Hebrew word · H6541
פַּרְסָה
parsah
hoof
The noun parsah means 'hoof'. The verb paras means 'divide, break in two'. Its causative form (hiphil) is used only of hooves, 'to make/bear a hoof'. Lexicons (BDB, HALOT) list both 'divide the hoof' and 'have hooves' as possible senses.
Appears 21 times in 16 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) hoof
1a) of ruminants
1b) of horses (undivided hooves)
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 Leviticus 11:26
- Range of meaning
The noun parsah means 'hoof'. The verb paras means 'divide, break in two'. Its causative form (hiphil) is used only of hooves, 'to make/bear a hoof'. Lexicons (BDB, HALOT) list both 'divide the hoof' and 'have hooves' as possible senses.
- Against the English
KJV, ESV and WEB translate 'divides/parts the hoof … but is not cloven-footed'. This sounds self-contradictory, which is why BSB paraphrases it as 'hooves not completely divided'. Some Jewish and scholarly translations read it as 'has true hooves, but without clefts', which describes a solid hoof.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The full formula appears in Leviticus 11:3–7 and Deuteronomy 14:6–8. Milgrom (Anchor Bible) argues that the hiphil means 'has hooves'. Rashi reads 11:26 as describing a hoof divided on top but joined underneath, like a camel's.
Where it appears
Exodus · 1
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Exodus 10:26 פַּרְסָ֔ה a hoof
Even our livestock must go with us; not a hoof will be left behind, for we will need some of them to worship the LORD our God, and we will not know how we are to worship the LORD until we arrive.”
Leviticus · 9
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Leviticus 11:3 פַּרְסָ֗ה פְּרָסֹ֔ת a hoof, hooves
You may eat any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud.
Here: The hard horny hoof of a grazing animal. The word shares a root with the verb 'divide', so the name itself may describe the hoof as parted.
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Leviticus 11:4 הַפַּרְסָ֑ה וּפַרְסָה֙ <of> the hoof, and a hoof
But of those that only chew the cud or only have a divided hoof, you are not to eat the following: The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you.
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Leviticus 11:5 וּפַרְסָ֖ה and a hoof
The rock badger, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you.
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Leviticus 11:6 וּפַרְסָ֖ה and a hoof
The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you.
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Leviticus 11:7 פַּרְסָ֜ה פַּרְסָ֔ה a hoof
And the pig, though it has a split hoof completely divided, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you.
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Leviticus 11:26 פַּרְסָ֜ה a hoof
Every animal with hooves not completely divided or that does not chew the cud is unclean for you. Whoever touches any of them will be unclean.
Here: The hoof itself. This noun comes from the same root as the verb before it, so the phrase is a sound-play: 'hoofing a hoof'.
Deuteronomy · 5
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Deuteronomy 14:6 פַּרְסָ֗ה פְרָס֔וֹת <of> a hoof, hooves
You may eat any animal that has a split hoof divided in two and that chews the cud.
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Deuteronomy 14:7 הַפַּרְסָ֖ה וּפַרְסָה֙ <of> the hoof, and a hoof
But of those that chew the cud or have a completely divided hoof, you are not to eat the following: the camel, the rabbit, or the rock badger. Although they chew the cud, they do not have a divided hoof. They are unclean for you,
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Deuteronomy 14:8 פַּרְסָ֥ה a hoof
as well as the pig; though it has a divided hoof, it does not chew the cud. It is unclean for you. You must not eat its meat or touch its carcass.
Isaiah · 1
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Isaiah 5:28 פַּרְס֤וֹת [the] hooves of
Their arrows are sharpened, and all their bows are strung. The hooves of their horses are like flint; their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind.
Jeremiah · 1
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Jeremiah 47:3 פַּרְס֣וֹת [the] hooves of
at the sound of the galloping hooves of stallions, the rumbling of chariots, and the clatter of their wheels. The fathers will not turn back for their sons; their hands will hang limp.
Ezekiel · 2
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Ezekiel 26:11 בְּפַרְס֣וֹת with [the] hooves of
The hooves of his horses will trample all your streets. He will slaughter your people with the sword, and your mighty pillars will fall to the ground.
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Ezekiel 32:13 וּפַרְס֥וֹת and hooves of
I will slaughter all her cattle beside the abundant waters. No human foot will muddy them again, and no cattle hooves will disturb them.
Micah · 1
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Micah 4:13 וּפַרְסֹתַ֙יִךְ֙ and hooves your
Rise and thresh, O Daughter of Zion, for I will give you horns of iron and hooves of bronze to break to pieces many peoples. Then you will devote their gain to the LORD, their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.
Here: 'And your hooves'. These are the ox's treading parts, the very tools of threshing.
Zechariah · 1
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Zechariah 11:16 וּפַרְסֵיהֶ֖ן and hooves their
For behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will neither care for the lost, nor seek the young, nor heal the broken, nor sustain the healthy, but he will devour the flesh of the choice sheep and tear off their hooves.
Here: 'And their hooves', the split hooves of the sheep. 'Their' is feminine plural and refers back to the animals of the flock.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.