Hebrew word · H7527

רָצַע

veratza'

to bore

Rāṣaʿ means to bore or pierce. It occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. Marṣēaʿ is 'the borer', an awl, found only here and in Deut 15:17. In later Hebrew the root is used for leather-working, and a leather strap is called retsu'ah.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) (Qal) to bore, pierce

1a) of the ear

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 21:6

Range of meaning

Rāṣaʿ means to bore or pierce. It occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. Marṣēaʿ is 'the borer', an awl, found only here and in Deut 15:17. In later Hebrew the root is used for leather-working, and a leather strap is called retsu'ah.

Against the English

'Pierce' (BSB, NIV, NLT) and 'bore through' (KJV, WEB, ESV) both work. 'Bore' better conveys going through the ear and, according to Deuteronomy, into the wood.

Used elsewhere in the period

Laws of Hammurabi §282 (Babylon, 18th century BC): a slave who tells his master 'you are not my master' has his ear cut off once his status is proven. The ear was linked to slave status and to a slave's hearing and obedience in Mesopotamia too. Babylonian slaves could also carry marks of status (a special hair-lock, brands, tags). In Israel the ear-piercing was a marker of permanent status, done by choice. Rabbinic tradition (Mekhilta; b. Qiddushin 22b) explained it as follows: 'The ear that heard at Sinai "to me the children of Israel are servants" (Lev 25:55), and went and acquired a master for himself, let it be bored.'

Where it appears

Exodus · 1

  1. Exodus 21:6 וְרָצַ֨ע and he will pierce

    then his master is to bring him before the judges. And he shall take him to the door or doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he shall serve his master for life.

    Here: To punch a hole through something. This verb appears nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible. Deuteronomy 15:17 shows that the awl went through the ear and into the door, pinning the man to his master's house for a moment.

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