B-Hebrew: The Biblical Hebrew Forum

We read
וְעָרְכוּ בְּנֵי אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֲנִים אֵת הַנְּתָחִים אֶת הָרֹאשׁ וְאֶת הַפָּדֶר עַל הָעֵצִים אֲשֶׁר עַל הָאֵשׁ אֲשֶׁר עַל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ
NIV: "Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, including the head and the fat, on the wood that is burning on the altar."

The root פדר is a variant of
בדר, בזר, בסר, בצר, בשר, בתר
פדר, פזר, פטר, פצר, פשר, פתר
of the common sense of 'spread, disperse'.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

Isaac Fried wrote:The root פדר is a variant of
בדר, בזר, בסר, בצר, בשר, בתר
פדר, פזר, פטר, פצר, פשר, פתר
of the common sense of 'spread, disperse'.

Not to forget פרד. The certain people is not only מפזר, but also מפרד. (Esther 3:8) The LXX renders the two verbs with one, (διεσπαρμένον) which also has an r. The Vulgate gives two words with two r's. (dispersus et...separatus.)

Did Haman mean to say that the people was אחד or אחר? The Lord too is both one and other (c.f. ἕτερος and Otto's ganz Andere and note the r's.)

To פרד = ברד, 'separate, free', we may add רפד, 'pad, cushion, spread', as in Job 17:13. So פֶּדֶר PEDER, is possibly a fleshy רפידה.

Closely related to רפד is רבד of which we have the מרבד = מה-רבד = מרבץ, 'coverlet, rug', as in Prov. 7:16, and the רביד = רביץ of Gen. 41:42.

We include in this family of roots the רֶפֶת, 'stall, pen', a מַרְבֵּץ (see Zeph. 2:15), where the cows are רובצות or רופסות ברֶפֶשׁ. We recall also the post-biblical רפט, 'ripped'. מרוּפט, 'in tatters, in shreds'.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

Isaac Fried wrote:פרד = ברד, 'separate, free...'

Hi, Isaac.

Not to forget the פרצ of Gen 28:14: וּפָרַצְתָּ֛ יָ֥מָּה וָקֵ֖דְמָה וְצָפֹ֣נָה וָנֶ֑גְבָּה Gesenius connects this with ῥήσσω and English "spread."

We should not fail to include in this family the פֶּרֶשׁ of Ex 29:14, a fundamental form of separated mass.

Nor to forget the פרס לחם of Mk 14:22 in Lindsey's version.

Gesenius anticipates Fried by suggesting that the בּרוֹשׁ of Nah. 2:4 is so named from the wood REMOVED or CUT OFF FROM it. (note the r in "cypress.")

The בְּרוֹש, 'spear?' of Nah. 2:4(3) is enigmatic, but as a tree name (Is. 55:13, Hos. 14:9, etc.) it is certainly a פְּרוֹש, a tree פורש ענפים, a tree spreading its branches.

Recall also the ברות of Song 1:17.

The city name Beirut is possibly from בארות, 'wells', or, maybe, from ברות, 'cedar'.

It appears to me that בשורה -> פזורה, the spreading of welcome tidings.

Concerning a piece of wood cut off a tree, we recall that קֶרֶש, 'board, plank', (otherwise, קורה), as in Ex. 26:18, is but a כֶּרֶת, 'a cut'. In spoken Hebrew קריש דם is 'blood clot', and מִבְרֶשֶת (kind of a מפרשת) is 'a brush'.

Related to קרש is קרס, 'crash, collapse, wreck', as in Is. 46:1.

Isaac Fried, Boston University