Lexical Summary
para': To let go, to let loose, to be unrestrained, to uncover, to expose
Original Word: פָרַע
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: para`
Pronunciation: pah-rah'
Phonetic Spelling: (paw-rah')
KJV: avenge, avoid, bare, go back, let, (make) naked, set at nought, perish, refuse, uncover
Word Origin: [a primitive root]
1. to loosen
2. (by implication) to expose, dismiss
3. (figuratively) absolve, begin
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
avenge, avoid, bare, go back, make naked, perish,
A primitive root; to loosen; by implication, to expose, dismiss; figuratively, absolve, begin -- avenge, avoid, bare, go back, let, (make) naked, set at nought, perish, refuse, uncover.
Brown-Driver-Briggs
[] (?); — only Infinitive construct
Judges 5:2, see above
III. (Late Hebrew id. unbind (hair), uncover; Arabic 👁 Image
be empty, vacant, unoccupied (with 👁 Image
of thing), Syriac 👁 Image
uncover; = Late Hebrew); —
Perfect3masculine singular consecutive Numbers 5:18; suffix (Ges§ 7 b, c) Exodus 32:25; Imperfect3masculine singular Leviticus 21:10, etc.; Imperative masculine singular suffix Proverbs 4:15; Infinitive cstr. Judges 5:2; Participle act. Proverbs 13:18; Proverbs 15:32; pass. Leviticus 13:45, Ezekiel 32:25; —
let go, let loose, people, i.e. remove restraint from them, Exodus 32:25 (twice in verse) (E); compare Job 15:4 CheJQ, July 1897, 577 ( for ); unbind head (by removing turban, sign of mourning) Leviticus 10:6; Leviticus 21:10 (forbidden to priests); also, Leviticus 13:45 (leper), Numbers 5:18 (womsn; all with ; see NowArchaeology ii. 114; > denominative from Gerber18 and others).
let alone = avoid Proverbs 4:15; = neglect Proverbs 1:25; Proverbs 8:33; Proverbs 13:18; Proverbs 15:32; absolute = refrain Ezekiel 24:14. — Judges 5:2 see I. .
Imperfect3masculine singular Proverbs 29:18 the people is let loose, lacks restraint.
Perfect3masculine singular 2Chronicles 28:19; Imperfect2masculine plural Exodus 5:4; —
cause people to refrain, Exodus 5:4.
shew lack of restraint2Chronicles 28:19.
Topical Lexicon
Overview The verb פָרַע describes something or someone slipping loose from an ordained covering—hair from its binding, a nation from covenant restraints, a person from wise counsel. Its sixteen occurrences trace a line from literal unbinding to moral and spiritual abandonment.
Release and Willing Service
• Exodus 5:4 – Pharaoh rebukes Moses for “letting the people loose” from forced labor, foreshadowing God’s redemptive liberation.
• Judges 5:2 – “When the princes take the lead in Israel, when the people volunteer, bless the LORD.” Voluntary devotion is pictured as warriors with unbound locks, a freedom energized by submission to the LORD rather than defiance of Him.
Ritual Hair Laws
• Leviticus 10:6; 21:10 – Priests must not let hair hang loose while on duty, preserving the dignity of holy service.
• Leviticus 13:45 – The leper’s disheveled hair marks public uncleanness.
• Numbers 5:18 – The suspected adulteress has her hair loosened, exposing hidden sin to divine judgment.
Unkempt hair signals exposure; bound hair signifies ordered holiness.
Communal Disorder
• Exodus 32:25 – “Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them run wild and become a derision to their enemies.”
• 2 Chronicles 28:19 – Ahaz “encouraged moral decline in Judah,” unleashing national shame.
Abandoning covenant boundaries invariably invites outside scorn and divine discipline.
Wisdom Literature Warnings
Proverbs 1:25; 4:15; 8:33; 13:18; 15:32; 29:18 employ the verb for spurning counsel:
“Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law” (Proverbs 29:18).
Ignoring instruction is portrayed as casting off the protective covering of wisdom.
Prophetic Finality
Ezekiel 24:14 – “I, the LORD, have spoken. I will not withhold, I will not show pity, and I will not relent.”
When human rebellion has run wild unchecked, God answers with an unrelenting decree. What sinners have recklessly loosed, divine justice firmly binds.
Ministry Implications
1. True freedom comes under the Lord’s authority; leaders must guard that balance.
2. Visible symbols (e.g., the priest’s groomed hair or the believer’s orderly worship, 1 Corinthians 14:40) reinforce invisible realities of holiness.
3. Preaching must maintain prophetic vision; otherwise congregations “cast off restraint.”
4. Discipline, whether parental, ecclesial, or civil, is a gracious covering, not an impediment.
Through פָרַע Scripture testifies that liberty detached from God’s order collapses into chaos, while submission within His order releases people into purposeful service and blessing.
Forms and Transliterations
אֶפְרַ֥ע אפרע בִּפְרֹ֤עַ בפרע הִפְרִ֙יעַ֙ הפריע וַתִּפְרְע֥וּ וּפָרַע֙ ופרע ותפרעו יִפְרָ֔ע יִפָּ֣רַֽע יפרע פְּרָעֵ֥הוּ פְרָעֹ֣ה פָר֔וּעַ פָרֻ֖עַ פּוֹרֵ֣עַ פורע פרוע פרע פרעה פרעהו תִּפְרָ֣עוּ ׀ תִּפְרָֽעוּ׃ תַּפְרִ֥יעוּ תפריעו תפרעו תפרעו׃ ’ep̄·ra‘ ’ep̄ra‘ bifRoa bip̄·rō·a‘ bip̄rōa‘ efRa faRua feraOh hifRia hip̄·rî·a‘ hip̄rîa‘ p̄ā·ru·a‘ p̄ā·rū·a‘ p̄ārua‘ p̄ārūa‘ pə·rā·‘ê·hū p̄ə·rā·‘ōh pərā‘êhū p̄ərā‘ōh peraEhu pō·w·rê·a‘ poRea pōwrêa‘ tafRiu tap̄·rî·‘ū tap̄rî‘ū tifRau tip̄·rā·‘ū tip̄rā‘ū ū·p̄ā·ra‘ ufaRa ūp̄āra‘ vattifreU wat·tip̄·rə·‘ū wattip̄rə‘ū yifRa yip·pā·ra‘ yip̄·rā‘ yipPara yippāra‘ yip̄rā‘
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