Hebrew word · H6835

צַפַּ֫חַת

tzapachat

jar

A small jug, flask or jar for water or oil, light enough to carry.

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

What it means

jar, jug (for liquids)

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 Kings 19:6

Range of meaning

A small jug, flask or jar for water or oil, light enough to carry.

Against the English

KJV says 'cruse', an archaic word for a small earthenware pot. Modern versions say 'jar' or 'jug'. YLT's 'dish' is too open.

How it drifted

'Cruse' has dropped out of everyday English, so readers do not know what it means. It is not misleading, just opaque.

Used elsewhere in the period

It is used of the widow's jug of oil in 1 Kgs 17:12, 14, 16 ('the jug of oil shall not run dry'). In 1 Sam 26:11–12 it is the water jug at the sleeping Saul's head, which David takes. In 1 Kgs 19:6 the same pairing appears: something at the 'head-place' and a 'tsappaḥat of water'.

Where it appears

1 Samuel · 3

  1. 1 Samuel 26:11 צַפַּ֥חַת [the] jug of

    But the LORD forbid that I should extend my hand against the LORD’s anointed. Instead, take the spear and water jug by his head, and let us go.”

  2. 1 Samuel 26:12 צַפַּ֤חַת [the] jug of

    So David took the spear and water jug by Saul’s head, and they departed. No one saw them or knew about it, nor did anyone wake up; they all remained asleep, because a deep sleep from the LORD had fallen on them.

  3. 1 Samuel 26:16 צַפַּ֥חַת [the] jug of

    This thing you have done is not good. As surely as the LORD lives, all of you deserve to die, since you did not protect your lord, the LORD’s anointed. Now look around. Where are the king’s spear and water jug that were by his head?”

1 Kings · 4

  1. 1 Kings 17:12 בַּצַּפָּ֑חַת in <the> jug

    But she replied, “As surely as the LORD your God lives, I have no bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. Look, I am gathering a couple of sticks to take home and prepare a meal for myself and my son, so that we may eat it and die.”

    Here: A small pottery jug or flask, the kind Saul kept by his head for water (1 Sam 26:11). Like 'the jar', it comes back in Elijah's promise (v.14).

  2. 1 Kings 17:14 וְצַפַּ֥חַת and [the] jug of

    for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be exhausted and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain upon the face of the earth.’”

    Here: A small flask, like the water jug at sleeping Saul's head (1 Sam 26:11) and the jug beside Elijah in 1 Kgs 19:6. It is a small container, not a store.

  3. 1 Kings 17:16 וְצַפַּ֥חַת and [the] jug of

    The jar of flour was not exhausted and the jug of oil did not run dry, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through Elijah.

  4. 1 Kings 19:6 וְצַפַּ֣חַת and a jug of

    And he looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again.

    Here: A small jug or flask for liquids. It is the same word as the widow's jug of oil that 'shall not run dry' (1 Kgs 17:12–16), and as the water jug at Saul's head (1 Sam 26:11–12).

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