Hebrew word · H6532

פָּרֹ֫כֶת

parokhet

curtain

A partition curtain, a hanging that bars passage. In the Hebrew Bible it is used about 25 times and always of the one curtain that divides the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, in the tabernacle and in descriptions of the temple (2 Chronicles 3:14).

Appears 25 times in 23 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

curtain, veil

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 Exodus 26:31

Range of meaning

A partition curtain, a hanging that bars passage. In the Hebrew Bible it is used about 25 times and always of the one curtain that divides the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, in the tabernacle and in descriptions of the temple (2 Chronicles 3:14). It is sometimes called 'the screening parokhet' (Exodus 35:12; 40:21). Probably related to an Akkadian verb meaning 'to lie across, block, bar' and to Akkadian words for a shrine or sacred dais.

Against the English

KJV 'vail', ESV/NASB/BSB/WEB 'veil', NIV 'curtain'. 'Veil' came into English through Latin velum (curtain, awning, sail), but today it suggests a thin, see-through face covering or bridal veil. The Hebrew word is about separation and blocking, not soft concealment.

How it drifted

English 'veil' narrowed over time to mean mostly a face covering. Bible English kept the older 'curtain' sense, so modern readers picture something light and see-through.

Used elsewhere in the period

Leviticus 4:6, 17 (blood sprinkled 'before the parokhet'); Leviticus 16:2, 12, 15 (only the high priest may go 'inside the parokhet', once a year); Numbers 18:7. The Greek Old Testament (Septuagint) translates it katapetasma, the word the Gospels use for the temple curtain torn at Jesus' death (Mark 15:38) and Hebrews uses for 'the second curtain' (Hebrews 9:3). The Mishnah (Shekalim 8:5) describes the much later Herodian temple curtain as a handbreadth thick.

From the study of Exodus 26:33

Range of meaning

A technical sanctuary term. It always means the single inner curtain that closed off the innermost shrine, first of the tabernacle and later of the temple (2 Chr 3:14). It is never used for an ordinary curtain or for a face covering. The other hangings have different names: the entrance screens are māsāk (26:36) and the tent cloths are yerîʿōt. Its origin is uncertain. It is often linked to Akkadian parāku, 'to lay across, block, bar', or to parakku, 'inner sanctuary / throne dais'. Either way it suggests a barrier closing off a shrine.

Against the English

KJV/ESV/NASB/BSB/WEB use 'veil' (KJV 'vail'). NIV and NLT use 'curtain' ('inner curtain'). 'Veil' preserves the traditional term but brings to mind something light and see-through. 'Curtain' gives a better picture of a heavy woven hanging but loses the sense that this is one uniquely named object.

How it drifted

'Veil' came into English Bibles through Latin velum, which meant a sail, awning or hanging cloth. In modern English 'veil' mostly means a bride's or mourner's thin face covering, so the word has narrowed and softened.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint uses katapetasma, the same Greek word the Gospels use for the temple curtain torn at Jesus' death (Mark 15:38). Hebrews 9:3 calls it 'the second curtain'. Josephus describes the Herodian temple's curtain as a vast embroidered Babylonian tapestry (Jewish War 5.212–214). The Mishnah (m. Yoma 5:1) says the Second Temple had two curtains a cubit apart, because the exact position of the original dividing line was uncertain.

From the study of Exodus 27:21

Range of meaning

The partition curtain inside the sanctuary. It is woven of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, with cherubim worked into it (26:31–33), and it divides the holy place from the most holy place. The word may be related to an Akkadian term for a shrine or barrier, but that link is uncertain.

Against the English

'Veil' (KJV, BSB, WEB) suggests to modern ears a light fabric over the face, like a bride's veil. NIV's 'curtain' is closer to a heavy woven screen that separates two rooms.

How it drifted

'Veil' in older English could mean any hanging cloth that conceals. Its narrowing to mean mainly a face-covering came later.

Used elsewhere in the period

It appears about 25 times in Exodus–Numbers and once in 2 Chronicles (3:14). Later Jewish sources describe the temple curtain as very thick (m. Shekalim 8:5, a rabbinic legal collection from around 200 AD). The Gospels' 'curtain of the temple' (Mark 15:38, Greek katapetasma) is the Septuagint's usual word for pārōket.

Where it appears

Exodus · 15

  1. Exodus 26:31 פָרֹ֗כֶת a curtain

    Make a veil of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen, with cherubim skillfully worked into it.

    Here: A technical word used only for the inner partition of the sanctuary, the hanging that blocks off the Most Holy Place (v. 33). It is a heavy woven barrier the full width of the tent, not a thin veil.

  2. Exodus 26:33 הַפָּרֹכֶת֮ לַפָּרֹ֔כֶת הַפָּרֹ֙כֶת֙ the curtain, to the curtain

    And hang the veil from the clasps and place the ark of the Testimony behind the veil. So the veil will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.

    Here: 'The veil'. A technical term used only for the one curtain that closed off the innermost room. It was the elaborate woven hanging described in v. 31: blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, with cherubim worked into it.

  3. Exodus 26:35 לַפָּרֹ֔כֶת of the curtain

    And place the table outside the veil on the north side of the tabernacle, and put the lampstand opposite the table, on the south side.

  4. Exodus 27:21 לַפָּרֹ֜כֶת of the curtain

    In the Tent of Meeting, outside the veil that is in front of the Testimony, Aaron and his sons are to tend the lamps before the LORD from evening until morning. This is to be a permanent statute for the Israelites for the generations to come.

    Here: The heavy woven partition, embroidered with cherubim (26:31–33), that closed off the innermost room where the ark stood.

  5. Exodus 30:6 הַפָּרֹ֔כֶת the curtain

    Place the altar in front of the veil that is before the ark of the Testimony—before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony—where I will meet with you.

  6. Exodus 35:12 פָּרֹ֥כֶת [the] curtain of

    the ark with its poles and mercy seat, and the veil to shield it;

  7. Exodus 36:35 הַפָּרֹ֔כֶת the curtain

    Next, he made the veil of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen, with cherubim skillfully worked into it.

  8. Exodus 38:27 הַפָּרֹ֑כֶת the curtain

    The hundred talents of silver were used to cast the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the veil—100 bases from the 100 talents, one talent per base.

  9. Exodus 39:34 פָּרֹ֥כֶת [the] curtain of

    the covering of ram skins dyed red, the covering of fine leather, and the veil of the covering;

  10. Exodus 40:3 הַפָּרֹֽכֶת׃ the curtain

    Put the ark of the Testimony in it and screen off the ark with the veil.

  11. Exodus 40:21 פָּרֹ֣כֶת [the] curtain of

    Then he brought the ark into the tabernacle, put up the veil for the screen, and shielded off the ark of the Testimony, just as the LORD had commanded him.

  12. Exodus 40:22 לַפָּרֹֽכֶת׃ of the curtain

    Moses placed the table in the Tent of Meeting on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the veil.

  13. Exodus 40:26 הַפָּרֹֽכֶת׃ the curtain

    Moses placed the gold altar in the Tent of Meeting, in front of the veil,

Leviticus · 7

  1. Leviticus 4:6 פָּרֹ֥כֶת [the] curtain of

    The priest is to dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of it seven times before the LORD, in front of the veil of the sanctuary.

  2. Leviticus 4:17 הַפָּרֹֽכֶת׃ the curtain

    and he is to dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD in front of the veil.

  3. Leviticus 16:2 לַפָּרֹ֑כֶת to the curtain

    And the LORD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron not to enter freely into the Most Holy Place behind the veil in front of the mercy seat on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.

    Here: The heavy woven curtain with cherubim worked into it that closed off the inner room (Exod 26:31–33). 'Inside the curtain' says exactly where the forbidden space starts.

  4. Leviticus 16:12 לַפָּרֹֽכֶת׃ to the curtain

    Then he must take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense, and take them inside the veil.

    Here: The heavy woven screen that closed off the innermost room, where the ark and its cover stood. Passing behind it was allowed only here, once a year, and only to the high priest.

  5. Leviticus 16:15 לַפָּרֹ֑כֶת to the curtain

    Aaron shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and bring its blood behind the veil, and with its blood he must do as he did with the bull’s blood: He is to sprinkle it against the mercy seat and in front of it.

    Here: The heavy woven partition, embroidered with cherubim, that cut off the innermost room from the Holy Place.

  6. Leviticus 21:23 הַפָּרֹ֜כֶת the curtain

    but because he has a defect, he must not go near the veil or approach the altar, so as not to desecrate My sanctuaries. For I am the LORD who sanctifies them.’”

  7. Leviticus 24:3 לְפָרֹ֨כֶת of [the] curtain of

    Outside the veil of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, Aaron is to tend the lamps continually before the LORD from evening until morning. This is to be a permanent statute for the generations to come.

Numbers · 2

  1. Numbers 4:5 פָּרֹ֣כֶת [the] curtain of

    Whenever the camp sets out, Aaron and his sons are to go in, take down the veil of the curtain, and cover the ark of the Testimony with it.

  2. Numbers 18:7 לַפָּרֹ֖כֶת to the curtain

    But only you and your sons shall attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar and what is inside the veil, and you are to perform that service. I am giving you the work of the priesthood as a gift, but any outsider who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death.”

    Here: The heavy woven curtain that screened off the Most Holy Place, where the ark stood. 'Inside the curtain' means that innermost room (Lev 16:2, 12).

2 Chronicles · 1

  1. 2 Chronicles 3:14 הַפָּרֹ֔כֶת the curtain

    He made the veil of blue, purple, and crimson yarn and fine linen, with cherubim woven into it.

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