Hebrew word · H7168

קֶ֫רַע

kera'im

rags

From qāra' 'to tear'. Literally 'tearings': pieces torn off, torn garments, rags.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

rag, torn pieces of garment or fabric

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 Proverbs 23:21

Range of meaning

From qāra' 'to tear'. Literally 'tearings': pieces torn off, torn garments, rags.

Against the English

'Rags' in all versions is accurate. The Hebrew keeps the picture of tearing: clothes in shreds, not just old ones.

Used elsewhere in the period

1 Kgs 11:30–31 (Ahijah tears his new cloak into twelve qera'im, 'pieces'); 2 Kgs 2:12 (Elisha tears his clothes 'into two pieces'). Only here does it mean a poor man's rags.

Where it appears

1 Kings · 2

  1. 1 Kings 11:30 קְרָעִֽים׃ pieces

    And Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing, tore it into twelve pieces,

  2. 1 Kings 11:31 קְרָעִ֑ים pieces

    and said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and I will give you ten tribes.

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 2:12 קְרָעִֽים׃ pieces

    As Elisha watched, he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And he saw Elijah no more. So taking hold of his own clothes, he tore them in two.

    Here: This noun comes from the same root as “tore,” so the phrase is literally “tore them into two tearings.” Repeating the root stresses that the tear went all the way through.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 23:21 וּ֝קְרָעִ֗ים and rags

    For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.

    Here: 'And tearings': clothes torn into pieces. It is placed first in its line for emphasis: 'in rags is how drowsiness will dress him.'

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