פּוּק
𐤐𐤅𐤒
pûwq
H6328 verb
SILEX Entry
Definition
To stagger or reel, to totter in movement, especially due to weakness or intoxication. In some contexts, to be unsteady, to be caused to wander, or to reel in confusion. The term conveys physical instability, whether literal (as in bodily stumbling) or figurative (as in uncertainty or disorientation).
Semantic Range
to stagger (physically), to reel (as under intoxicants), to move unsteadily, to totter (in body or purpose), to be led astray or confused (figuratively)
Root / Etymology
Root פּוּק (p-w-q). The root carries the sense of unsteady or unstable motion. As a verb, 'pûwq' derives directly from this root and appears in the Hebrew Bible only in the niphal form. It indicates the result of instability or the experience of reeling. The root is unrelated to similar-sounding roots concerning 'bringing forth' or 'going out.'
Historical & Contextual Notes
פּוּק is a rare verb in Biblical Hebrew, occurring primarily in poetic or visionary passages (e.g., Isaiah 28:7, where it describes the swaying or reelings of priests and prophets under the influence of strong drink, hence conveying both literal and metaphorical instability). Its usage is concentrated in the prophetic corpus. The term can both depict physical stumbling (falling, staggering) and metaphorically refer to erratic or unreliable behavior. The word is not common in other Hebrew corpora or dialects. Standard English translations tend to render the word as 'stagger' or 'reel,' which broadly capture the sense but sometimes flatten the figurative nuances in prophetic literature, where moral, spiritual, or leadership instability is implied. פּוּק should be distinguished from the much more common verb נפל (to fall), as 'פּוּק' emphasizes unsteady movement rather than completed falling. It also differs from verbs of 'wandering' (e.g., תעה) in emphasizing the quality of instability rather than the act of being led astray. Later Hebrew or Aramaic does not preserve this root in the same sense; its meaning remains specific to the biblical context.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
a primitive root; to waver; stumble, move.
Bantu Hebrew
No Bantu Hebrew comparisons have been submitted for this word yet.
+ Add Bantu Hebrew WordRoot Family
פוק (p-w-q) — to stagger, to reel, to totter, to be unsteady
| Strong's | Lemma | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|
| H6329 | פּוּק | those bringing forth |
| H6330 | פּוּקָה | to a snare |
| H6375 | פִּיק | tottering |
Word Forms
2 distinct forms
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H6328-02 |
יָפִֽיק | yafiq | HVhi3ms |
it totters | he causes to stagger | 1 |
H6328-01 |
פָּק֖וּ | paqu | HVqp3cp |
stumble | they staggered | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
2 total occurrences
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H6328-01 |
Isaiah 28:7 | פָּק֖וּ | paqu | HVqp3cp |
stumble | they staggered |
H6328-02 |
Jeremiah 10:4 | יָפִֽיק | yafiq | HVhi3ms |
it totters | he causes to stagger |