Lexical Summary
parah: To bear fruit, be fruitful, increase
Original Word: פָרָה
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: parah
Pronunciation: pah-RAH
Phonetic Spelling: (paw-raw')
KJV: bear, bring forth (fruit), (be, cause to be, make) fruitful, grow, increase
NASB: fruitful, make you fruitful, bear fruit, bearing fruit, become fruitful, flourishes, fruitful tree
Word Origin: [a primitive root]
1. to bear fruit (literally or figuratively)
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
bear, bring forth fruit, be, cause to be, make fruitful, grow, increase
A primitive root; to bear fruit (literally or figuratively) -- bear, bring forth (fruit), (be, cause to be, make) fruitful, grow, increase.
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origina prim. root
Definitionto bear fruit, be fruitful
NASB Translationbear fruit (2), bearing...fruit (1), become fruitful (1), flourishes (1), fruitful (18), fruitful tree (1), increased (1), made me fruitful (1), make him fruitful (1), make you fruitful (3).
Brown-Driver-Briggs
[] (Late Hebrew = Biblical Hebrew 1, = Biblical Hebrew; Phoenician
fruit; Ethiopic
👁 Image,
👁 Image blossom, bear fruit; Assyrian
pir'u,
posterity; compare also Syriac
👁 Image fruit, and Ba
ZMG xii (1887), 604): —
Perfect3plural Exodus 1:7; 1plural consecutive Genesis 26:22, etc.; Imperfect3masculine singular Isaiah 11:1, etc.; Imperative masculine singular Genesis 35:11, masculine plural Genesis 1:22 +; Participle active Deuteronomy 29:17, feminine Ezekiel 19:10; Isaiah 17:6, (Ges§ 80g; for * LagBN 81) Genesis 49:22 (twice in verse); —
, Exodus 23:30 (E) Genesis 26:22 (J); especially + Jeremiah 3:16; Jeremiah 23:3; Ezekiel 36:11; Genesis 35:11; Genesis 47:27 (P), and (P) Genesis 8:17; Genesis 9:7; Exodus 1:7, Genesis 1:22,28; Genesis 9:1.
, Isaiah 32:12 fruitful vine, so Psalm 128:3 (simile of wife); compare (in figurative of Israel) Ezekiel 19:10; in Messianic prediction Isaiah 11:1 a shoot from his [Jesse's] roots shall bear fruit; with accusative figurative, Deuteronomy 29:17 a root bearing gall (as its fruit); Isaiah 45:8 is dubious, read perhaps 3 feminine singular let earth be fruitful in salvation (Oort and others); Participle f., as substantive, the fruit-bearer, poetic for tree, Isaiah 17:6 (compare []
); so Genesis 49:22 (twice in verse) Joseph is son of a fruit-bearer, i.e. a fruitful bough.
cause to bear fruit,
make fruitful, subject with accusative of man or people:
Perfect3masculine singular suffix Genesis 41:52 (E).
in P, Genesis 17:6,20 (-), + Leviticus 26:9 (H); Imperfect3masculine singular jussive Genesis 28:3, Psalm 105:24; Participle Genesis 48:4.
shew fruitfullness, bear fruit (Ges§ 53 c, d, g): Imperfect3masculine singular Hosea 13:15 (as if from ).
Topical Lexicon
General Concept of Fruitfulness פָּרָה (parah) expresses the idea of bringing forth, branching out, or yielding increase. In Scripture it is consistently tied to the life-giving power of God and functions as a barometer of covenant blessing. Whether applied to people, animals, or land, it highlights the Creator’s intent that His works overflow with abundance (Genesis 1:22, 28).
Covenant Blessing to the Patriarchs
From the outset of redemptive history the verb undergirds the divine promises to the patriarchs. After the flood, Noah receives the reiterated mandate, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1). The same language is woven through the Abrahamic covenant:
• “I will make you exceedingly fruitful” (Genesis 17:6).
• “I will bless him and make him fruitful and will multiply him greatly” (Genesis 17:20, spoken of Ishmael).
Jacob transmits the blessing—“May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful” (Genesis 28:3)—linking it to nationhood and kingship. The fulfillment begins in Egypt where “the Israelites were fruitful, increased greatly, multiplied, and became exceedingly numerous” (Exodus 1:7), even under oppression.
Fruitfulness in Israel’s National Life
Parah marks every major stage of Israel’s growth: Jacob’s clan in Goshen (Genesis 47:27), the population surge that alarms Pharaoh (Exodus 1:12), and the Exodus generation’s anticipation of Canaan. Leviticus 26:9 summarizes covenant obedience: “I will turn toward you and make you fruitful and multiply you.” Here fruitfulness embraces progeny, harvest, and military strength.
Warnings and Curses against Sterility
Because fruitfulness is a gift from God, its withdrawal signals judgment. The antithetical image—barrenness or loss of fruit—lurks behind covenant curses (Deuteronomy 28) even when parah itself is not used. Prophets therefore call the people to repentance so that they might “be fruitful and multiply” once more (Jeremiah 23:3).
Metaphorical and Prophetic Usage
1. Personal Character: Joseph is hailed as “a fruitful vine by a spring” (Genesis 49:22), portraying spiritual resilience.
2. National Restoration: “In those days…they will multiply and be fruitful in the land” (Jeremiah 3:16) forecasts the post-exilic return.
3. Messianic Imagery: Ezekiel depicts the Davidic shoot that “became a vine and produced branches and put forth shoots” (Ezekiel 17:6), anticipating the Messiah who secures lasting fruitfulness.
4. Judicial Reversal: In lament, a once-fruitful mother-lioness (Israel) is transplanted to a desert where she withers (Ezekiel 19:10). The verb underscores both her past vitality and present desolation.
Liturgical and Devotional Echoes
The Psalter celebrates God’s multiplying grace: “He made His people very fruitful and made them stronger than their foes” (Psalm 105:24). Such praise invites worshippers to view every increase—family growth, agricultural yield, ministry expansion—as an act of divine kindness rather than human ingenuity.
Messianic and Eschatological Hints
Parah fuels hope for the eschaton: the renewed earth teems with life, families flourish, and the land yields without restraint (Jeremiah 31:27; Ezekiel 36:11). These promises converge in Jesus Christ, who calls disciples to “bear much fruit” (John 15:8), echoing the original mandate and ensuring its ultimate fulfillment in the new creation.
Practical Ministry Applications
• Family Ministry: Encourage couples and parents to view children as covenant blessing, rooting their vision in Genesis and Leviticus promises.
• Agricultural Outreach: Emphasize stewardship of land and resources as participation in God’s purpose for fruitfulness.
• Church Growth: Measure success not merely by numbers but by quality of spiritual fruit, reflecting Joseph’s enduring vine.
• Counseling amid Barrenness: Offer hope grounded in God’s sovereignty; the same Lord who withholds may also grant fruitfulness in His time.
Intertextual Connections in the New Testament
While parah itself is Hebrew, its theological current flows into Greek καρποφορέω (karpophoreō) and related terms. Paul prays “that you will bear fruit in every good work” (Colossians 1:10), mirroring Genesis language and framing Christian ethics as Spirit-empowered productivity. Revelation closes the canon with a tree that “bears twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month” (Revelation 22:2), a climactic vision of everlasting parah.
Forms and Transliterations
הִפְרַ֥נִי הפרני וְהִפְרֵיתִ֣י וְהִפְרֵיתִ֥י וְהִפְרֵתִ֤י וְיִפְרוּ־ וְיַפְרְךָ֖ וַיִּפְר֥וּ וַיֶּ֣פֶר וּפְרִיתֶ֨ם וּפָר֑וּ וּפָר֥וּ וּפָרִ֥ינוּ והפריתי והפרתי ויפר ויפרו ויפרו־ ויפרך ופרו ופרינו ופריתם יִפְרֶֽה׃ יפרה׃ מַפְרְךָ֙ מפרך פְּר֣וּ פְּר֥וּ פְּרֵ֣ה פָּר֧וּ פֹּֽרִיָּ֔ה פֹּֽרִיָּה֙ פֹּרִיָּֽה׃ פֹּרִיָּה֮ פֹּרֶ֥ה פֹּרָ֖ת פֹּרָת֙ פרה פרו פריה פריה׃ פרת תִּפְרֶ֔ה תפרה hifRani hip̄·ra·nî hip̄ranî mafreCha map̄·rə·ḵā map̄rəḵā pā·rū paRu pārū pə·rêh pə·rū peReh pərêh peRu pərū pō·rāṯ pō·reh pō·rî·yāh poRat pōrāṯ poReh pōreh poriYah pōrîyāh tifReh tip̄·reh tip̄reh ū·p̄ā·rî·nū ū·p̄ā·rū ū·p̄ə·rî·ṯem ufaRinu ufaRu uferiTem ūp̄ārînū ūp̄ārū ūp̄ərîṯem vaiYefer vaiyifRu vehifreiTi vehifreTi veyafreCha veyifru way·ye·p̄er way·yip̄·rū wayyep̄er wayyip̄rū wə·hip̄·rê·ṯî wə·yap̄·rə·ḵā wə·yip̄·rū- wəhip̄rêṯî wəyap̄rəḵā wəyip̄rū- yifReh yip̄·reh yip̄reh
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