Ps 141:8). The verb is active: he gave his life, it was not only taken.

Lamentations · 1

  1. Lamentations 4:21 וְתִתְעָרִֽי׃ ס and you may strip yourself naked

    So rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz. Yet the cup will pass to you as well; you will get drunk and expose yourself.

    Here: 'And you will lay yourself bare'. The verb form means the drunk woman exposes herself. Public nakedness was deep shame, and also how captives were led away (Isaiah 20:4). It reverses Lamentations 1:8, where everyone saw Jerusalem's nakedness.

Habakkuk · 1

  1. Habakkuk 3:13 עָר֛וֹת you have laid bare

    You went forth for the salvation of Your people, to save Your anointed. You crushed the head of the house of the wicked and stripped him from head to toe. Selah

    Here: 'Laying bare': used for razing a city down to its foundations (Psalm 137:7) and for stripping a person naked. Both pictures are in play: a house torn down to its base, and a defeated enemy stripped.

Zephaniah · 1

  1. Zephaniah 2:14 עֵרָֽה׃ he will lay bare

    Herds will lie down in her midst, creatures of every kind. Both the desert owl and screech owl will roost atop her pillars. Their calls will sound from the window, but desolation will lie on the threshold, for He will expose the beams of cedar.

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