Hebrew word · H6491

פָּקַח

pekach

to open

To open, almost always eyes (once ears, Isa 42:20).

Appears 20 times in 18 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to open (the eyes)

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to open (the eyes)

1a2) to open (the ears)

1b) (Niphal) to be opened

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 Genesis 3:5

Range of meaning

To open, almost always eyes (once ears, Isa 42:20). It is used for opening the eyes of the blind (Isa 35:5; 42:7), for God letting someone see what is hidden (Hagar sees the well, Gen 21:19; Elisha's servant sees the fiery horses, 2 Kgs 6:17), and for watchful attention (God's eyes open over Jerusalem, 1 Kgs 8:29).

Against the English

'Your eyes will be opened' is accurate. What English readers may miss is that in Hebrew this phrase usually announces a gift of revelation, often from God, so the serpent is offering spiritual insight.

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 21:19; 2 Kgs 6:17, 20; Isa 35:5; 42:7. The only other uses in Genesis 3 are 3:7, 'the eyes of both of them were opened.'

From the study of Genesis 3:7

Range of meaning

To open, almost always of eyes (once or twice of ears). It is used for literal opening (a revived child opens his eyes, 2 Kgs 4:35) and, more often, for being enabled to see what was there but unseen (2 Kgs 6:17; Gen 21:19). It can also be used of healing blindness (Isa 35:5; 42:7).

Against the English

All major English versions say "were opened," which is accurate. The English idiom "to have one's eyes opened" usually means a welcome insight. The Hebrew can mean that too, and the serpent offered it in that sense. The surrounding story turns it into irony.

Used elsewhere in the period

Niphal (passive) forms appear in Gen 3:5, 3:7 and Isa 35:5. In Gen 21:19 God opens Hagar's eyes to see a well. In 2 Kgs 6:17 YHWH opens the servant's eyes to see the fiery army. In the Greek Septuagint the word is dianoigō, which Luke 24:31 later uses for the Emmaus disciples ("their eyes were opened").

From the study of Isaiah 35:5

Range of meaning

A narrow verb, 'to open,' used almost only for eyes. Its uses include waking up or coming round (Prov 20:13; 2 Kgs 4:35, where the revived boy opens his eyes), suddenly seeing something that was there all along (Gen 21:19, Hagar sees the well; 2 Kgs 6:17, Elisha's servant sees the fiery army), becoming aware in a new way (Gen 3:5, 7), and God being asked to 'open your eyes and see' (Isa 37:17). It is used once for ears (Isa 42:20). The passive form here means 'be opened.'

Against the English

English 'opened' is accurate. What English cannot show is that this is a special eye-opening verb, separate from the everyday 'open' used later in the line.

Used elsewhere in the period

Psalm 146:8 uses the same words: YHWH pōqēaḥ ʿiwrîm, 'the LORD opens the blind,' as one of the defining acts of Israel's God, listed alongside freeing prisoners and lifting up the bowed down. Isaiah 42:7 gives the Servant the task 'to open blind eyes.' The Qumran text 4Q521, the 'Messianic Apocalypse' (1st century BC), takes up Psalm 146 and Isaiah 61: the Lord will free prisoners, 'give sight to the blind,' raise the bowed, heal the wounded and revive the dead. Later Jewish morning prayer blesses God as pōqēaḥ ʿiwrîm (Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 60b).

Similar words

Where it appears

Genesis · 3

  1. Genesis 3:5 וְנִפְקְח֖וּ and they will be opened

    “For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

    Here: 'And they will be opened.' The verb is passive, with no one named as doing the opening. It is the usual Hebrew verb for opening eyes, often in the sense of suddenly seeing what was hidden (Gen 21:19; 2 Kgs 6:17). It promises enlightenment. Verse 3:7 fulfils it to the letter, but what they see is that they are naked.

  2. Genesis 3:7 וַתִּפָּקַ֙חְנָה֙ and they were opened

    And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed together fig leaves and made coverings for themselves.

    Here: A passive form ("were opened") with no one named as the one who opens them. It repeats the serpent's own word from 3:5 ("your eyes will be opened"), so the reader hears the promise come true, but in an unexpected way.

  3. Genesis 21:19 וַיִּפְקַ֤ח and he opened

    Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

2 Kings · 6

  1. 2 Kings 4:35 וַיִּפְקַ֥ח and he opened

    Elisha turned away and paced back and forth across the room. Then he got on the bed and stretched himself out over the boy again, and the boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

  2. 2 Kings 6:17 פְּקַח־ וַיִּפְקַ֤ח open, and he opened

    Then Elisha prayed, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw that the hills were full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

    Here: A command form used as a request. The verb is used almost only for opening eyes (and once or twice ears). It asks God to let the man see something that is really there.

  3. 2 Kings 6:20 פְּקַ֥ח וַיִּפְקַ֤ח open, and he opened

    When they had entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O LORD, open the eyes of these men that they may see.” Then the LORD opened their eyes, and they looked around and discovered that they were in Samaria.

  4. 2 Kings 19:16 פְּקַ֧ח open

    Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see. Listen to the words that Sennacherib has sent to defy the living God.

Job · 2

  1. Job 14:3 פָּקַ֣חְתָּ do you open

    Do You open Your eyes to one like this? Will You bring him into judgment before You?

  2. Job 27:19 פָּקַ֣ח he opens

    He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more; when he opens his eyes, all is gone.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 146:8 פֹּ֘קֵ֤חַ [is] opening

    the LORD opens the eyes of the blind, the LORD lifts those who are weighed down, the LORD loves the righteous.

    Here: This verb almost always means opening eyes, and once ears. Its form describes ongoing, characteristic action: 'the one who opens.' Here it takes the blind people themselves as its object, which is why translations add 'the eyes of'.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 20:13 פְּקַ֖ח open

    Do not love sleep, or you will grow poor; open your eyes, and you will have plenty of food.

    Here: A command: open your eyes. In other words wake up, get out of bed and pay attention. It answers "sleep" in the first line.

Isaiah · 4

  1. Isaiah 35:5 תִּפָּקַ֖חְנָה they will be opened

    Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

    Here: A passive future form, 'they will be opened.' The verb is used almost only for opening eyes (and once for ears). No one is named as doing the opening, but v. 4 has just made clear that God is the one who acts.

  2. Isaiah 37:17 פְּקַ֧ח open

    Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see. Listen to all the words that Sennacherib has sent to defy the living God.

    Here: 'Open.' This verb is used almost only for eyes (and once for ears). It asks God to look at the situation directly, as a judge looks at the evidence.

  3. Isaiah 42:7 לִפְקֹ֖חַ to open

    to open the eyes of the blind, to bring prisoners out of the dungeon and those sitting in darkness out from the prison house.

    Here: "To open": the preposition le- plus the verb shows purpose, so this explains what the servant was appointed for in v. 6. In the Hebrew Bible this verb is used almost only for opening eyes (and once, in 42:20, ears), so the picture is already a face, not a door.

  4. Isaiah 42:20 פָּק֥וֹחַ they are open

    Though seeing many things, you do not keep watch. Though your ears are open, you do not hear.”

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 32:19 פְקֻח֗וֹת [are] opened

    the One great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are on all the ways of the sons of men, to reward each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.

    Here: 'Opened', a form describing a lasting state: God's eyes are wide open and stay open. It suggests alert, waking watchfulness. Nothing escapes notice.

Daniel · 1

  1. Daniel 9:18 פְּקַ֣ח open

    Incline Your ear, O my God, and hear; open Your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears Your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before You because of our righteous acts, but because of Your great compassion.

    Here: 'Open.' Used almost only of eyes. It asks God to stop acting as though he has not noticed. The written text has an emphatic form ('do open!').

Zechariah · 1

  1. Zechariah 12:4 אֶפְקַ֣ח I will open

    On that day, declares the LORD, I will strike every horse with panic, and every rider with madness. I will keep a watchful eye on the house of Judah, but I will strike with blindness all the horses of the nations.

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