Hebrew word · H6207

עָרַק

ha'orekim

to gnaw

To gnaw. In the Bible it occurs only in Job, here and in 30:3, where the destitute outcasts 'gnaw the dry ground'. A related noun in Aramaic and Arabic (ʿirq) means 'vein, sinew, root'.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

(Qal) to gnaw, chew

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 Job 30:17

Range of meaning

To gnaw. In the Bible it occurs only in Job, here and in 30:3, where the destitute outcasts 'gnaw the dry ground'. A related noun in Aramaic and Arabic (ʿirq) means 'vein, sinew, root'.

Against the English

BSB, NIV and WEB give 'gnawing pains', ESV 'the pain that gnaws me'. KJV's 'my sinews' follows the Aramaic/Arabic noun. YLT's 'eyelids' has no clear basis in the standard lexicons. 'Pains' is something English adds to explain who or what the 'gnawers' are.

How it drifted

KJV's 'sinews' comes from medieval Jewish interpreters and the Septuagint ('my sinews'), who read the word through the related noun for veins and sinews. Most modern lexicons (BDB, HALOT) take it as the verb 'to gnaw', because Job 30:3 uses exactly that sense.

Used elsewhere in the period

Job 30:3 (הָעֹרְקִים צִיָּה, 'who gnaw the dry ground'). Aramaic and later Hebrew use ʿarqā for 'sinew/vein'. Septuagint: τὰ νεῦρά μου ('my sinews'). Vulgate: 'qui me comedunt' ('those who eat me').

From the study of Job 30:3

Range of meaning

The root is so rare in Hebrew that its meaning comes from related languages. Aramaic and Syriac ʿraq and Arabic ʿaraqa mean 'gnaw, strip meat from a bone'. Its only other Hebrew appearance is the noun in Job 30:17, 'my gnawing [pains] do not rest', which supports 'gnaw'. A different, common Aramaic verb with the same letters means 'flee'.

Against the English

'Gnaw' (BSB, WEB, ESV, NASB) against 'fleeing' (KJV, YLT) and 'roamed' (NIV, closer to the fleeing picture).

How it drifted

This is a lexical fork, not a modern drift. Jewish tradition and the Septuagint read the familiar Aramaic 'flee'. Modern comparative study and 30:17 favour 'gnaw'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Septuagint: hoi pheúgontes, 'those fleeing'. Vulgate: rodebant, 'they were gnawing'. The Aramaic Targum of Job also works with the 'flee' sense. Modern lexicons (HALOT, BDB) list 'gnaw' for this verse.

Where it appears

Job · 2

  1. Job 30:3 הַֽעֹרְקִ֥ים the [ones who] gnaw

    Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night.

    Here: 'The ones who gnaw': people who chew at whatever the parched ground yields. The verb occurs only here, and its noun only in 30:17 ('my gnawing pains'). Related Aramaic and Arabic words mean 'gnaw (a bone)'. Another Aramaic word with the same letters means 'flee', which is where the 'fleeing' translations come from.

  2. Job 30:17 וְ֝עֹרְקַ֗י and gnawing [pains] my

    Night pierces my bones, and my gnawing pains never rest.

    Here: A participle with 'my': 'my gnawers', the things that gnaw at me. These are most likely his pains pictured as creatures chewing on him. Some take it as worms (compare 7:5). An older line of interpretation reads 'my sinews/veins'.

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