Hebrew word · H6527
פָּרַט
haporetim
to divide
This is the verb's only use in the Hebrew Bible (a hapax legomenon, a word that occurs just once), so its meaning has to be inferred. That has led some interpreters to imagine voices or notes being "broken up" into rapid runs.
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) (Qal) to improvise carelessly, chant, stammer
1a) meaning uncertain
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
- Range of meaning
This is the verb's only use in the Hebrew Bible (a hapax legomenon, a word that occurs just once), so its meaning has to be inferred. Proposals: (1) "to improvise, extemporise", making up tunes on the spot; (2) "to strum, pluck" strings; (3) "to babble, sing idly or carelessly", based on an Arabic word meaning to be hasty or to blurt out rashly. Related Hebrew words point to "dividing into small pieces": peret is the scattered single grapes of Lev 19:10, and later Hebrew uses the root for breaking money into small change or listing details. That has led some interpreters to imagine voices or notes being "broken up" into rapid runs.
- Against the English
BSB and NASB say "improvise." WEB and NIV say "strum." ESV and NLT give it a dismissive tone ("idle" / "trivial songs"). KJV says "chant." YLT follows the root's "divide" sense too literally ("taking part"). Each is an educated guess at a word attested only here.
- How it drifted
"Improvise" can make a modern reader think of skilled, admirable musicianship, as in jazz. The Hebrew may be closer to aimless or showy strumming and singing, and in this woe-list it is clearly not praise.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The Septuagint gives epikrotountes, "clapping / applauding / beating time." The Vulgate gives canitis, "you sing." Arabic faraṭa (be hasty, overstep, utter rashly) is the cognate most often cited (HALOT, BDB). Modern Hebrew liproṭ, "to pluck strings," comes from this verse, not from ancient usage.
Where it appears
Amos · 1
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Amos 6:5 הַפֹּרְטִ֖ים those [who] improvise
You improvise songs on the harp like David and invent your own musical instruments.
Here: "The ones who ___ ": a participle with "the", carrying on the line of "Woe to those who…" descriptions that began in 6:1. The verb appears only here in the Hebrew Bible, so its exact meaning is uncertain. Most likely it means making up tunes or rattling off songs carelessly, and it probably has a slightly contemptuous tone.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.