Hebrew word · H6556

פֶּ֫רֶץ

peretz

breach

A breach or gap broken through a wall, through which an enemy enters. It can also mean a sudden 'outbreak' of disaster (2 Samuel 6:8, Perez-uzzah). Standing 'in the breach' is the image of a defender or intercessor (Ezekiel 22:30; Psalm 106:23).

Appears 19 times in 18 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) breach, gap, bursting forth

1a) bursting forth, outburst

1b) breach

1c) broken wall

1d) outburst (fig. of God's wrath)

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 Amos 9:11

Range of meaning

A breach or gap broken through a wall, through which an enemy enters. It can also mean a sudden 'outbreak' of disaster (2 Samuel 6:8, Perez-uzzah). Standing 'in the breach' is the image of a defender or intercessor (Ezekiel 22:30; Psalm 106:23).

Against the English

'Breaches' (KJV, ESV, NASB, WEB) is exact. BSB 'gaps' is fine. NIV 'broken walls' spells out the meaning. YLT and KJV notice the plural pronoun ('their'/'thereof'), and most modern versions flatten it to 'its'.

Used elsewhere in the period

1 Kings 11:27 says Solomon 'closed the breach of the city of David'. Amos 4:3 pictures the women of Samaria carried out 'through the breaches'. 2 Kings 14:13 records that King Jehoash of Israel broke down 400 cubits of Jerusalem's wall under Amaziah, a real breach in the city of David a generation before Amos.

From the study of Ezekiel 13:5

Range of meaning

A breach or break-through, most often a hole smashed in a city wall (1 Kings 11:27; Nehemiah 6:1; Amos 4:3). It can also mean a sudden 'outburst', as in the place-name Perez-uzzah, 'the outburst against Uzzah' (2 Samuel 6:8). The root means to break through or burst out.

Against the English

"Gaps" (BSB, KJV, WEB) is accurate but mild. In English a 'gap' can be harmless empty space. "Breaches" (YLT, ESV, NASB) keeps the violent military sense: these are holes that attackers have torn open.

How it drifted

No real drift. But the well-known phrase 'stand in the gap', taken from the related verse Ezekiel 22:30, is now heard almost only as a picture of prayer, and that can hide the battlefield image.

Used elsewhere in the period

Psalm 106:23: Moses "stood in the breach before him" to turn away God's anger. Ezekiel 22:30: God looked for someone to "stand in the breach before me for the land" and found no one. Isaiah 58:12 speaks of a "repairer of the breach". Amos 4:3 shows captives led out "through the breaches" of a fallen city.

From the study of Isaiah 58:12

Range of meaning

A break or gap, mainly one broken through a wall (1 Kings 11:27; Amos 4:3; Nehemiah 6:1). From there it came to mean a sudden 'outbreak,' as of divine anger (2 Samuel 6:8, Perez-uzzah). The name Perez, 'breach,' in Genesis 38:29 comes from it. In prophetic writing it also became a picture of a moral or military weak point that someone has to stand in and defend (Ezekiel 13:5; 22:30; Psalm 106:23).

Against the English

English 'breach' today is mostly heard in phrases like 'breach of contract,' 'breach of trust,' 'data breach,' which are abstract ruptures. The Hebrew word is first of all a physical hole in masonry. NIV's 'Broken Walls' and NLT's 'rebuilder of walls' keep the physical picture better than the older 'breach.'

How it drifted

'Breach' in its military sense, a gap in fortifications, was common in KJV-era English. As that use faded, the legal and relational senses took over. The phrase also became a common name for reconciliation work, which moved hearers further toward the abstract meaning.

Used elsewhere in the period

Nehemiah 4:7 [Heb. 4:1] and 6:1 use the same root for the gaps in Jerusalem's wall being closed in the mid-5th century BCE. Amos 9:11 has the identical pairing with gdr: 'I will wall up (gadarti) their breaches (pirṣeihen).' Ezekiel 22:30 combines the physical and moral senses: God looked for 'a man to build up the wall (goder-gader) and stand in the breach before me for the land.'

Similar words

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 38:29 פָּ֑רֶץ a breach

    But when he pulled his hand back and his brother came out, she said, “You have broken out first!” So he was named Perez.

Judges · 1

  1. Judges 21:15 פֶּ֖רֶץ a breach

    The people grieved for Benjamin, because the LORD had made a void in the tribes of Israel.

2 Samuel · 2

  1. 2 Samuel 5:20 כְּפֶ֣רֶץ like a bursting out of

    So David went to Baal-perazim, where he defeated the Philistines and said, “Like a bursting flood, the LORD has burst out against my enemies before me.” So he called that place Baal-perazim.

  2. 2 Samuel 6:8 פֶּ֖רֶץ a breaking out

    Then David became angry because the LORD had burst forth against Uzzah. So he named that place Perez-uzzah, as it is called to this day.

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 11:27 פֶּ֕רֶץ [the] breach of

    and this is the account of his rebellion against the king. Solomon had built the supporting terraces and repaired the gap in the wall of the city of his father David.

1 Chronicles · 2

  1. 1 Chronicles 13:11 פֶּ֖רֶץ a breaking out

    Then David became angry because the LORD had burst forth against Uzzah. So he named that place Perez-uzzah, as it is called to this day.

    Here: A noun from the same root as the verb: 'he broke a breaking.' Hebrew uses this doubling for emphasis, here roughly 'he burst out in a real outburst.' The same noun is used for a gap smashed in a city wall.

  2. 1 Chronicles 14:11 כְּפֶ֣רֶץ like a bursting out of

    So David and his men went up to Baal-perazim, where he defeated the Philistines and said, “Like a bursting flood, God has burst out against my enemies by my hand.” So they called that place Baal-perazim.

    Here: The noun from the same root as parats, so the line repeats itself: 'God breached … like a breach.' Perets is a gap torn in a wall or bank.

Nehemiah · 1

  1. Nehemiah 6:1 פָּ֑רֶץ a breach

    When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left—though to that time I had not yet installed the doors in the gates—

Job · 3

  1. Job 16:14 פֶ֭רֶץ פָ֑רֶץ a breach

    He breaks me with wound upon wound; He rushes me like a mighty warrior.

  2. Job 30:14 כְּפֶ֣רֶץ like a breach

    They advance as through a wide breach; through the ruins they keep rolling in.

Psalms · 2

  1. Psalm 106:23 בַּפֶּ֣רֶץ in the breach

    So He said He would destroy them—had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach to divert His wrath from destroying them.

    Here: A breach is a hole broken through a wall, the point where an attacker pours in. Moses plants himself in that hole; the startling thing is that the one breaking through is God.

  2. Psalm 144:14 פֶּ֭רֶץ [will be] a breach

    Our oxen will bear great loads. There will be no breach in the walls, no going into captivity, and no cry of lament in our streets.

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 30:13 כְּפֶ֣רֶץ like a breach

    this iniquity of yours is like a breach about to fail, a bulge in a high wall, whose collapse will come suddenly—in an instant!

    Here: A broken or failing section of a city wall, the weak point an enemy would aim for. Here it is a section already giving way, not yet a hole.

  2. Isaiah 58:12 פֶּ֔רֶץ a breach

    Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will restore the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of the Streets of Dwelling.

    Here: A gap broken through a wall, especially the hole a besieging army smashes in a city wall. As long as it stays open the city cannot defend itself.

Ezekiel · 2

  1. Ezekiel 13:5 בַּפְּרָצ֔וֹת in the breaches

    You did not go up to the gaps or restore the wall around the house of Israel so that it would stand in the battle on the Day of the LORD.

    Here: "Into the breaches": holes broken in a city wall. These are the most dangerous spots in a siege, where the enemy pours in. The plural pictures a wall broken in many places.

  2. Ezekiel 22:30 בַּפֶּ֧רֶץ in the breach

    I searched for a man among them to repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it. But I found no one.

    Here: A pereṣ is a hole broken through a wall, the spot where attackers pour in. To stand in it is to put your own body where the wall has failed.

Amos · 2

  1. Amos 4:3 וּפְרָצִ֥ים and breaches

    You will go out through broken walls, each one straight ahead of her, and you will be cast out toward Harmon,” declares the LORD.

  2. Amos 9:11 פִּרְצֵיהֶ֗ן breaches their

    “In that day I will restore the fallen tent of David. I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old,

    Here: Gaps broken through a wall. The suffix is feminine plural ('their'). That may mean the two kingdoms, Israel and Judah, or the parts of the structure. It is one of three different pronouns in the verse.

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