Hebrew word · H6340

פָּזַר

pizar

to scatter

To scatter or disperse. It is used of bones (Ps 53:5), of flocks scattered by bad shepherds or predators (Jer 50:17, 'Israel is a scattered sheep'), of a defeated people (Esth 3:8, 'a people scattered and dispersed'), and also of generous giving (Ps 112:9).

Appears 10 times in 10 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to scatter, disperse

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to scatter

1a2) scattered (participle)

1b) (Niphal) to be scattered

1c) (Piel) to scatter

1d) (Pual) to be scattered

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 Joel 3:2

Range of meaning

To scatter or disperse. It is used of bones (Ps 53:5), of flocks scattered by bad shepherds or predators (Jer 50:17, 'Israel is a scattered sheep'), of a defeated people (Esth 3:8, 'a people scattered and dispersed'), and also of generous giving (Ps 112:9).

Against the English

All the versions say 'scattered.' The English is accurate, but readers may miss that it is technical language for exile and deportation.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jer 50:17 pairs the word with deportation by Assyria and Babylon. Esth 3:8 uses it for the Jewish diaspora under Persia. In Joel 3:3–6 the 'scattering' includes selling Judean children as slaves to the 'Greeks' (Yevanim), which points to slave trade along the eastern Mediterranean.

From the study of Proverbs 11:24

Range of meaning

To scatter or disperse. It is used of scattering a flock or a people (Jer 50:17; Esth 3:8, 'a people scattered'), bones (Ps 53:5), and frost spread like ashes (Ps 147:16). In the intensive (piel) stem it can mean to distribute widely and lavishly, especially to give generously (Ps 112:9). The verb itself is neutral. Context decides whether the scattering is loss, judgment or open-handed giving.

Against the English

KJV, WEB and YLT keep the literal 'scatter'. BSB, NIV and ESV interpret it as 'gives freely'. 'Scatter' keeps the image of a hand flinging things wide, but to modern ears it can sound careless. 'Gives freely' is clearer but loses the picture.

How it drifted

In English 'scatter' and especially 'scattering one's money' suggest waste. The Greek equivalent also took on that sense in the New Testament (Luke 15:13; 16:1, where the prodigal and the steward 'scatter' property, meaning waste it). The Hebrew word in a wisdom context about generosity does not carry that negative colour.

Used elsewhere in the period

Psalm 112:9 is the closest parallel: 'He has scattered (pizzar), he has given to the needy; his righteousness endures forever.' Paul quotes it in 2 Corinthians 9:9 in a passage about generous giving. The Septuagint of Proverbs 11:24 turns the scattering into 'sowing', which brings in a farming image that the Hebrew verb itself does not require.

From the study of Esther 3:8

Range of meaning

Pazar means to scatter, disperse, or distribute widely (Ps 112:9 'he has scattered abroad, given to the poor'; Jer 50:17 'a scattered sheep is Israel'; Joel 3:2 [Heb 4:2] 'they scattered among the nations'). Parad means to divide, separate, part company (Gen 2:10 the river 'divides'; Gen 10:5 the nations 'separated'; Gen 13:9 Abram and Lot part). Both are passive participles here, describing a state: 'in a scattered and separated condition.'

Against the English

BSB 'scattered and dispersed' and KJV 'scattered abroad and dispersed' treat the pair as near-synonyms meaning geographic spread. YLT 'scattered and separated' keeps the second word's sense of being set apart. NLT moves toward the social sense ('keep themselves separate').

Used elsewhere in the period

Pazar is regular diaspora vocabulary in the prophets. Being 'separate' was a stock charge against Jews in Greek and Roman writing: Hecataeus of Abdera (as reported by Diodorus 40.3) calls Jewish life 'unsociable', 3 Maccabees 3:4 says Jews 'kept themselves apart in the matter of foods', and Tacitus (Histories 5.5) speaks of their 'separateness'. The Greek Addition B to Esther (the edict text) expands Haman's charge along these lines.

Where it appears

Esther · 1

  1. Esther 3:8 מְפֻזָּ֤ר scattered

    Then Haman informed King Xerxes, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples of every province of your kingdom. Their laws are different from everyone else’s, and they do not obey the king’s laws. So it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them.

    Here: Spread out in all directions, the vocabulary of diaspora (compare Jer 50:17, 'Israel is a scattered sheep'). The passive form implies they were scattered by others, which matches the exile history in Esther 2:6.

Psalms · 5

  1. Psalm 53:5 פִּ֭זַּר he has scattered

    There they are, overwhelmed with dread, where there was nothing to fear. For God has scattered the bones of those who besieged you. You put them to shame, for God has despised them.

    Here: 'He has scattered', in the intensive verb form: flung about, strewn. It could recall a past rescue or announce a coming one as already certain.

  2. Psalm 89:10 פִּזַּ֥רְתָּ you scattered

    You crushed Rahab like a carcass; You scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.

  3. Psalm 112:9 פִּזַּ֤ר׀ he scatters

    He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be lifted high in honor.

    Here: An intensive verb form: he scatters far and wide, like a sower throwing seed or a man flinging out handfuls. It pictures giving that isn't counted out carefully. It stands first with no object and no 'and', so the act itself gets all the weight.

  4. Psalm 141:7 נִפְזְר֥וּ they have been scattered

    As when one plows and breaks up the soil, so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol.

    Here: A passive form, "they have been scattered," and the action is pictured as finished. The bones lie strewn about like the clods or chips of the simile. The same verb is used for God scattering the bones of besiegers in Psalm 53:5.

  5. Psalm 147:16 יְפַזֵּֽר׃ he scatters

    He spreads the snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes;

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 11:24 מְ֭פַזֵּר [is one who] scatters

    One gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds what is right, only to become poor.

    Here: An active participle (an ongoing habit): 'one who keeps scattering', i.e. who hands out his goods widely and freely. Psalm 112:9 uses the same verb for giving to the poor. Here the picture is an open hand that spreads what it has, not careless waste.

Jeremiah · 2

  1. Jeremiah 3:13 וַתְּפַזְּרִ֨י and you have scattered

    Only acknowledge your guilt, that you have rebelled against the LORD your God. You have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every green tree and have not obeyed My voice,’” declares the LORD.

    Here: 'And you scattered.' The form is intensive. The picture is of something given out recklessly in all directions, like a woman spreading her attentions among many lovers.

  2. Jeremiah 50:17 פְזוּרָ֛ה scattered

    Israel is a scattered flock, chased away by lions. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria; the last to crush his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”

    Here: A passive participle ('having been scattered'). The sheep has been split off from the flock and is now on its own, where predators hunt. The verb also has a feminine ending to agree with seh.

Joel · 1

  1. Joel 3:2 פִּזְּר֣וּ they have scattered

    I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning My people, My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations as they divided up My land.

    Here: An intensive form, meaning to disperse widely. It describes mass deportation and the scattering of captives, the standard imperial practice of the time. The tense is past: the scattering has already happened.

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