Hebrew word · H6510

פָּרָה

farah

heifer

A cow or heifer: a female of the large cattle (baqar), as opposed to sheep or goats. Used of breeding and milking cows (Gen 32:15; 1 Sam 6:7), of the red heifer of purification (Num 19), and of the fat and thin cows of Pharaoh's dream (Gen 41). It is an ordinary farm word.

Appears 26 times in 22 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

cow, heifer

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 Amos 4:1

Range of meaning

A cow or heifer: a female of the large cattle (baqar), as opposed to sheep or goats. Used of breeding and milking cows (Gen 32:15; 1 Sam 6:7), of the red heifer of purification (Num 19), and of the fat and thin cows of Pharaoh's dream (Gen 41). It is an ordinary farm word. It was not in itself an insult.

Against the English

"Cows" (BSB, WEB, NIV) and "kine" (KJV, YLT) are accurate. But modern English "cow" used of a woman is a crude slur suggesting fat, stupid or ugly. NLT's "fat cows" makes the fattening explicit, which is a fair inference from Bashan, though it loses the place name.

How it drifted

In English, calling a woman a "cow" became a common insult in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. That modern sense colours how readers hear Amos's line.

Used elsewhere in the period

Bashan's cattle and rams were proverbial for being well fed (Deut 32:14; Ezek 39:18, "fatlings of Bashan"). Ps 22:12 pictures powerful enemies as "strong bulls of Bashan." In Ugaritic poetry, cattle imagery could be used of gods and nobles without contempt, which is why some scholars think the epithet could even sound flattering on the surface. Jerome's Latin translation turns the phrase into vaccae pingues, "fat cows".

From the study of Hosea 4:16

Range of meaning

A cow, especially a young cow (heifer). It is a valuable working and breeding animal (Gen 41; Num 19, the red heifer; 1 Sam 6:7, cows yoked to a cart).

Against the English

'Heifer' is accurate but means little to most modern readers. Hosea's hearers would see a young animal that is supposed to be trained to the yoke and rope.

Used elsewhere in the period

Hosea uses the same farm picture in 10:11: 'Ephraim was a trained heifer that loved to thresh', and God then puts a yoke on her. Compare Jer 31:18: 'like an untrained calf'. Amos calls the rich women of Samaria 'cows of Bashan' (Amos 4:1).

From the study of Numbers 19:2

Range of meaning

A cow, a female of cattle. It is the feminine of par, 'bull' or 'young bull'. It is used for Pharaoh's dream cows (Gen 41), milk cows pulling the ark cart (1 Sam 6:7, 'two nursing cows'), a 'stubborn cow' (Hos 4:16), and the pampered 'cows of Bashan' (Amos 4:1). It says nothing about age or whether she has calved; the word for a young heifer is ʿeglah (Deut 21:3).

Against the English

Most English versions say 'heifer', which in modern English means a young cow that has not calved. YLT and NJPS say 'cow'. The LXX's damalis ('young cow, heifer') and the Vulgate's vacca ('cow') divide in the same way.

How it drifted

'Heifer' entered the English tradition through the LXX/Vulgate wording and Hebrews 9:13 ('the ashes of a heifer'). The Hebrew is less specific.

Used elsewhere in the period

Mishnah Parah 1:1 records a debate: Rabbi Eliezer held the red cow should be two years old, while the Sages allowed three or four, and some even older. So the age was not fixed by the word itself. The DSS (4Q276–277; 4QMMT) and Josephus (Antiquities 4.78–81) discuss the rite but do not settle her age.

Where it appears

Genesis · 12

  1. Genesis 32:15 פָּר֤וֹת cows

    30 milk camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys.

  2. Genesis 41:2 פָּר֔וֹת cows

    when seven cows, sleek and well-fed, came up from the river and began to graze among the reeds.

  3. Genesis 41:3 פָּר֣וֹת הַפָּר֖וֹת cows, the cows

    After them, seven other cows, sickly and thin, came up from the Nile and stood beside the well-fed cows on the bank of the river.

  4. Genesis 41:4 הַפָּר֗וֹת הַפָּר֔וֹת the cows

    And the cows that were sickly and thin devoured the seven sleek, well-fed cows. Then Pharaoh woke up,

  5. Genesis 41:18 פָּר֔וֹת cows

    when seven cows, well-fed and sleek, came up from the river and began to graze among the reeds.

  6. Genesis 41:19 פָּר֤וֹת cows

    After them, seven other cows—sickly, ugly, and thin—came up. I have never seen such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt!

  7. Genesis 41:20 הַפָּר֔וֹת הַפָּר֛וֹת the cows

    Then the thin, ugly cows devoured the seven well-fed cows that were there first.

  8. Genesis 41:26 פָּרֹ֣ת cows

    The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven ripe heads of grain are seven years. The dreams have the same meaning.

  9. Genesis 41:27 הַ֠פָּרוֹת the cows

    Moreover, the seven thin, ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind—they are seven years of famine.

Numbers · 5

  1. Numbers 19:2 פָרָ֨ה a heifer

    “This is the statute of the law that the LORD has commanded: Instruct the Israelites to bring you an unblemished red heifer that has no defect and has never been placed under a yoke.

    Here: The ordinary word for a female of cattle, the feminine of par, 'bull'. A female animal is notable because the community's purification offering was normally a bull (Lev 4:14).

  2. Numbers 19:5 הַפָּרָ֖ה the heifer

    Then the heifer must be burned in his sight. Its hide, its flesh, and its blood are to be burned, along with its dung.

  3. Numbers 19:6 הַפָּרָֽה׃ the heifer

    The priest is to take cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer.

  4. Numbers 19:9 הַפָּרָ֔ה the heifer

    Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to gather up the ashes of the heifer and store them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They must be kept by the congregation of Israel for preparing the water of purification; this is for purification from sin.

  5. Numbers 19:10 הַפָּרָה֙ the heifer

    The man who has gathered up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he will be ceremonially unclean until evening. This is a permanent statute for the Israelites and for the foreigner residing among them.

1 Samuel · 5

  1. 1 Samuel 6:7 פָרוֹת֙ הַפָּרוֹת֙ cows, the cows

    Now, therefore, prepare one new cart with two milk cows that have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up.

  2. 1 Samuel 6:10 פָרוֹת֙ cows

    So the men did as instructed. They took two milk cows, hitched them to the cart, and penned up their calves.

  3. 1 Samuel 6:12 הַפָּר֜וֹת the cows

    And the cows headed straight up the road toward Beth-shemesh, staying on that one highway and lowing as they went, never straying to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed behind them to the border of Beth-shemesh.

  4. 1 Samuel 6:14 הַ֨פָּר֔וֹת the cows

    The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there near a large rock. The people chopped up the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD.

Job · 1

  1. Job 21:10 פָּ֝רָת֗וֹ cow his

    Their bulls breed without fail; their cows bear calves and do not miscarry.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 11:7 וּפָרָ֤ה and cow

    The cow will graze with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

    Here: A female of the herd, the farmer's milk cow, often a mother with a calf. She is the gentlest and most valuable animal in the scene, the one a predator would go for.

Hosea · 1

  1. Hosea 4:16 כְּפָרָ֣ה like a heifer

    For Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn heifer. Can the LORD now shepherd them like lambs in an open meadow?

    Here: A young cow, an ordinary farm animal meant to be trained for the yoke and for threshing. In a country whose shrine at Bethel had a calf image, the farm-animal picture also has a bite.

Amos · 1

  1. Amos 4:1 פָּר֤וֹת O cows of

    Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy, who say to your husbands, “Bring us more to drink.”

    Here: Mature cows, the plural of the word for a female of the cattle herd. Amos, who was himself a cattleman (7:14), names the people he addresses with an animal picture: sleek, heavy animals fattened on rich pasture.

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