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shebanq

פָּרוּר pārūr – pot

Semantic Fields: Utensils   Food Preparation   
Author(s): Paul Sanders
First published: 2026-06-28
Citation: Paul Sanders, פָּרוּר pārūr – pot,
               Semantics of Ancient Hebrew Database (sahd-online.com), 2026 (WORK IN PROGRESS)

Introduction

Grammatical type: noun masc.
Occurrences: 3x HB (1/2/0); 1x Sir; 0x Qum; 0x Inscr. (Total: 4)

  • Torah: Num 11:8;
  • Nebiim: Judg 6:19; 1 Sam 2:14;
  • Sira: 13:2A.

A.1

1 Root and Comparative Material

A.1 Akkadian:

2. Formal Characteristic

A.1

3. Syntagmatics

A.1

4. Ancient Versions

Septuagint (LXX)1

  • χύτρα, ‘earthen pot’: Num 11:8; Judg 6:19; Sir 13:2;
  • χύτρα, or κύθρα as variant of χύτρα, ‘earthen pot’: 1 Sam 2:14 (see A.1).

A.1 Most of the manuscripts of the LXX represent the four Hebrew terms for cooking vessels in the MT of 1Sam 2:14 – כִּיּוֹר, דּוּד, קַּלַּחַת, פָּרוּר – by only three Greek expressions: λέβης + μέγας – χαλκεῖον – χύτρα/κύθρα. These three Greek renderings occur in this order in Codex Vaticanus LXXB: καὶ ἐπάταξεν αὐτὴν εἰς τὸν λέβητα τὸν μέγαν ἢ εἰς τὸ χαλκίον ἢ εἰς τὴν κύθραν, ‘and he thrusted it into the large cauldron and into the bronze cauldron and into the earthen pot’. The deviating order λέβης + μέγας - χύτρα - χαλκεῖον occurs in LXXAnt.2 Elsewhere in the LXX, both the occurrences of פָּרוּר (and also פָּארוּר in Joel 2:6; Nah 2:11) and the other occurrence of קַלַּחַת (Mic 3:3) are translated as χύτρα/κύθρα. Only in 1 Sam 2:14 do the Hebrew nouns קַלַּחַת and פָּרוּר occur together. It is quite likely that in the Greek translation of 1 Sam 2:14 χύτρα/κύθρα represents both קַלַּחַת and פָּרוּר.

Peshitta (Pesh)3

  • ܩܕܪܐ (qedrā), ‘pot’: Num 11:8; 1 Sam 2:14;
  • ܩܕܪܐ ܕܦܚܪܐ (qedrā dpaḥārā), ‘pot of the potter’: Sir 13:2;
  • ܩܣܛܐ (qesṭā), ‘vase’, ‘urn’: Judg 6:19.

A.1

Targum (Tg)

  • מָלֵיסָא, ‘cooking vessel’: 1 Sam 2:14;
  • קדרא, ‘pot’: Num 11:8 (TgO); Judg 6:19.

A.1 In the targumim מָלֵיסָא, ‘cooking vessel’, is a very rare word, which occurs only in the translation of 1 Sam 2:14 and 2 Chron 35:13. In 1 Sam 2:14 it was probably chosen to represent פָּרוּר because קדרא already represented the preceding term קַלַּחַת.

Vulgate (Vg)4

  • olla, ‘pot’, ‘jar’: Num 11:8; Judg 6:19;
  • caccabus (< κάκκαβος), ‘cooking-pot’: 1 Sam 2:14; Sir 13:2 (Vg 13:3).

A.1 In the Vulgate caccabus is a very rare word, which occurs only in the translation of 1 Sam 2:14, 2 Chron 35:13 and Sir 13:2 (Vg 13:3). In 1 Sam 2:14 is was probably chosen to represent פָּרוּר because olla already represented the preceding term קַלַּחַת. In Sir 13:2/3 it was probably chosen so that olla could be used to represent the following word סִיר.

5. Lexical/Semantic Fields

A.1

6. Exegesis

A.1

6.1 Textual Evidence

6.2 Pictorial Evidence and Archaeology

7 Conclusion

Bibliography

For the abbreviations see the List of Abbreviations.

Dietrich 2010
Walter Dietrich, ‘Doch ein Text hinter den Texten? Vorläufige textkritische Einsichten eines Samuel-Kommentators’, in: Hugo & Schenker 2010:133–59.
Fernández Marcos & Busto Saiz 1989
Natalio Fernández Marcos, José Ramón Busto Saiz, El texto antioqueno de la Biblia griega, I: 1-2 Samuel (TECC 50), Madrid: Instituto de Filología, C.S.I.C.
Honeyman 1939
Alexander M. Honeyman, ‘The pottery vessels of the Old Testament’, PEQ 71:76-90.
Hugo & Schenker 2010
Philippe Hugo, Adrian Schenker (eds), Archaeology of the Books of Samuel: The Entangling of the Textual and Literary History (SVT, 132), Leiden: Brill.
Hutzli 2007
Jürg Hutzli, Die Erzählung von Hanna und Samuel: Textkritische und literarische Analyse von 1. Samuel 1–2 unter Berücksichtigung des Kontextes (ATANT, 89), Zürich: Theologischer Verlag Zürich.
Noonan 2019
Benjamin J. Noonan, Non-Semitic Loanwords in the Hebrew Bible: A Lexicon of Language Contact (LSAWS, 14), University Park, Pennsylvania: Eisenbrauns.
Parry 2006
Donald W. Parry, ‘“How Many Vessels”? An Examination of MT 1 Sam 2:14/4QSama 1 Sam 2:16’, in: Peter W. Flint, Emanuel Tov, and James C. VanderKam (eds.), Studies in the Hebrew Bible, Qumran, and the Septuagint Presented to Eugene Ulrich (SVT, 101), Leiden: Brill, 84–95.
Trebolle 2010
Julio Trebolle, ‘Textual Criticism and the Composition History of Samuel: Connections between Pericopes in 1 Samuel 1–4’, in: Hugo & Schenker 2010:261–85.

Notes

  1. The translations of the Greek are based on GELS. ↩

  2. LXXAnt: εἰς τὸν λέβητα τὸν μέγαν ἢ εἰς τὴν χύθραν ἢ εἰς τὸ χαλκεῖον (Fernández Marcos & Busto Saiz 1989:8). ↩

  3. The translations of the Syriac are based on Sokoloff, SLB. ↩

  4. The translations of the Latin are based on OLD. ↩

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