StrongerBible

paras

פָּרַשׂ

HebrewH6566spread, stretch out, ...

Appears 67 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Exo 9:29Exo 9:33Exo 25:20Exo 37:9Exo 40:19Num 4:6Num 4:7Num 4:8Num 4:11Num 4:13Num 4:14Deu 22:17Deu 32:11Jdg 8:25Rut 3:92Sa 17:191Ki 6:271Ki 8:71Ki 8:221Ki 8:381Ki 8:542Ki 8:152Ki 19:141Ch 28:182Ch 3:132Ch 5:82Ch 6:122Ch 6:132Ch 6:29Ezr 9:5Job 11:13Job 36:30Job 39:26Psa 44:20(21)Psa 68:14(15)Psa 105:39Psa 140:5(6)Psa 143:6Pro 13:16Pro 29:5Pro 31:20Isa 1:15Isa 19:8Isa 25:11 (2×)Isa 33:23Isa 37:14Isa 65:2Jer 4:31Jer 48:40Jer 49:22
Root family
Word studypah-RAHSverb

What paras means

to spread out: to open something wide or stretch it flat across a space.

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintyStrong

At its core this is the simple act of opening something out so that it covers more space than it did: a pair of hands, a bird's wings, a cloth, a net. One picture holds every use together, which is why a single Hebrew word does the work of several English ones.

What is being spread is what colors the meaning:

  • Spread the open hands upward and you are praying or pleading.
  • Spread wings and you are flying, or sheltering whatever is underneath.
  • Spread a cloth and you are covering, hiding, or laying claim.
  • Spread a net and you are setting a trap.
  • Spread a scroll or a letter and you are laying it open to be read.

The word itself picks no tone, so the same gesture can be tender, as when a garment is spread over a woman to claim her in marriage, or deadly, as when a net is spread over a victim. A close relative of this verb, נָטָה, means to stretch out or extend in one direction, while this one is about opening something out to its full width.

Because the action is so vivid, the poets and prophets stretch it well past cloth and feathers. Light spreads around God, dawn spreads over the mountains, a fool spreads his folly for everyone to see, and God spreads a whole people out across the earth like the four winds. The senses below sort the occurrences by what is spread and to what end.

Nuances

1ato spread out the open hands upward in prayer or appeal to God.
Exo 9:29Exo 9:331Ki 8:221Ki 8:381Ki 8:542Ch 6:122Ch 6:132Ch 6:29Ezr 9:5Job 11:13Psa 44:20(21)Psa 143:6
1bto spread out the hands as an expressive gesture: pleading in distress, reaching to seize, or opening the hand to give.
Pro 31:20Isa 25:11 (2×)Isa 65:2Jer 4:31Lam 1:10Lam 1:17
1cto spread out wings, whether a bird in flight or sheltering or the carved wings of the cherubim.
TranslatabilityDirect
Exo 25:20Exo 37:9Deu 32:111Ki 6:271Ki 8:71Ch 28:182Ch 3:132Ch 5:8Job 39:26Jer 48:40Jer 49:22
1dto spread a cloth, garment, or covering over something, to cover, screen, shelter, or lay claim.
Exo 40:19Num 4:6Num 4:7Num 4:8Num 4:11Num 4:13Num 4:14Deu 22:17Rut 3:92Sa 17:192Ki 8:15Ezk 16:8
1eto spread out a net or snare in order to trap someone.
TranslatabilityDirect
Psa 140:5(6)Pro 29:5Isa 19:8Lam 1:13Ezk 12:13Ezk 17:20Ezk 19:8Ezk 32:3Hos 5:1Hos 7:12
1fto spread light or daybreak across an open expanse, so that it covers everything in view.
Job 36:30Jol 2:2
1gto unfurl something or lay it out flat so that it is open to view: a scroll, a letter, a sail, a garment, food set out.
Jdg 8:252Ki 19:14Pro 13:16Isa 33:23Isa 37:14Lam 4:4Ezk 2:10Mic 3:3
Mic 3:3

Whether the verb in Micah 3:3, where the rulers treat the people like meat for a cooking pot, is this word meaning to spread out or the near-identical verb meaning to break something into pieces.

  • contestedThe verb is this one, so the picture is flesh spread out ready for the pot.; HALOT, s.v. פרשׂ; David J. A. Clines, ed., The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (DCH), s.v. פרשׂ
  • contestedThe verb here is the similar one meaning to break in pieces, so the rulers chop the people up for the cauldron.; BDB, s.v. פרשׂ
Lam 4:4

Whether the verb in Lamentations 4:4, where no one gives bread to the starving children, is this word meaning to spread out or the near-identical verb meaning to break bread.

  • contestedThe verb is this one, so bread is spread out or held out to the children and nobody does it.; HALOT, s.v. פרשׂ
  • contestedThe verb here is the similar one meaning to break bread for sharing, the wording used elsewhere for distributing food to the hungry.; BDB, s.v. פרשׂ
1hto scatter or spread people abroad, dispersing them over a wide area.
TranslatabilityPartial
Psa 68:14(15)Ezk 17:21Zec 2:6(10)

What scholars say about paras

The standard lexicons (BDB, HALOT, DCH) treat this as one verb meaning to spread out or stretch out, subdivided by the object spread (hands, wings, a covering, a net) rather than split into separate lexical items. The hands-spread-in-prayer usage is the most theologically prominent, gathering in Solomon's temple dedication and the Psalms; the covering usage underlies the marriage imagery of Ruth 3:9 and Ezekiel 16:8; the net usage supplies a stock image of judgment in the prophets, especially Ezekiel. The poetic extensions to light (Job 36:30) and to daybreak (Joel 2:2) are handled within the same entry, as is the dispersal sense in the intensive stem (Zechariah 2:6; Psalm 68:14). The lexica also keep this root, written with the letter sin, firmly distinct from the lookalikes written with shin: the verb meaning to make a matter clear or specify it (Leviticus 24:12; Nehemiah 8:8), the noun for horseman, and the priestly noun for the gut contents of a sacrificial animal (Exodus 29:14; Malachi 2:3). Attempts to derive one of those from another are treated as folk etymology rather than as established derivation. Two occurrences remain genuinely uncertain, Lamentations 4:4 and Micah 3:3, where the picture of food spread out overlaps the similar verb meaning to break up and divide, and BDB itself queries the sense at Micah 3:3.

Sources

  • HALOT, s.v. פרשׂlexicon
  • BDB, s.v. פרשׂlexicon
  • David J. A. Clines, ed., The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (DCH), s.v. פרשׂlexicon

All attested forms of פָּרַשׂ

qal consecutive-imperfect 3ms

וַיִּפְרֹשׂ, וַיִּפְרְשֵׂ

Exo 9:33, Exo 40:19, 1Ki 8:22, 2Ki 8:15, 2Ch 6:12, 2Ch 6:13, Ezk 2:10, 2Ki 19:14

qal consecutive-perfect 3cp

וּפָרְשׂוּ

Num 4:6, Num 4:8, Num 4:13, Num 4:14, Deu 22:17

qal participle m p absolute

פֹּרְשִׂים

1Ki 8:7, 1Ch 28:18, 2Ch 3:13, 2Ch 5:8

qal perfect 3ms

פָּרַשׂ

Job 36:30, Psa 105:39, Lam 1:10, Lam 1:13

piel perfect 1cs

פֵּרַשְׂתִּי

Psa 143:6, Isa 65:2, Zec 2:6

qal consecutive-imperfect 3mp

וַיִּפְרְשׂוּ

Jdg 8:25, 1Ki 6:27, Ezk 19:8

qal consecutive-perfect 1cs

וּפָרַשְׂתִּי

Ezk 12:13, Ezk 17:20, Ezk 32:3

qal consecutive-perfect 3ms

וּפָרַשׂ

1Ki 8:38, 2Ch 6:29, Jer 48:40

qal imperfect 3ms

יִפְרֹשׂ

Deu 32:11, Job 39:26, Pro 13:16

qal participle m p construct

פֹּרְשֵׂי

Exo 25:20, Exo 37:9, Isa 19:8

qal perfect 3cp

פָּרְשׂוּ

Psa 140:5, Isa 33:23, Mic 3:3

piel infinitive-construct construct

פָרִשְׂ, פָרֵשׂ

Isa 1:15, Psa 68:14

qal consecutive-imperfect 1cs

וָאֶפְרְשָׂ, וָאֶפְרֹשׂ

Ezr 9:5, Ezk 16:8

qal consecutive-perfect 2ms

וּפָרַשְׂתָּ

Rut 3:9, Job 11:13

qal imperfect 1cs

אֶפְרוֹשׂ, אֶפְרֹשׂ

Hos 7:12, Exo 9:29

qal imperfect 3mp

יִפְרְשׂוּ

Num 4:7, Num 4:11

qal participle m s absolute

פּוֹרֵשׂ, פֹּרֵשׂ

Pro 29:5, Lam 4:4

niphal imperfect 3mp

יִפָּרֵשׂוּ

Ezk 17:21

piel consecutive-perfect 3ms

וּפֵרַשׂ

Isa 25:11

piel imperfect 3fs

תְּפָרֵשׂ

Jer 4:31

piel imperfect 3ms

יְפָרֵשׂ

Isa 25:11

piel perfect 3fs

פֵּרְשָׂה

Lam 1:17

qal conjunctive-imperfect 3ms

וְיִפְרֹשׂ

Jer 49:22

qal consecutive-imperfect 1cp

וַנִּפְרֹשׂ

Psa 44:20

qal consecutive-imperfect 3fs

וַתִּפְרֹשׂ

2Sa 17:19

qal passive-participle f p absolute

פְּרֻשׂוֹת

1Ki 8:54

qal passive-participle f s absolute

פְּרוּשָׂה

Hos 5:1

qal passive-participle m s absolute

פָּרֻשׂ

Jol 2:2

qal perfect 3fs

פָּרְשָׂה

Pro 31:20