Hebrew word · H6569

פֶּ֫רֶשׁ

feresh

refuse

Dung, meaning the contents of the stomach and intestines of a slaughtered animal. It is distinct from human excrement (tso'ah) and animal droppings in the field (gelalim).

Appears 7 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

faecal matter, dung, offal

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 29:14

Range of meaning

Dung, meaning the contents of the stomach and intestines of a slaughtered animal. It is distinct from human excrement (tso'ah) and animal droppings in the field (gelalim).

Against the English

KJV, WEB, YLT, ESV and BSB have 'dung'. NASB has 'refuse'. Other versions choose a word for the innards. The supplied gloss 'offal' is a little off: modern 'offal' means edible organs, while peresh is the matter inside the gut.

Used elsewhere in the period

Found only in sacrificial contexts: Exod 29:14; Lev 4:11; 8:17; 16:27; Num 19:5. Malachi 2:3 uses it as a sharp insult: God will 'spread peresh on your faces, the peresh of your festival sacrifices'. That shows it was the most worthless and repulsive part of a sacrificial animal.

From the study of Malachi 2:3

Range of meaning

The contents of an animal's stomach and intestines: dung and undigested matter, offal. In the Hebrew Bible it is always used of sacrificial animals. It is not the usual word for human excrement (tso'ah).

Against the English

'Dung' (KJV, WEB, BSB, NIV) is accurate, but it does not tell the reader that this is altar waste. NASB 'refuse' and BSB's second 'waste' are vaguer still. The Septuagint's 'stomach' (ἤνυστρον) ties it to the priest's own portion.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exodus 29:14; Leviticus 4:11–12; 8:17; 16:27; Numbers 19:5. In every case the peresh is carried outside the camp and burned, never offered on the altar. Rabbinic texts use the word the same way, for the contents of a sacrificial animal's intestines.

Where it appears

Exodus · 1

  1. Exodus 29:14 פִּרְשׁ֔וֹ offal its

    But burn the flesh of the bull and its hide and dung outside the camp; it is a sin offering.

    Here: 'Its dung', meaning the digested matter inside the gut, and in practice the guts holding it. Nothing of the carcass is held back.

Leviticus · 3

  1. Leviticus 4:11 וּפִרְשֽׁוֹ׃ and offal its

    But the hide of the bull and all its flesh, with its head and legs and its entrails and dung—

  2. Leviticus 8:17 פִּרְשׁ֔וֹ offal its

    But the bull with its hide, flesh, and dung he burned outside the camp, as the LORD had commanded him.

  3. Leviticus 16:27 פִּרְשָֽׁם׃ offal their

    The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought into the Most Holy Place to make atonement, must be taken outside the camp; and their hides, flesh, and dung must be burned up.

Numbers · 1

  1. Numbers 19:5 פִּרְשָׁ֖הּ offal its

    Then the heifer must be burned in his sight. Its hide, its flesh, and its blood are to be burned, along with its dung.

Malachi · 2

  1. Malachi 2:3 פֶ֙רֶשׁ֙ פֶּ֖רֶשׁ dung, [the] dung of

    Behold, I will rebuke your descendants, and I will spread dung on your faces, the waste from your feasts, and you will be carried off with it.

    Here: The dung and entrail contents of a sacrificial animal. The Law required this to be carried outside the camp and burned. It is the most unclean by-product of the altar.

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