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בָּרַח

𐤁𐤓𐤇

bârach

H1272 verb

SILEX Entry

Definition

To flee, escape, or run swiftly from a place, danger, or pursuit; also to cause something or someone to be driven away or put to flight. The verb carries a primary sense of rapid movement away from a threat or undesired circumstance, whether literal or metaphorical. Depending on context, it can denote voluntary movement out of fear, pursuit by another, or forcible expulsion.

Semantic Range

to flee (from danger or pursuit), to escape, to run away, to be put to flight (by another), to cause to flee, to drive away, to rout or defeat in battle, to flee in haste, to force into escape, of water or objects: to gush or break out

Root / Etymology

From the root בָּרַח (ברח), which conveys the sense of swift, purposeful movement away from something. While the root itself means 'to flee' or 'to escape', the derived forms may emphasize urgency, fear, or compulsion. Lexically, בָּרַח is a primitive verb in Biblical Hebrew and attested throughout the Tanakh in narratives concerning escape, pursuit, or the expulsion of adversaries.

Historical & Contextual Notes

In the Hebrew Bible, בָּרַח most commonly describes human flight from danger (e.g., individuals fleeing violence, enemies retreating from battle), whether as an intentional act of self-preservation or in the context of military routs. The term is also used for animals fleeing, and in a few cases, for objects (such as water 'escaping' from a container in poetry). The word frequently appears in both historical narratives (such as the patriarchal and monarchic periods) and poetic texts. While English translations sometimes render it as 'flee,' 'run away,' or 'put to flight,' none of these fully capture the dynamic nuance of the original. The related root נוּס (nus) also denotes flight, but may emphasize escape, whereas בָּרַח more specifically conveys running away or being caused to flee definitively. Over time, post-biblical Hebrew maintained the term in the sense of 'to escape' or 'run away,' and it continues in Modern Hebrew with similar connotations.

Translation Consistency

primary "flee" 48 occurrences

'Flee' is the most natural, common English verb that captures the primary sense of בָּרַח — rapid movement away from danger or pursuit, including escaping or running away. It also naturally covers being put to flight (was/were fled/forced to flee) while remaining a single, flexible base for all inflections. Rarer causative senses (e.g., drive away, rout) are handled contextually but 'flee' best matches the typical usage across the corpus.

Alternatives (2 occurrences):
"passing through" (1x) "pass through" (1x)

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

a primitive root; to bolt, i.e. figuratively, to flee suddenly; chase (away); drive away, fain, flee (away), put to flight, make haste, reach, run away, shoot.

Bantu Hebrew

Language Bantu Word Transliteration Meaning
Ndebele baleka to run away, escape
Xhosa baleka to run away, escape
Zulu baleka to flee, escape

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Root Family

ברח (Baricha) — to flee, run swiftly, escape, put to flight

Root ברח to flee, run swiftly, escape, put to flight
Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H1281 בָּרִיחַ locking bar
H1282 בָּרִיחַ and Bariach
H4015 מִבְרָח his fugitives

Word Forms

27 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2 Occurrences
H1272-20 וַ/יִּבְרַ֣ח vayiverach HC/Vqw3ms and fled and he fled swiftly and he fled swiftly 14
H1272-01 בָּרַ֗ח barach HVqp3ms fled he fled he fled 7
H1272-21 וַ/יִּבְרְח֤וּ vayiverechu HC/Vqw3mp and they fled and they fled and they fled 5
H1272-05 בְּרַח berach HVqv2ms flee Flee swiftly! Flee swiftly! 4
H1272-14 לִ/בְרֹ֨חַ֙ liverocha HR/Vqc to flee to flee to flee 4
H1272-08 בְּ/בָרְח֖/וֹ bevarecho HR/Vqc/Sp3ms when he fled in his fleeing in his fleeing 3
H1272-17 בָרַ֥ח varach HVqp3ms had fled he fled he fled 3
H1272-23 בֹרֵ֣חַ vorecha HVqrmsa fleeing the fleeing one the fleeing one 3
H1272-26 יִ֭בְרַח yiverach HVqi3ms he flees he will flee he will flee 3
H1272-11 בֹּרַֽחַת borachat HVqrfsa am fleeing she who flees she who flees 2

Occurrences in Scripture

65 occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2
H1272-18 Genesis 16:6 וַ/תִּבְרַ֖ח vativerach HC/Vqw3fs fled and she fled and she fled
H1272-11 Genesis 16:8 בֹּרַֽחַת borachat HVqrfsa am fleeing she who flees she who flees
H1272-05 Genesis 27:43 בְּרַח berach HVqv2ms flee Flee swiftly! Flee swiftly!
H1272-23 Genesis 31:20 בֹרֵ֖חַ vorecha HVqrmsa he was fleeing the fleeing one fleeing
H1272-20 Genesis 31:21 וַ/יִּבְרַ֥ח vayiverach HC/Vqw3ms and he fled and he fled swiftly and he fled swiftly
H1272-17 Genesis 31:22 בָרַ֖ח varach HVqp3ms had fled he fled he fled
H1272-14 Genesis 31:27 לִ/בְרֹ֔חַ liverocha HR/Vqc to escape to flee to flee
H1272-06 Genesis 35:1 בְּ/בָרְחֲ/ךָ֔ bevarechakha HR/Vqc/Sp2ms when you fled in your fleeing when you fled
H1272-08 Genesis 35:7 בְּ/בָרְח֖/וֹ bevarecho HR/Vqc/Sp3ms when he was fleeing in his fleeing in his fleeing
H1272-20 Exodus 2:15 וַ/יִּבְרַ֤ח vayiverach HC/Vqw3ms But Moses fled and he fled swiftly and he fled swiftly
H1272-17 Exodus 14:5 בָרַ֖ח varach HVqp3ms had fled he fled he fled
H1272-15 Exodus 26:28 מַבְרִ֕חַ mavericha HVhrmsa passing through one driving away passing through
H1272-14 Exodus 36:33 לִ/בְרֹ֨חַ֙ liverocha HR/Vqc to pass through to flee to pass through
H1272-05 Numbers 24:11 בְּרַח berach HVqv2ms flee Flee swiftly! Flee swiftly!
H1272-20 Judges 9:21 וַ/יִּבְרַ֖ח vayiverach HC/Vqw3ms and fled and he fled swiftly and he fled swiftly
H1272-20 Judges 11:3 וַ/יִּבְרַ֤ח vayiverach HC/Vqw3ms Then he fled and he fled swiftly and he fled swiftly
H1272-20 1 Samuel 19:12 וַ/יִּבְרַ֖ח vayiverach HC/Vqw3ms and he fled and he fled swiftly and he fled swiftly
H1272-01 1 Samuel 19:18 בָּרַ֜ח barach HVqp3ms fled he fled he fled
H1272-20 1 Samuel 20:1 וַ/יִּבְרַ֣ח vayiverach HC/Vqw3ms and David fled and he fled swiftly and he fled swiftly
H1272-20 1 Samuel 21:11 וַ/יִּבְרַ֥ח vayiverach HC/Vqw3ms and fled and he fled swiftly and he fled swiftly
H1272-23 1 Samuel 22:17 בֹרֵ֣חַ vorecha HVqrmsa fleeing the fleeing one the fleeing one
H1272-20 1 Samuel 22:20 וַ/יִּבְרַ֖ח vayiverach HC/Vqw3ms and fled and he fled swiftly and he fled swiftly
H1272-10 1 Samuel 23:6 בִּ֠/בְרֹחַ biverocha HR/Vqc when he fled in fleeing when fleeing
H1272-17 1 Samuel 27:4 בָרַ֥ח varach HVqp3ms had fled he fled he fled
H1272-21 2 Samuel 4:3 וַ/יִּבְרְח֥וּ vayiverechu HC/Vqw3mp and they fled and they fled and they fled
H1272-20 2 Samuel 13:34 וַ/יִּבְרַ֖ח vayiverach HC/Vqw3ms and Absalom fled and he fled swiftly and he fled swiftly
H1272-01 2 Samuel 13:37 בָּרַ֔ח barach HVqp3ms fled he fled he fled
H1272-01 2 Samuel 13:38 בָּרַ֖ח barach HVqp3ms fled he fled he fled
H1272-22 2 Samuel 15:14 וְ/נִבְרָ֔חָה veniverachah HC/Vqh1cp and let us flee and let us flee and let us flee
H1272-01 2 Samuel 19:10 בָּרַ֥ח barach HVqp3ms he-has-fled he fled he fled
H1272-07 1 Kings 2:7 בְּ/בָרְחִ֕/י bevarechi HR/Vqc/Sp1cs in-my-fleeing in my fleeing in my fleeing
H1272-21 1 Kings 2:39 וַ/יִּבְרְח֤וּ vayiverechu HC/Vqw3mp ran away and they fled and they fled
H1272-20 1 Kings 11:17 וַ/יִּבְרַ֣ח vayiverach HC/Vqw3ms and fled and he fled swiftly and he fled swiftly
H1272-01 1 Kings 11:23 בָּרַ֗ח barach HVqp3ms had fled he fled he fled
H1272-20 1 Kings 11:40 וַ/יִּבְרַ֤ח vayiverach HC/Vqw3ms and fled and he fled swiftly and he fled swiftly
H1272-01 1 Kings 12:2 בָּרַ֔ח barach HVqp3ms he had fled he fled he fled
H1272-02 Isaiah 22:3 בָּרָֽחוּ barachu HVqp3cp they fled they fled they fled
H1272-09 Isaiah 48:20 בִּרְח֣וּ birechu HVqv2mp flee Flee! Flee
H1272-11 Jeremiah 4:29 בֹּרַ֨חַת֙ borachat HVqrfsa flees she who flees she who flees
H1272-20 Jeremiah 26:21 וַ/יִּבְרַ֖ח vayiverach HC/Vqw3ms and fled and he fled swiftly and he fled swiftly
H1272-21 Jeremiah 39:4 וַֽ֠/יִּבְרְחוּ vayiverechu HC/Vqw3mp they fled and they fled and they fled
H1272-27 Jeremiah 52:7 יִבְרְחוּ֩ yiverechu HVqi3mp fled they will flee they fled
H1272-20 Hosea 12:13 וַ/יִּבְרַ֥ח vayiverach HC/Vqw3ms and Jacob fled and he fled swiftly and he fled swiftly
H1272-05 Amos 7:12 בְּרַח berach HVqv2ms flee Flee swiftly! flee
H1272-14 Jonah 1:3 לִ/בְרֹ֣חַ liverocha HR/Vqc to flee to flee to flee
H1272-23 Jonah 1:10 בֹרֵ֔חַ vorecha HVqrmsa was fleeing the fleeing one the fleeing one
H1272-14 Jonah 4:2 לִ/בְרֹ֣חַ liverocha HR/Vqc to flee to flee to flee
H1272-08 Psalms 3:1 בְּ֝/בָרְח֗/וֹ bevarecho HR/Vqc/Sp3ms when he fled in his fleeing in his fleeing
H1272-08 Psalms 57:1 בְּ/בָרְח֥/וֹ bevarecho HR/Vqc/Sp3ms when he fled in his fleeing in his fleeing
H1272-12 Psalms 139:7 אֶבְרָֽח everach HVqi1cs can I flee I will flee can I flee
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