Bible Word Study
פָּרוּחַ
Pârûwach · Paruach, an Israelite
פָּרוּחַ
Paruach, an Israelite
Definition
Paruach is a proper noun referring to an Israelite man, the father of Jehoshaphat, who served as a district officer under King Solomon's administration. The name appears only once in the Hebrew Bible, in 1 Kings 4:17, where Jehoshaphat is listed among the twelve officers responsible for providing food for the king's household. As a proper name, it carries no other semantic senses or meanings in different passages.
Biblical Usage
This word is used exclusively as a personal name in the Old Testament. Its single occurrence is in the historical narrative of 1 Kings 4:17, within a list of Solomon's administrative officials. The context is purely genealogical and bureaucratic, identifying the lineage of an officer named Jehoshaphat. There are no patterns of usage beyond this solitary reference.
Etymology
The name Paruach (פָּרוּחַ) is derived from the Hebrew root פָּרַח (parach, H6524), meaning 'to bud, sprout, or blossom.' It is the passive participle form of this verb, essentially meaning 'blossomed' or 'flourishing.' As a name, it likely carried a positive connotation of vitality, growth, or prosperity, a common theme in Hebrew onomastics (name-giving).
Semantic Range
In ancient Israelite culture, names were often significant and descriptive. A name like Paruach ('blossomed') likely expressed a hope or acknowledgment of blessing, fruitfulness, or new life. It fits a pattern where parents named children after desirable traits or circumstances. While the individual himself is only a minor administrative figure, his name reflects a common cultural practice of using meaningful words from nature and agriculture for personal names. There are no direct synonyms for this proper name. However, other names derived from the same root (פָּרַח) include: Perach (H6526) — a different personal name meaning 'bud' or 'sprout.'
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]