Hebrew word · H6550

פַּרְעֹשׁ

par'osh

flea

'Flea.' In the Bible the common noun appears only here and in 1 Sam 26:20, the parallel story where David again spares Saul. Parosh is also a family name in Ezra–Nehemiah (Ezra 2:3; Neh 3:25), which shows the word was in ordinary use.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

flea

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 1 Samuel 24:14

Range of meaning

'Flea.' In the Bible the common noun appears only here and in 1 Sam 26:20, the parallel story where David again spares Saul. Parosh is also a family name in Ezra–Nehemiah (Ezra 2:3; Neh 3:25), which shows the word was in ordinary use.

Against the English

English 'flea' is accurate. Most versions drop 'one' (ʾeḥād), and with it some of the deliberate smallness.

Used elsewhere in the period

In 1 Sam 26:20 the Hebrew says the king has come out 'to seek a single flea, as one hunts a partridge in the mountains'. The Septuagint reads 'my life' there instead of 'a flea', and several commentators (e.g. McCarter, Anchor Bible) suspect the flea in 26:20 was copied in from 24:14.

Where it appears

1 Samuel · 2

  1. 1 Samuel 24:14 פַּרְעֹ֥שׁ a flea

    Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog? A flea?

    Here: 'A flea.' The tiniest pest. It does no real harm, it is nearly impossible to catch, and chasing it is ridiculous for a king with an army.

  2. 1 Samuel 26:20 פַּרְעֹ֣שׁ a flea

    So do not let my blood fall to the ground far from the presence of the LORD. For the king of Israel has come out to look for a flea, like one who hunts a partridge in the mountains.”

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