Hebrew word · H6561

פָּרַק

porek

to tear

To tear away or snap off. Also, by extension, to tear someone free, that is, to rescue (Ps 136:24) or break off a yoke (Gen 27:40). The reflexive-passive form used here means 'to be torn off' or 'to break off.'

Appears 10 times in 10 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to tear apart or away, tear off, break away

1a) (Qal) to tear away, snatch, rescue

1b) (Piel) to tear off

1c) (Hithpael) to tear off from oneself, be broken off, be broken in pieces

Aramaic equivalent: pe.raq (פְּרַק "to break" H6562)

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 19:12

Range of meaning

To tear away or snap off. Also, by extension, to tear someone free, that is, to rescue (Ps 136:24) or break off a yoke (Gen 27:40). The reflexive-passive form used here means 'to be torn off' or 'to break off.'

Against the English

BSB 'stripped off,' WEB 'broken off,' and KJV 'broken' all give the result. 'Torn off' or 'ripped off' keeps more of the violence of the Hebrew.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exod 32:2–3 (the people 'tore off' their gold earrings, same verb form); 1 Kgs 19:11 (a wind 'tearing apart' mountains); Zech 11:16 (tearing off hooves).

From the study of Genesis 27:40

Range of meaning

To tear away, rip off, break apart; in some uses to rescue, i.e. tear someone away from danger (Ps 136:24, 'tore us away from our enemies'). Aramaic uses it for 'break off' sins (Dan 4:27).

Against the English

KJV and ESV 'break,' BSB 'tear,' WEB and NLT 'shake.' 'Tear off' best keeps the violent, sudden motion. 'Shake' is milder.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exodus 32:2–3, tearing off gold earrings. 1 Kings 19:11, a wind 'tearing' the mountains. Zechariah 11:16, tearing off hooves.

From the study of Psalm 7:2

Range of meaning

To pull off, wrench away, break off (Gen 27:40, a yoke broken off the neck; Exod 32:2, earrings taken off). Intensive forms mean tear apart (1 Kgs 19:11, wind tearing mountains; Zech 11:16, tearing off hooves). Also to snatch someone away from danger, rescue (Ps 136:24; Lam 5:8). In Aramaic the root commonly means 'redeem, release'.

Against the English

KJV and WEB: 'rending/ripping in pieces'. BSB: 'tear me to pieces'. NASB: 'dragging me away'. The Greek Septuagint: 'redeeming' (as one who redeems).

Used elsewhere in the period

Lam 5:8 has ʾên pōrēq, 'there is none to rescue (us from their hand)', almost the same wording as here. Ps 136:24 says God 'snatched us away (wayyip̄rᵉqēnû) from our foes'. The Septuagint of Ps 7:3 renders μὴ ὄντος λυτρουμένου μηδὲ σῴζοντος, 'while there is none redeeming nor saving'.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 27:40 וּפָרַקְתָּ֥ and you will tear off

    You shall live by the sword and serve your brother. But when you rebel, you will tear his yoke from your neck.”

    Here: 'Then you will tear off.' A forceful verb for ripping something away (earrings in Exod 32:2–3, a wind tearing mountains in 1 Kgs 19:11). Edom's freedom will be seized by force, not granted.

Exodus · 3

  1. Exodus 32:2 פָּֽרְקוּ֙ tear off

    So Aaron told them, “Take off the gold earrings that are on your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.”

  2. Exodus 32:3 וַיִּתְפָּֽרְקוּ֙ and they tore off from themselves

    Then all the people took off their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron.

  3. Exodus 32:24 הִתְפָּרָ֖קוּ tear [it] off from yourselves

    So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, let him take it off,’ and they gave it to me. And when I threw it into the fire, out came this calf!”

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 19:11 מְפָרֵק֩ [was] tearing

    Then the LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD. Behold, the LORD is about to pass by.” And a great and mighty wind tore into the mountains and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.

    Here: An intensive participle: ripping, wrenching apart, the way a yoke is torn off a neck (Gen 27:40). The wind is shown doing it right before our eyes.

Psalms · 2

  1. Psalm 7:2 פֹּ֝רֵ֗ק tearing

    or they will shred my soul like a lion and tear me to pieces with no one to rescue me.

    Here: A participle (a verb used like '-ing') from a root meaning 'pull off, wrench away'. Most translations take it of the lion dragging off or ripping its prey. The same root can also mean 'snatch someone away to safety, rescue', which is how the Greek translators read it here (see debates).

  2. Psalm 136:24 וַיִּפְרְקֵ֥נוּ and he rescued us

    and freed us from our enemies. His loving devotion endures forever.

Lamentations · 1

  1. Lamentations 5:8 פֹּרֵ֖ק [is one who] rescues

    Slaves rule over us; there is no one to deliver us from their hands.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 19:12 הִתְפָּרְק֧וּ they were torn off

    But it was uprooted in fury, cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong branches were stripped off and they withered; the fire consumed them.

    Here: 'They were torn off' or 'snapped off.' It is a violent ripping verb, used elsewhere for tearing off earrings (Exod 32:3) or breaking off a yoke (Gen 27:40). It is plural, though its subject turns out to be the singular 'rod.'

Zechariah · 1

  1. Zechariah 11:16 יְפָרֵֽק׃ ס he will tear off

    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: A violent verb, 'rip off'. It echoes the sound of the word for hooves (parsehen / yefareq). The shepherd behaves like a beast of prey stripping a carcass.

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