Hebrew word · H6487

פִּקָּדוֹן

befikadon

deposit

Something placed in someone's charge: a deposit held for safekeeping (here and Lev 6:4 [Heb 5:23]), or a reserve store of grain (Gen 41:36). It comes from paqad, 'to appoint, put in charge'.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

deposit, store, supply

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 Leviticus 6:2

Range of meaning

Something placed in someone's charge: a deposit held for safekeeping (here and Lev 6:4 [Heb 5:23]), or a reserve store of grain (Gen 41:36). It comes from paqad, 'to appoint, put in charge'.

Against the English

KJV 'that which was delivered him to keep' is clear. Modern 'deposit' may suggest a bank, which did not exist in this form.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exod 22:7–13 lays down the procedure for deposits that go missing, and if there are no witnesses the keeper swears before God. Later Jewish law (Mishnah, Bava Metzia) works out the duties of the paid and unpaid keeper in detail.

From the study of Leviticus 6:4

Range of meaning

A deposit, something placed in another's care for safekeeping. From paqad, 'to attend to, appoint, entrust'. It appears only here, in 5:21 (EVV 6:2) and in Gen 41:36 ('reserve' of grain).

Against the English

KJV 'that which was delivered him to keep', BSB 'deposit entrusted to him'. Both are accurate. 'Deposit' can suggest a bank to modern readers, but here it means goods left with a neighbour.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exod 22:7–13 sets out the laws for deposits, including an oath before God when the goods go missing. The Laws of Hammurabi (§§120–126) also deal with deposits that are denied or lost, which shows this was a well-known legal problem across the ancient Near East.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 41:36 לְפִקָּדוֹן֙ <into> a store

    This food will be a reserve for the land during the seven years of famine to come upon the land of Egypt. Then the country will not perish in the famine.”

Leviticus · 2

  1. Leviticus 6:2 בְּפִקָּד֗וֹן <in> an item entrusted

    “If someone sins and acts unfaithfully against the LORD by deceiving his neighbor in regard to a deposit or security entrusted to him or stolen, or if he extorts his neighbor

    Here: 'Concerning a deposit': goods or money left with someone for safekeeping, which the keeper then claims never to have received or says were lost.

  2. Leviticus 6:4 הַפִּקָּד֔וֹן the item entrusted

    once he has sinned and becomes guilty, he must return what he has stolen or taken by extortion, or the deposit entrusted to him, or the lost property he found,

    Here: Goods or money left with someone for safekeeping. The keeper had denied ever receiving it (v. 2).

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