פְּתִי
pe.ti
simplicity
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# Analysis of פְּתִי (pethi) - "Simplicity" Based on the lexical data provided, פְּתִי (pethi) is a Hebrew noun meaning "simplicity" that appears only once in the biblical text. The single occurrence limits our ability to establish a detailed range of usage or semantic nuances, as we cannot observe how the term functions across different contexts or literary genres within Scripture. The word's appearance in only one location makes it difficult to determine whether "simplicity" here carries positive connotations (such as innocence or straightforwardness) or negative ones (such as naiveté or lack of discernment). Without additional biblical contexts where related forms or synonymous terms clarify the intended meaning, we cannot confidently establish the full theological or practical significance this term held for ancient Hebrew speakers and writers. To understand this word more comprehensively, one would need access to the specific biblical verse in which it appears, examination of related Hebrew root forms, and comparison with how similar concepts are expressed elsewhere in biblical Hebrew. The extremely limited attestation means this term likely represents either a hapax legomenon (a word occurring only once) or a specialized term with restricted usage in the biblical corpus.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
1 total occurrence across the text