מַפְרֶקֶת
miph.re.qet
neck
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# Analysis of Hebrew מַפְרֶקֶת (miphreqet) The Hebrew word מַפְרֶקֶת (miphreqet) denotes the neck, specifically the physical part of the body connecting the head to the torso. Based on the lexical data provided, this term appears only once in the biblical text, making it a relatively rare word in Hebrew Scripture. The rarity of this particular term—occurring just a single time—limits what can be definitively stated about its full semantic range or any specialized theological or figurative uses it may carry. Unlike more frequently appearing Hebrew words for "neck," which typically appear dozens or hundreds of times and thus allow interpreters to observe varied contexts and applications, this word's single occurrence provides minimal comparative data. This suggests that while the word was understood in biblical Hebrew, it was not the standard or preferred term for referring to the neck in most biblical discourse. For readers of the Hebrew Bible, the existence of multiple terms for the same body part reflects the natural variation found in any language. The singular occurrence of מַפְרֶקֶת indicates it represents a stylistic or contextual choice by a particular biblical author or scribe, but without additional instances, the full extent of its usage patterns and any connotations beyond the basic anatomical meaning cannot be determined from the lexical evidence alone.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
1 total occurrence across the text