Hebrew word · H6295

פַּגְעִיאֵל

pag'i'el

Pagiel

The name is built on pagaʿ, whose range covers: meet or encounter someone; fall upon someone, sometimes violently; make a request on someone's behalf, i.e. intercede (Jeremiah 7:16; Ruth 1:16, "do not press me"); and border on or reach (Joshua 19).

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man living at the time of Egypt and Wilderness, first mentioned at Num.1.13;

son of: Ochran (H5918)

§ Pagiel = "event of God"

son of Ocran and chief of the tribe of Asher at the time of the exodus

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 Numbers 1:13

Range of meaning

The name is built on pagaʿ, whose range covers: meet or encounter someone; fall upon someone, sometimes violently; make a request on someone's behalf, i.e. intercede (Jeremiah 7:16; Ruth 1:16, "do not press me"); and border on or reach (Joshua 19). The related noun pegaʿ means "occurrence, chance event" (1 Kings 5:4 [5:18 in Hebrew]; Ecclesiastes 9:11). Proposed meanings for the name are "God has met / intervened", "encounter with God" and "God's (fortunate) event".

Against the English

English simply transliterates it ("Pagiel"). The theological statement inside the name cannot be seen.

Used elsewhere in the period

Appears only for this man: Numbers 1:13; 2:27; 7:72, 77; 10:26. In the Greek Septuagint the name is Phagaiēl, in the Latin Vulgate Phegihel.

Where it appears

Numbers · 5

  1. Numbers 1:13 פַּגְעִיאֵ֖ל Pagiel

    from Asher, Pagiel son of Ocran;

    Here: The personal name of Asher's chief. It is built from the verb pagaʿ ("meet, encounter, intervene") plus ʾēl ("God"), so roughly "God has met (us)" or "encounter with God". The exact sense is uncertain.

  2. Numbers 2:27 פַּגְעִיאֵ֖ל [was] Pagiel

    The tribe of Asher will camp next to it. The leader of the Asherites is Pagiel son of Ocran,

  3. Numbers 7:72 פַּגְעִיאֵ֖ל Pagiel

    On the eleventh day Pagiel son of Ocran, the leader of the Asherites, drew near.

  4. Numbers 7:77 פַּגְעִיאֵ֖ל Pagiel

    and a peace offering of two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Pagiel son of Ocran.

  5. Numbers 10:26 פַּגְעִיאֵ֖ל Pagiel

    Pagiel son of Ocran was over the division of the tribe of Asher,

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