Hebrew word · H6418

פֶּ֫לֶךְ

pelekh

district

Spindle: a hand-held shaft, usually with a whorl (weight) of stone, bone or clay, that is twirled so that it twists drawn-out fibre into thread and winds it up. A separate Hebrew word spelled the same way means "district" or "work-gang" (Nehemiah 3:9–18, borrowed from Akkadian pilku).

Appears 10 times in 9 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) whirl of spindle, stick, district

1a) whirl of spindle, stick

1b) district, circuit

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 31:19

Range of meaning

Spindle: a hand-held shaft, usually with a whorl (weight) of stone, bone or clay, that is twirled so that it twists drawn-out fibre into thread and winds it up. A separate Hebrew word spelled the same way means "district" or "work-gang" (Nehemiah 3:9–18, borrowed from Akkadian pilku). That one is unrelated.

Against the English

Rendered "spindle" in BSB, WEB, ESV, NIV and NASB. KJV and YLT have "distaff" (the swap noted above). Strong's lists "district" first because it treats the two homonyms under one number. That is the wrong sense for this verse.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ugaritic plk: in the Baal myth (KTU 1.4 II) the great goddess Athirat holds her spindle in her hand. Akkadian pilakku, "spindle," appears in curses where men are turned into women. 2 Samuel 3:29: David curses Joab's house so that it will never lack "one who holds the spindle" (machaziq bappelekh), that is, a man unfit for war. Spindle whorls are among the most common finds in Iron Age Israelite houses.

From the study of Nehemiah 3:14

Range of meaning

(1) A district or administrative region (only in Nehemiah 3:9–18). (2) A spindle or spindle-whorl (2 Samuel 3:29; Proverbs 31:19). Many scholars connect the 'district' sense with Akkadian pilku/pilkhu, which means a district or a duty of labor service owed to the state.

Against the English

BSB, WEB, NIV, ESV: 'district'. KJV: 'part', which suggests a fraction of a town rather than an administrative region. YLT: 'district'.

How it drifted

The KJV translators did not know the word as an administrative term. In vv.9, 12 and 17–18 it appears as 'half (of) the district', which they rendered 'half part', and they carried 'part' into this verse.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Akkadian texts from Mesopotamia, pilku refers to labor or service obligations attached to land. Such obligations continued under Persian rule (compare Babylonian archives such as the Murashu texts, where land held in return for service is common). In Nehemiah 3 this word marks the officials of Jerusalem, Beth-haccherem, Mizpah, Beth-zur and Keilah.

Where it appears

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 3:29 בַּפֶּ֛לֶךְ on the spindle

    May it whirl over the head of Joab and over the entire house of his father, and may the house of Joab never be without one having a discharge or skin disease, or one who leans on a staff or falls by the sword or lacks food.”

Nehemiah · 8

  1. Nehemiah 3:9 פֶּ֥לֶךְ [the] district of

    Next to them, Rephaiah son of Hur, ruler of a half-district of Jerusalem, made repairs;

  2. Nehemiah 3:12 פֶּ֣לֶךְ [the] district of

    And next to them, Shallum son of Hallohesh, ruler of the other half-district of Jerusalem, made repairs, with the help of his daughters.

  3. Nehemiah 3:14 פֶּ֣לֶךְ [the] district of

    The Dung Gate was repaired by Malchijah son of Rechab, ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem. He rebuilt it and installed its doors, bolts, and bars.

    Here: An administrative unit of the Persian province of Judah (Yehud). It may also carry the sense of a labor obligation owed by that district (see studies).

  4. Nehemiah 3:15 פֶּ֣לֶךְ [the] district of

    The Fountain Gate was repaired by Shallun son of Col-hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah. He rebuilt it, roofed it, and installed its doors, bolts, and bars. He also repaired the wall of the Pool of Shelah near the king’s garden, as far as the stairs that descend from the City of David.

  5. Nehemiah 3:16 פֶּ֣לֶךְ [the] district of

    Beyond him, Nehemiah son of Azbuk, ruler of a half-district of Beth-zur, made repairs up to a point opposite the tombs of David, as far as the artificial pool and the House of the Mighty.

  6. Nehemiah 3:17 פֶ֥לֶךְ לְפִלְכּֽוֹ׃ ס [the] district of, for district his

    Next to him, the Levites made repairs under Rehum son of Bani, and next to him, Hashabiah, ruler of a half-district of Keilah, made repairs for his district.

  7. Nehemiah 3:18 פֶּ֥לֶךְ [the] district of

    Next to him, their countrymen made repairs under Binnui son of Henadad, ruler of the other half-district of Keilah.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 31:19 פָֽלֶךְ׃ [the] spindle

    She stretches out her hands to the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

    Here: "A spindle." This is the weighted stick that is set twirling to twist fibre into thread. The same word appears in 2 Samuel 3:29, and related words appear in Ugaritic and Akkadian, so the meaning is well established.

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