פָּקַד
𐤐𐤒𐤃
pâqad
H6485 verb
SILEX Entry
Definition
To pay close attention to, attend to, or deal with someone or something, often as an act of oversight, inspection, or intervention. The verb can denote a range of activities including visiting, appointing responsibility, taking account, mustering (as for military or census), caring for, remembering with action, punishing, or bringing to reckoning. The context determines whether the action is positive (e.g., caring for, remembering favorably, appointing to office) or negative (e.g., punishing, exacting judgment, reckoning with).
Semantic Range
to pay attention to, to visit (for blessing or judgment), to appoint or assign responsibility, to muster or take a census, to care for, to remember (with intent to act), to punish or bring to account, to deposit entrust, to miss or lack, to reckon, to call to mind, to deliver (into custody), to oversee, to place in charge
Root / Etymology
From the root פקד, which at its core means 'to attend to' or 'to take account of.' The verb denotes active engagement or consideration of an object or person, which may be carried out through visitation, appointment, or reckoning. The concrete outworking varies based on the subject, object, and context, leading to its wide semantic range. The root also yields nouns like פָּקִיד (official, overseer) and מִפְקָד (numbering, muster).
Historical & Contextual Notes
פָּקַד is one of the most versatile verbs in Biblical Hebrew, appearing widely across narrative, legal, and prophetic texts. In pre-monarchic and monarchic contexts, it frequently refers to military or census activities ('to muster,' 'to number'), as well as royal or priestly appointments ('to appoint'). In narrative and poetry, it can imply an act of divine or human intervention, whether for blessing (e.g., 'YHWH visited Sarah') or judgment (as in punishing wrongdoing). Postexilic texts occasionally employ פָּקַד in bureaucratic senses (appoint, oversee). English translations often split פָּקַד into distinct words ('visit,' 'punish,' 'appoint,' 'remember'), sometimes obscuring the underlying sense of active, purposeful attention. The term's flexibility means that context must be evaluated carefully for each use. Contrasts with שָׁקַד (to watch), זָכַר (to remember), and סָפַר (to count), though these share thematic overlap. Later translation traditions sometimes render פקד with terms like 'visit' (LXX: ἐπισκοπέω, Latin: visitare), which carry connotations of both care and scrutiny. In some periods, the English term 'officer' or 'overseer' comes into play via derived nouns, but care must be taken not to retroject bureaucratic meanings into earlier periods.
Translation Consistency
The SILEX range centers on paying attention and then acting (visiting, caring, appointing, punishing, reckoning). “Attend” is a natural, flexible single-word verb that conveys paying close attention to or dealing with someone or something and easily covers both positive and negative usages. It is also the most common rendering in the existing P2 data, and it can be inflected idiomatically in context to render narrower senses (muster, appoint, visit, punish) when needed.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
a primitive root; to visit (with friendly or hostile intent); by analogy, to oversee, muster, charge, care for, miss, deposit, etc.; appoint, [idiom] at all, avenge, bestow, (appoint to have the, give a) charge, commit, count, deliver to keep, be empty, enjoin, go see, hurt, do judgment, lack, lay up, look, make, [idiom] by any means, miss, number, officer, (make) overseer, have (the) oversight, punish, reckon, (call to) remember(-brance), set (over), sum, [idiom] surely, visit, want.
Bantu Hebrew
No Bantu Hebrew comparisons have been recorded for this word yet.
Root Family
פקד (p-q-d) — to attend to, to take account, to number, to appoint, to visit
| Strong's | Lemma | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|
| H4662 | מִפְקָד | at mustering-of |
| H4663 | מִפְקָד | the appointed-muster site |
| H6486 | פְּקֻדָּה | their appointed oversight |
| H6487 | פִּקָּדוֹן | in an entrusted deposit |
| H6488 | פְּקִדֻת | oversight |
Word Forms
96 distinct forms
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H6485-59 |
וּ/פָקַדְתִּ֥י | ufaqadeti | HC/Vqq1cs |
and I will punish | and I attended to | and I will attend to | 20 |
H6485-47 |
פְּקֻדֵי/הֶ֖ם | pequdeyhem | HVqsmpc/Sp3mp |
those numbered of them | their appointed ones | their attended ones | 16 |
H6485-66 |
וּ/פְקֻדֵי/הֶ֑ם | ufequdeyhem | HC/Vqsmpc/Sp3mp |
and those numbered of them | and their mustered-ones | and their attended ones | 13 |
H6485-78 |
וַ֠/יִּפְקֹד | vayifeqod | HC/Vqw3ms |
and he mustered | and he attended to | and he mustered | 12 |
H6485-16 |
הַ/פְּקֻדִ֔ים | hapequdim | HTd/Vqsmpa |
those numbered | the accounted ones | the accounted ones | 12 |
H6485-93 |
יִפְקֹ֣ד | yifeqod | HVqi3ms |
visit | he will attend to | he will attend to | 12 |
H6485-33 |
פָּקַ֥ד | paqad | HVqp3ms |
numbered | he attended to | he attended to | 11 |
H6485-04 |
אֶפְקֹ֗ד | efeqod | HVqi1cs |
I will punish | I will attend to | I will attend to | 11 |
H6485-46 |
פְּקוּדֵ֥י | pequdey | HVqsmpc |
numbered | accounted ones of | accounted ones of | 10 |
H6485-28 |
לִ/פְקֻדֵי/הֶם֒ | lifequdeyhem | HR/Vqsmpc/Sp3mp |
according to those numbered of them | for their mustered-ones | for their attended-ones | 10 |
Occurrences in Scripture
304 occurrences
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H6485-33 |
Genesis 21:1 | פָּקַ֥ד | paqad | HVqp3ms |
visited | he attended to | he attended to |
H6485-73 |
Genesis 39:4 | וַ/יַּפְקִדֵ֨/הוּ֙ | vayafeqidehu | HC/Vhw3ms/Sp3ms |
and appointed him | and he appointed him | and he appointed him |
H6485-22 |
Genesis 39:5 | הִפְקִ֨יד | hifeqid | HVhp3ms |
he appointed | he appointed | he appointed |
H6485-78 |
Genesis 40:4 | וַ֠/יִּפְקֹד | vayifeqod | HC/Vqw3ms |
took charge of | and he attended to | and he attended |
H6485-88 |
Genesis 41:34 | וְ/יַפְקֵ֥ד | veyafeqed | HC/Vhj3ms |
and let him appoint | and may he appoint | and may he appoint |
H6485-39 |
Genesis 50:24 | פָּקֹ֧ד | paqod | HVqa |
will surely | to attend to | to attend to |
H6485-93 |
Genesis 50:24 | יִפְקֹ֣ד | yifeqod | HVqi3ms |
visit | he will attend to | he will attend to |
H6485-39 |
Genesis 50:25 | פָּקֹ֨ד | paqod | HVqa |
will surely | to attend to | to attend to |
H6485-93 |
Genesis 50:25 | יִפְקֹ֤ד | yifeqod | HVqi3ms |
visit | he will attend to | he will attend to |
H6485-39 |
Exodus 3:16 | פָּקֹ֤ד | paqod | HVqa |
I have surely | to attend to | to attend to |