Bible Word Study
פַּעֲרַי
Paʻăray · Paarai, an Israelite
פַּעֲרַי
Paarai, an Israelite
Definition
Paarai is the name of a single individual mentioned in the Old Testament, specifically listed among King David's mighty warriors. The name appears only in 2 Samuel 23:35, where he is identified as 'Paarai the Arbite.' As a proper noun, it functions solely as a personal identifier for this one historical figure. There are no other biblical senses or meanings for this term, as it is not used in any other context or passage.
Biblical Usage
This word is used exactly once in the Old Testament, in 2 Samuel 23:35, within the list of David's thirty-seven mighty men (the 'Thirty'). The context is a historical record of military elites loyal to David. The usage pattern is strictly as a proper name for identification within a genealogical or honor-roll list, with no narrative or descriptive action attached to the individual.
Etymology
The name Paarai (פַּעֲרַי) is derived from the Hebrew root פָּעַר (pāʿar, H6473), which means 'to open wide,' often specifically 'to gape' or 'to yawn.' It is a gentilic or patronymic form, likely meaning 'my yawning one' or 'belonging to Paar.' The formation suggests it could be descriptive or refer to a familial or tribal origin.
Semantic Range
As a personal name, Paarai reflects a common ancient Israelite practice of using words describing actions or states (like yawning) for names. Being listed among David's mighty men was a high military and social honor, indicating valor and loyalty. The designation 'the Arbite' likely refers to his town of origin, Arba (possibly connected to Kiriath-arba, an older name for Hebron), placing him within the tribe of Judah.
Word Details
How this works
Definitions are from the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (BDB, 1906, public domain). Concordance and morphology data are from the OSHB (Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible).
Full methodology & sources →References
- Abbott-Smith, G. (1921) A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Brown, F., Driver, S.R. and Briggs, C.A. (1906) A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press. [Public Domain]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Tyndale Brief lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (TBESG). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Formatted full LSJ (TFLSJ). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Thayer, J.H. (1889) A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. [Public Domain]
- Gesenius, W. (1846) Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament. [Public Domain]
- Dodson, J. (2010) Greek Lexicon. Biblical Humanities. [CC0]