Hebrew word · H6531

פֶּ֫רֶךְ

befarekh

severity

Harsh, crushing severity, especially the brutality of forced labour and slave-driving. The word is rare: it occurs only in Exod 1:13, 14; Lev 25:43, 46, 53; and here.

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

harshness, severity, cruelty

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 Ezekiel 34:4

Range of meaning

Harsh, crushing severity, especially the brutality of forced labour and slave-driving. The word is rare: it occurs only in Exod 1:13, 14; Lev 25:43, 46, 53; and here.

Against the English

KJV 'cruelty', WEB/YLT 'rigour', ESV 'harshness', NASB 'severity', BSB 'cruelty'. All are acceptable, but none of them tells an English reader that this is a loaded legal word with a story behind it.

How it drifted

There is no real drift. The loss is that a word that points to Egypt and the Torah becomes a generic adjective in English.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exod 1:13-14: the Egyptians 'made the Israelites serve with perekh'. Lev 25:43, 46, 53: 'You shall not rule (radah) over him with perekh.' Leviticus 25:43 actually pairs the same verb, radah, with perekh, exactly as Ezekiel does here. Ezekiel draws heavily on the law code of Leviticus 17–26 (often called the Holiness Code), so the echo is very probably deliberate.

From the study of Leviticus 25:43

Range of meaning

Harshness, cruelty, crushing severity in how one person treats another under their power. The word appears only six times in the Hebrew Bible: Exodus 1:13, 1:14; Leviticus 25:43, 46, 53; Ezekiel 34:4. In every case it describes the abuse of power over people who cannot resist: Egyptian taskmasters over Israel, a master over a debt-worker, and Israel's leaders ("shepherds") over the flock. The root is usually linked to an Aramaic and later Hebrew verb meaning "to break, crush, grind", which fits a picture of labour that grinds a person down. That etymology is probable but not certain.

Against the English

KJV "rigour" (and YLT) once meant hardness and severity. Today it mostly means thoroughness or precision ("academic rigour"), which is almost the opposite of the cruelty the Hebrew describes. "Harshly" (BSB, WEB) and "ruthlessly" (ESV, NIV) are accurate. Only translations that use the same English word here and in Exodus 1:13–14 keep the echo of Egypt that a Hebrew hearer would catch at once.

How it drifted

"Rigour" was a sound rendering in 1611. Its main sense later shifted toward strictness and exactness, so the KJV line now sounds milder and even admirable.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exodus 1:13–14: "the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve bəpārekh… all their service which they made them serve bəpārekh." Ezekiel 34:4 condemns Israel's shepherds: "with force and with harshness (ûbəpārekh) you have ruled them (rədîtem)". That verse pairs the same noun with the same verb as Leviticus 25:43. Later rabbinic Hebrew used the root for crushing or breaking (BDB; HALOT). Sifra on this verse explains pārekh as needless or degrading work: ordering a servant to warm a cup when it is not needed, or to dig with no purpose, just to keep him busy.

From the study of Exodus 1:14

Range of meaning

Harshness, ruthlessness, severity, crushing oppression. A rare noun, found only in Exod 1:13, 14; Lev 25:43, 46, 53; and Ezek 34:4. Its root is uncertain. Many connect it to an Aramaic/later Hebrew verb for crushing or breaking (perakh). Others suggest a Semitic root meaning to obstruct or act violently (HALOT lists the options).

Against the English

KJV/YLT 'rigour', WEB/NIV/ESV 'ruthlessly', BSB 'harsh', NASB 'rigorously'. 'Ruthless' is closest. KJV 'rigour' meant severity in 1611, but today 'rigor' suggests thoroughness or precision ('academic rigor'), which misleads.

How it drifted

English 'rigour' has shifted from 'harshness, severity' toward 'strictness, exactness', a mostly positive quality.

Used elsewhere in the period

Leviticus 25 forbids an Israelite to rule over an indentured fellow Israelite 'with perekh' (vv.43, 46, 53), on the grounds that they are God's servants whom he brought out of Egypt (vv.42, 55). Ezekiel 34:4 accuses Israel's 'shepherds' (rulers) of ruling 'with force and with perekh', i.e. behaving like Pharaoh. The Talmud (b. Sotah 11b) records a wordplay reading it as be-feh rakh, 'with a soft mouth': the Egyptians lured Israel into labor with smooth talk. This is homiletic, not etymology.

Where it appears

Exodus · 2

  1. Exodus 1:13 בְּפָֽרֶךְ׃ with harshness

    They worked the Israelites ruthlessly

  2. Exodus 1:14 בְּפָֽרֶךְ׃ with harshness

    and made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh.

    Here: 'With ruthlessness': a rare, pointed word. It repeats the last word of v.13, so both verses end on it. Leviticus 25 later uses it to forbid Israelites from ever treating each other this way.

Leviticus · 3

  1. Leviticus 25:43 בְּפָ֑רֶךְ with harshness

    You are not to rule over them harshly, but you shall fear your God.

    Here: "With harshness." A rare word that every Israelite hearer would connect to one story: it is the word for how Egypt worked Israel as slaves (Exodus 1:13–14). The prohibition is in effect: do not treat your brother the way Pharaoh treated you.

  2. Leviticus 25:46 בְּפָֽרֶךְ׃ ס with harshness

    You may leave them to your sons after you to inherit as property; you can make them slaves for life. But as for your brothers, the Israelites, no man may rule harshly over his brother.

  3. Leviticus 25:53 בְּפֶ֖רֶךְ with harshness

    He shall be treated like a man hired from year to year, but a foreign owner must not rule over him harshly in your sight.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 34:4 וּבְפָֽרֶךְ׃ and with harshness

    You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bound up the injured, brought back the strays, or searched for the lost. Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty.

    Here: 'And with harshness.' This rare word is how Exodus describes Egypt's crushing slave labour (Exod 1:13-14), and the Torah forbids an Israelite to rule a fellow Israelite this way (Lev 25:43, 46, 53). The last word of the verse puts Judah's rulers in Pharaoh's place.

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