Hebrew word · H6596
פֹּת
vehapotot
hinge
The word is very rare. In 1 Kings 7:50 the plural pōtôt refers to the gold 'sockets' or hinges of the temple doors. In Isaiah 3:17 that sense does not fit. Strong's gloss includes 'secret part'.
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) sockets, hinges, secret parts (meaning uncertain)
1a) sockets
1b) secret parts
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
- Range of meaning
The word is very rare. In 1 Kings 7:50 the plural pōtôt refers to the gold 'sockets' or hinges of the temple doors. In Isaiah 3:17 that sense does not fit. There are two main proposals: (1) 'forehead / front of the head', from Akkadian pūtu 'forehead, front', which many modern lexicons and commentaries follow; (2) 'private parts / vulva', the older Jewish and Reformation-era understanding, perhaps reasoning from 'socket, opening'. Strong's gloss includes 'secret part'.
- Against the English
KJV and ESV have 'secret parts'. BSB and NASB have 'foreheads'. NIV and WEB have 'scalps'. YLT has 'simplicity', which takes the word from the root pth, 'to be simple', a derivation few accept.
- How it drifted
This is a lexical uncertainty rather than drift. The English versions follow different scholarly decisions.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Akkadian pūtu ('forehead') is well attested. 1 Kings 7:50 is the only other Hebrew occurrence. The Greek renders the phrase 'their form/figure' (to schēma autōn) and the Latin 'their hair' (crinem earum), so neither ancient translation read 'private parts'.
Where it appears
1 Kings · 1
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1 Kings 7:50 וְהַפֹּת֡וֹת and the sockets
the pure gold basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, ladles, and censers; and the gold hinges for the doors of the inner temple (that is, the Most Holy Place) as well as for the doors of the main hall of the temple.
Isaiah · 1
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Isaiah 3:17 פָּתְהֵ֥ן forehead their
the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will make their foreheads bare.”
Here: Their pōt. The word is very rare and its meaning is disputed. Comparison with Akkadian pūtu ('forehead, front') and the parallel with 'crown of the head' point to the forehead or front of the head. An older tradition (KJV, ESV) reads 'private parts'. The only other use, 1 Kings 7:50, refers to door sockets.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.