Hebrew word · H6298

פָּגַשׁ

nifgashu

to meet

The verb פָּגַשׁ means 'to meet, encounter, come upon'. Sometimes the meeting is neutral (Gen 32:17; 1 Sam 25:20). Sometimes it is a confrontation (Hos 13:8, 'I will meet them like a bear robbed of her cubs'; Exod 4:24, where Yahweh 'met' Moses and sought to kill him).

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

What it means

1) to meet, join, encounter

1a) (Qal) to meet, encounter

1b) (Niphal) to meet together, meet each other

1c) (Piel) to meet, encounter

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 Proverbs 22:2

Range of meaning

The verb פָּגַשׁ means 'to meet, encounter, come upon'. Sometimes the meeting is neutral (Gen 32:17; 1 Sam 25:20). Sometimes it is a confrontation (Hos 13:8, 'I will meet them like a bear robbed of her cubs'; Exod 4:24, where Yahweh 'met' Moses and sought to kill him). The form used here makes it mutual: 'meet one another'. It appears with this sense in Ps 85:10 [11 Heb.], 'steadfast love and faithfulness meet', and in the near twin of this verse, Prov 29:13, 'the poor man and the oppressor meet'.

Against the English

KJV/ESV 'meet together' is close to the Hebrew, but modern English hears a scheduled gathering. BSB/WEB/NIV 'have this in common' (NASB 'a common bond') turn the encounter into a shared attribute. That makes the link to the second line smooth, but the picture of two people crossing paths is lost.

How it drifted

'Meet together' in Early Modern English easily meant 'encounter, come face to face'. Today it sounds like assembling for a meeting or for worship. The newer 'have this in common' is an interpretive paraphrase rather than drift.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ps 85:11 (reciprocal meeting of virtues); Prov 29:13 (poor and oppressor 'meet', with Yahweh giving light to both). The Greek Septuagint has synēntēsan allēlois, 'met one another', and the Vulgate has obviaverunt sibi, 'came across each other'. Both keep the idea of an encounter (per Rahlfs LXX; Vulgate).

From the study of Proverbs 17:12

Range of meaning

To meet or encounter someone. It is often used of meeting by chance, and quite often of a hostile meeting: running into danger, or falling upon someone to attack. Related to pāgaʿ, 'to meet, strike'.

Against the English

English 'meet' sounds neutral or even friendly ('nice to meet you'). Here the Hebrew suggests being caught by an attack. Translations that say 'better to meet' keep the word but lose that menace, and they also lose the wish form.

Used elsewhere in the period

Hos 13:8 uses the same verb and the same image. God says, 'I will fall upon them (ʾepgĕšēm) like a bear bereaved (kədōb šakkûl) and tear open their chest.' Amos 5:19 has a man who escapes a lion only for a bear to 'meet' him (pəgāʿô, the related verb). Exod 4:24: 'the LORD met him and sought to kill him.'

From the study of Exodus 4:24

Range of meaning

To meet or encounter someone, usually face to face and often unexpectedly. The tone depends on context. It can be friendly (Aaron meets Moses, Exod 4:27; Esau meets Jacob, Gen 33:8) or violent: "I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs" (Hos 13:8). Its close relative paga' also covers "to strike, attack".

Against the English

Most versions say "met". In modern English that suggests a neutral or social meeting. The NLT's "confronted" is closer to the threat here. "Met" is not wrong, but by itself it hides that this is an ambush.

How it drifted

English "meet" has become mostly neutral and social. The Hebrew word took its friendly or hostile colour from context, and here the context is plainly deadly.

Used elsewhere in the period

Hosea 13:8 uses it for a predator's attack. In Exodus 4:27 the very same form (vayyifgeshehu, "and he met him") describes Aaron meeting Moses at the mountain of God. The narrator seems to pair the two deliberately: Moses is "met" once by Yahweh in deadly confrontation and once by his brother in welcome.

Where it appears

Genesis · 2

  1. Genesis 32:17 יִֽפְגָּשְׁךָ֞ he will meet you

    He instructed the one in the lead, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘To whom do you belong, where are you going, and whose animals are these before you?’

  2. Genesis 33:8 פָּגָ֑שְׁתִּי I have met

    “What do you mean by sending this whole company to meet me?” asked Esau. “To find favor in your sight, my lord,” Jacob answered.

Exodus · 2

  1. Exodus 4:24 וַיִּפְגְּשֵׁ֣הוּ and he met him

    Now at a lodging place along the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him.

    Here: "And he met him": a face-to-face encounter, and in context a hostile one, an ambush or confrontation. The object "him" is only a pronoun suffix. Hebrew does not say whether it means Moses or his son. The exact same form is used in 4:27, where Aaron "met him" in peace at the mountain of God.

  2. Exodus 4:27 וַֽיִּפְגְּשֵׁ֛הוּ and he met him

    Meanwhile, the LORD had said to Aaron, “Go and meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him.

1 Samuel · 1

  1. 1 Samuel 25:20 וַתִּפְגֹּ֖שׁ and she met

    As Abigail came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, she saw David and his men coming down toward her, and she met them.

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 2:13 וַֽיִּפְגְּשׁ֛וּם and they met them

    So Joab son of Zeruiah and the servants of David marched out and met them by the pool of Gibeon. And the two groups took up positions on opposite sides of the pool.

Job · 1

  1. Job 5:14 יְפַגְּשׁוּ־ they meet

    They encounter darkness by day and grope at noon as in the night.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 85:10 נִפְגָּ֑שׁוּ they meet together

    Loving devotion and faithfulness have joined together; righteousness and peace have kissed.

    Here: A form of 'meet' that is reciprocal here: the two come face to face and meet each other. The same verb is used for Aaron meeting Moses before he kisses him (Exod 4:27), so this is a reunion.

Proverbs · 3

  1. Proverbs 17:12 פָּג֬וֹשׁ may he meet

    It is better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly.

    Here: This is a bare verb form with no subject attached to it (an infinitive, the 'to meet' form). Here it works as a short, blunt wish: 'Let it meet…!' The verb often describes a hostile run-in, so it pictures someone stumbling into an attack, not a polite meeting.

  2. Proverbs 22:2 נִפְגָּ֑שׁוּ they meet together

    The rich and the poor have this in common: The LORD is Maker of them all.

    Here: A form of 'meet, encounter' with a 'one another' meaning: the two come face to face. The past-tense form states a general truth that always holds, as proverbs often do ('rich and poor run into each other'). It means a real encounter, not a planned gathering.

  3. Proverbs 29:13 נִפְגָּ֑שׁוּ they meet together

    The poor man and the oppressor have this in common: The LORD gives light to the eyes of both.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 34:14 וּפָגְשׁ֤וּ and they will meet

    The desert creatures will meet with hyenas, and one wild goat will call to another. There the night creature will settle and find her place of repose.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 41:6 כִּפְגֹ֣שׁ when met

    And Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went. When Ishmael encountered the men, he said, “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam.”

Hosea · 1

  1. Hosea 13:8 אֶפְגְּשֵׁם֙ I will meet them

    Like a bear robbed of her cubs I will attack them, and I will tear open their chests. There I will devour them like a lion, like a wild beast tearing them apart.

    Here: 'I will meet them / run into them.' The verb means coming face to face with someone, and here it is a hostile ambush. It picks up v. 7, where God lurks by the path like a leopard: the lurking predator now comes out.

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