Hebrew word · H6438

פִּנָּה

pinah

corner

Pinnāh is "corner": the corner of a house, a street, a wall, an altar, and in building the cornerstone that sets the line of two walls and carries their joint. It is used figuratively for leaders, the "cornerstones" of a people (Judges 20:2; 1 Samuel 14:38; Isaiah 19:13; Zechariah 10:4).

Appears 29 times in 29 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) corner

1a) corner (of square objects)

1b) corner (of ruler or chief-fig.)

Also means: pen (פֵּן "Corner" H6434)

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 Isaiah 28:16

Range of meaning

Pinnāh is "corner": the corner of a house, a street, a wall, an altar, and in building the cornerstone that sets the line of two walls and carries their joint. It is used figuratively for leaders, the "cornerstones" of a people (Judges 20:2; 1 Samuel 14:38; Isaiah 19:13; Zechariah 10:4). Yāqār means precious, valuable, costly, honoured; with stones it often means large dressed building stones of high value (1 Kings 5:17; 7:9–11).

Against the English

"Precious cornerstone" is fair. Modern readers may picture a ceremonial dated block set at a building's corner during a dedication. The ancient cornerstone was a structural foundation stone, chosen and dressed with care because the building's alignment depended on it. "Precious" means costly, high-grade, not sentimental.

How it drifted

The modern custom of ceremonial "cornerstones" with dates and inscriptions colours the word.

Used elsewhere in the period

Job 38:6: God laid the earth's "cornerstone". Psalm 118:22: "the stone the builders rejected has become the head of the corner (rōʾš pinnāh)". Jeremiah 51:26 uses "stone for a corner… stone for foundations" together. Isaiah 19:13 calls Egypt's leaders "the cornerstone of her tribes" who led her astray, a telling contrast with Jerusalem's leaders here.

From the study of Proverbs 7:12

Range of meaning

A corner: of a building, a wall, a street, or a rooftop. In the phrase "cornerstone" it is the key stone. As a picture it can also mean a leader, the "corner" of a people (Judg 20:2; Isa 19:13).

Against the English

All versions say "corner." That is accurate. It needs no correction.

Used elsewhere in the period

Street corner in Prov 7:8 ("passing along the street near her corner"). A housetop corner in Prov 21:9 and 25:24 ("better to live in a corner of the roof"). Cornerstone in Ps 118:22 and Job 38:6.

From the study of Proverbs 7:8

Range of meaning

Corner: of a building, an altar, a roof, a street, or a city wall. 'Head of the corner' means the cornerstone. In a figurative sense it can mean the 'cornerstones' of a people, its leaders (Judg 20:2; Zech 10:4).

Against the English

All versions say 'corner,' which is accurate. What English readers can miss is the possessive: it is her corner, a place she has claimed.

Used elsewhere in the period

Prov 7:12 says she lurks 'beside every corner' (the same word and the same preposition ʾēṣel). Prov 21:9 and 25:24 speak of 'a corner of the roof.' Ps 118:22 has 'the head of the corner.' In ancient Near Eastern towns, corners where lanes met were places for loitering and waiting. Compare Tamar waiting at the roadside (Gen 38:14) and Jer 3:2, 'by the roads you sat waiting.'

Where it appears

Exodus · 2
  1. Exodus 27:2 פִּנֹּתָ֔יו corners its

    Make a horn on each of its four corners, so that the horns are of one piece, and overlay it with bronze.

  2. Exodus 38:2 פִּנֹּתָ֔יו corners its

    He made a horn at each of its four corners, so that the horns and altar were of one piece, and he overlaid the altar with bronze.

Judges · 1
  1. Judges 20:2 פִּנּ֣וֹת [the] corners of

    The leaders of all the people and all the tribes of Israel presented themselves in the assembly of God’s people: 400,000 men on foot, armed with swords.

1 Samuel · 1
  1. 1 Samuel 14:38 פִּנּ֣וֹת [the] corners of

    Therefore Saul said, “Come here, all you leaders of the troops, and let us investigate how this sin has occurred today.

1 Kings · 1
  1. 1 Kings 7:34 פִּנּ֔וֹת [the] corners of

    Each stand had four handles, one for each corner, projecting from the stand.

2 Kings · 1
  1. 2 Kings 14:13 הַפִּנָּ֔ה the corner

    There at Beth-shemesh, Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah. Then Jehoash went to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate—a section of four hundred cubits.

2 Chronicles · 3
  1. 2 Chronicles 26:9 הַפִּנָּ֛ה the corner

    Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and the angle in the wall, and he fortified them.

  2. 2 Chronicles 26:15 הַפִּנּ֔וֹת the corners

    And in Jerusalem he made skillfully designed devices to shoot arrows and catapult large stones from the towers and corners. So his fame spread far and wide, for he was helped tremendously until he became powerful.

  3. 2 Chronicles 28:24 פִּנָּ֖ה corner

    Then Ahaz gathered up the articles of the house of God, cut them into pieces, shut the doors of the house of the LORD, and set up altars of his own on every street corner in Jerusalem.

Nehemiah · 3
  1. Nehemiah 3:24 הַפִּנָּֽה׃ the corner

    After him, Binnui son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah to the angle and the corner,

  2. Nehemiah 3:31 הַפִּנָּֽה׃ the corner

    Next to him, Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and the merchants, opposite the Inspection Gate, and as far as the upper room above the corner.

  3. Nehemiah 3:32 הַפִּנָּה֙ the corner

    And between the upper room above the corner and the Sheep Gate, the goldsmiths and merchants made repairs.

Job · 2
  1. Job 1:19 פִּנּ֣וֹת [the] corners of

    when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

  2. Job 38:6 פִּנָּתָֽהּ׃ corner its

    On what were its foundations set, or who laid its cornerstone,

    Here: "Its corner." Together with "stone" it means the cornerstone: the main foundation block at a corner, which fixes where the walls run. "Its" again refers to the earth.

Psalms · 1
  1. Psalm 118:22 פִּנָּֽה׃ [the] corner

    The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

    Here: The corner or angle of a building, where two walls meet and have to be locked together. 'Head of a corner' is the principal stone at that point. Elsewhere in Hebrew, pinnâ can also mean a 'chief' or leader of the people, so a ruler may be heard behind the image.

Proverbs · 4
  1. Proverbs 7:8 פִּנָּ֑הּ corner her

    crossing the street near her corner, strolling down the road to her house,

    Here: 'Her corner.' The 'her' points back to the 'forbidden/strange woman' of v.5. She has not yet appeared (that happens in v.10), but the narrator already names the spot as her territory. In v.12 she lurks 'beside every corner,' using the same word.

  2. Proverbs 7:12 פִּנָּ֣ה corner

    Now in the street, now in the squares, she lurks at every corner.

    Here: A street corner, where two lanes meet and someone coming along cannot see what is around the turn. It is the very corner the young man passes in verse 8 ("near her corner").

  3. Proverbs 21:9 פִּנַּת־ a corner of

    Better to live on a corner of the roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

    Here: 'A corner of.' The edge of the flat roof, where two walls meet below. It is the smallest, most exposed spot on the house.

  4. Proverbs 25:24 פִּנַּת־ [the] corner of

    Better to live on a corner of the roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

Isaiah · 2
  1. Isaiah 19:13 פִּנַּ֥ת [the] corner of

    The princes of Zoan have become fools; the princes of Memphis are deceived. The cornerstones of her tribes have led Egypt astray.

  2. Isaiah 28:16 פִּנַּ֤ת a corner of

    So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.

    Here: The corner of a building's foundation, the stone that fixes where the walls run and bears their meeting weight.

Jeremiah · 3
  1. Jeremiah 31:38 הַפִּנָּֽה׃ the corner

    “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when this city will be rebuilt for Me, from the tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.

    Here: 'The Corner (Gate)', a gate at a corner of the wall, probably the northwest (2 Kgs 14:13; 2 Chr 26:9; Zech 14:10). Together with Hananel it marks out the whole northern line of the wall.

  2. Jeremiah 31:40 פִּנַּ֨ת [the] corner of

    The whole valley of the dead bodies and ashes, and all the fields as far as the Kidron Valley, to the corner of the Horse Gate to the east, will be holy to the LORD. It will never again be uprooted or demolished.”

    Here: 'The corner of.' The point where the wall turns. The list follows the city wall around, angle by angle.

  3. Jeremiah 51:26 לְפִנָּ֔ה for a corner

    No one shall retrieve from you a cornerstone or a foundation stone, because you will become desolate forever,” declares the LORD.

Ezekiel · 2
  1. Ezekiel 43:20 פִּנּ֣וֹת [the] corners of

    You are to take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the ledge, and all around the rim; thus you will cleanse the altar and make atonement for it.

  2. Ezekiel 45:19 פִּנּ֥וֹת [the] corners of

    And the priest is to take some of the blood from the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the gateposts of the inner court.

Zephaniah · 2
  1. Zephaniah 1:16 הַפִּנּ֥וֹת the corners

    a day of horn blast and battle cry against the fortified cities, and against the high corner towers.

  2. Zephaniah 3:6 פִּנּוֹתָ֔ם corners their

    “I have cut off the nations; their corner towers are destroyed. I have made their streets deserted with no one to pass through. Their cities are laid waste, with no man, no inhabitant.

    Here: "Their corners," meaning the fortified angles of a city wall, where towers stood and defenders were strongest. Zephaniah has already named these "high corner towers" in 1:16. A minority reads it as "their chiefs" (see the debate below).

Zechariah · 1
  1. Zechariah 10:4 פִנָּה֙ a corner

    The cornerstone will come from Judah, the tent peg from him, as well as the battle bow and every ruler together.

    Here: The corner of a building, the load-bearing angle where two walls are bound together. In Hebrew it was already a set image for a leader or chief (Judges 20:2; Isaiah 19:13). Here it means the leader on whom the community's structure rests.

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