Hebrew word · H6496

פָּקִיד

pakid

overseer

From paqad, "to attend to, appoint, oversee." It means an appointed overseer or official: commissioners over the harvest (Gen 41:34), a city official (Judg 9:28), temple officials (2 Chr 24:11; 31:13). Pashhur son of Immer was "paqid nagid," chief officer, in the temple (Jer 20:1).

Appears 13 times in 13 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

commissioner, deputy, overseer, officer

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 Jeremiah 29:26

Range of meaning

From paqad, "to attend to, appoint, oversee." It means an appointed overseer or official: commissioners over the harvest (Gen 41:34), a city official (Judg 9:28), temple officials (2 Chr 24:11; 31:13). Pashhur son of Immer was "paqid nagid," chief officer, in the temple (Jer 20:1).

Against the English

"Chief officer" (BSB), "officers" (KJV), "inspectors" (YLT), ESV and NIV roughly "in charge." "Officer" can suggest police or the military to modern ears, but the role was a priestly administrator with policing powers inside the temple precinct.

Used elsewhere in the period

2 Kgs 11:18: the priest Jehoiada "appointed pequddot [guard posts or officers] over the house of the LORD," the probable origin of this office. Jer 20:1–2 shows the office in action against Jeremiah.

From the study of Nehemiah 11:9

Range of meaning

A person who has been appointed and holds a charge: an overseer, commissioner, deputy or officer. The noun comes from the verb paqad, which covers "to attend to, inspect, count (muster), appoint, put in charge." A paqid has been given responsibility for people or goods and answers for them to a higher authority.

Against the English

"Overseer" (KJV, WEB) and "officer" (BSB) both fit. YLT's "inspector" brings out the root's sense of checking and counting. None of them mislead much. The main thing a modern reader may miss is that the title implies appointment from above. Joel was not a self-made leader. He was placed in charge and answered to someone else.

Used elsewhere in the period

Joseph proposes that Pharaoh appoint pəqidim over the land to collect grain (Gen 41:34). Abimelech's officer Zebul is a paqid (Judg 9:28). The Persian king appoints pəqidim to gather young women (Esth 2:3). Nehemiah 11 uses the same title three times: Joel (v. 9), Zabdiel over the priests (v. 14) and Uzzi over the Levites (v. 22). The Greek Septuagint usually translates paqid with episkopos, "overseer." Christians later used that same Greek word for the office of bishop, but in these lists it simply means a supervising official. Akkadian (the language of Babylon) has the related verb paqādu, "to entrust, appoint," which was common in administrative documents.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 41:34 פְּקִדִ֖ים overseers

    Let Pharaoh take action and appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance.

    Here: 'Appointees', officials who answer to the king. The noun comes from the same root as the verb before it, so the Hebrew says 'let him appoint appointees'.

Judges · 1

  1. Judges 9:28 פְּקִיד֑וֹ deputy his

    Then Gaal son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is not Zebul his officer? You are to serve the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem. Why should we serve Abimelech?

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 25:19 פָקִ֣יד׀ [was] overseer

    Of those still in the city, he took a court official who had been appointed over the men of war, as well as five royal advisors. He also took the scribe of the captain of the army, who had enlisted the people of the land, and sixty men who were found in the city.

2 Chronicles · 2

  1. 2 Chronicles 24:11 וּפְקִיד֙ and [the] officer of

    Whenever the chest was brought by the Levites to the king’s overseers and they saw that there was a large amount of money, the royal scribe and the officer of the high priest would come and empty the chest and carry it back to its place. They did this daily and gathered the money in abundance.

  2. 2 Chronicles 31:13 פְּקִידִ֗ים [were] overseers

    Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were overseers under the authority of Conaniah and his brother Shimei, by appointment of King Hezekiah and of Azariah the chief official of the house of God.

Nehemiah · 4

  1. Nehemiah 11:9 פָּקִ֣יד [was] overseer

    Joel son of Zichri was the officer over them, and Judah son of Hassenuah was over the Second District of the city.

    Here: An official appointed and answerable for a group. Joel is the person put in charge of these settlers. It is an administrative title, not a priestly or military one.

  2. Nehemiah 11:14 וּפָקִ֣יד and [was] overseer

    and his associates—128 mighty men of valor. Zabdiel son of Haggedolim was their overseer.

  3. Nehemiah 11:22 וּפְקִ֤יד and [the] overseer of

    Now the overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mica. He was one of Asaph’s descendants, who were the singers in charge of the service of the house of God.

  4. Nehemiah 12:42 הַפָּקִֽיד׃ [was] the overseer

    and also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. Then the choirs sang out under the direction of Jezrahiah.

Esther · 1

  1. Esther 2:3 פְּקִידִים֮ appointees

    and let the king appoint commissioners in each province of his kingdom to assemble all the beautiful young women into the harem at the citadel of Susa. Let them be placed under the care of Hegai, the king’s eunuch in charge of the women, and let them be given beauty treatments.

Jeremiah · 3

  1. Jeremiah 20:1 פָקִ֥יד [was] an officer

    When Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer and the chief official in the house of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things,

  2. Jeremiah 29:26 פְּקִדִים֙ overseers

    ‘The LORD has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada, to be the chief officer in the house of the LORD, responsible for any madman who acts like a prophet—you must put him in stocks and neck irons.

    Here: The temple overseers, who supervised and policed the temple courts. The plural is odd when one man is addressed (see textual notes).

  3. Jeremiah 52:25 פָקִ֣יד׀ an officer

    Of those still in the city, he took a court official who had been appointed over the men of war, as well as seven trusted royal advisers. He also took the scribe of the captain of the army, who had enlisted the people of the land, and sixty men who were found in the city.

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