פרע

Hebrew

Root
פ־ר־ע (p-r-ʿ)
5 terms

Verb

פָּרַע • (pará) (pa'al construction)

1. to pay (a bill)
2. (Biblical Hebrew) To let loose; to tear, destroy; to loosen, disarrange; to neglect (the hair).
   • Tanach, Exodus 32:25, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     כִּי פְרָעֹה אַהֲרֹן לְשִׁמְצָה בְּקָמֵיהֶם

     for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies

   • Tanach, Leviticus 10:6, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     רָאשֵׁיכֶם אַל תִּפְרָעוּ וּבִגְדֵיכֶם לֹא תִפְרֹמוּ וְלֹא תָמֻתוּ וְעַל כָּל הָעֵדָה יִקְצֹף

     Let not the hair of your heads go loose, neither rend your clothes, that ye die not, and that He be not wroth with all the congregation

3. To uncover.
   • a. 500 C.E., Babylonian Talmud, Chullin 91a:

     פרע להן בית השחיטה

     Uncover the place of cutting for them (show them that the animal has been cut according to the ritual).

4. (Mishnaic Hebrew, Jewish law) to uncover the corona, to split the membrane and pull it down.
5. (Mishnaic Hebrew) To settle with; to punish.
   • a. 217 C.E., Mishnah, Bava Metzi'a 4:2:

     מי שפרע מאנשי דור המבול..., הוא עתיד להיפרע ממי שאינו עומד בדיבורו

     He who punished the men of the generation of the Flood… He will punish him who does not stand by his word (although the court cannot compel him).

6. (Biblical Hebrew) To go back; to set at nought.
   • Tanach, Ezekiel 24:14, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     לֹא אֶפְרַע וְלֹא אָחוּס וְלֹא אֶנָּחֵם

     I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent

   • Tanach, Proverbs 1:25, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     וַתִּפְרְעוּ כָל עֲצָתִי

     But ye have set at nought all my counsel

Conjugation

Conjugation of פָּרַע (see also Appendix:Hebrew verbs)

non-finite forms		to-infinitive		לפרוע / לִפְרֹעַ
		action noun		פְּרִיעָה
		passive participle		פָּרוּעַ
finite forms		singular		plural
		m	f	m	f
past	first	פָּרַעְתִּי		פָּרַעְנוּ
	second	פָּרַעְתָּ	פָּרַעְתְּ	פְּרַעְתֶּם1	פְּרַעְתֶּן1
	third	פָּרַע	פָּרְעָה	פָּרְעוּ
present		פּוֹרֵעַ	פּוֹרַעַת	פּוֹרְעִים	פּוֹרְעוֹת
future	first	אֶפְרַע		נִפְרַע
	second	תִּפְרַע	תִּפְרְעִי	תִּפְרְעוּ	תִּפְרַעְנָה2
	third	יִפְרַע	תִּפְרַע	יִפְרְעוּ	תִּפְרַעְנָה2
imperative		פְּרַע	פִּרְעִי	פִּרְעוּ	פְּרַעְנָה2

¹ Pronounced פָּרַעְתֶּם and פָּרַעְתֶּן in informal Modern Hebrew.
² Rare in Modern Hebrew.

References

• “פרע” in the Hebrew Terms Database of the Academy of Hebrew Language
• Jastrow, Marcus (1903) A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature, London, New York: Luzac & Co., G.P. Putnam's Sons, page 1235