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פֶּגַע

𐤐𐤂𐤏

pegaʻ

H6294 noun

SILEX Entry

Root פגע to meet, encounter, come upon

Definition

A happening, incident, or encounter, especially one that appears to occur by chance; in context, it can refer both to casual or fateful meetings and to occurrences not planned by those involved. Used of encounters between people or between individuals and events, often implying an element of happenstance rather than intention.

Semantic Range

incident, chance event, occurrence, encounter, meeting, unforeseen happening

Root / Etymology

From the root פגע (p-g-ʿ), which fundamentally means 'to meet, encounter, come upon, reach.' פֶּגַע (pegaʻ) is a nominal form conveying the result or instance of such an encounter or meeting. The term reflects the act of coming upon something or someone, often unexpectedly.

Historical & Contextual Notes

פֶּגַע occurs infrequently in the Hebrew Bible, but its most notable occurrence is in Ecclesiastes 9:11 ('time and chance happen to them all'), where it denotes an unforeseen or unpredictable event affecting one's circumstances. The related verb פָּגַע (paga‘) has a wider semantic range, including physical encounter, supplication or intercession, and reaching a destination, but פֶּגַע as a noun restricts more specifically to the outcome of encounter or event. In later Hebrew, פֶּגַע can acquire the sense of a blow or impact, but in biblical usage, it does not denote physical striking. English translations such as 'chance' or 'incident' only partially convey the nuance, since the Hebrew term implies not merely randomness but also the coming together of paths or events, sometimes with significant consequence. The word does not carry reference to random luck or fortune in the modern sense, but rather to the reality of unplanned intersection in the world of human affairs.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from פָּגַע; impact (casual); chance, occurent.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

פגע (p-g-ʿ) — meet, encounter, come upon, reach

Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H4645 מִפְגָּע to a point of encounter
H6293 פָּגַע in his encountering
H6295 פַּגְעִיאֵל El-has-met

Word Forms

2 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
H6294-02 וָ/פֶ֖גַע vafega HC/Ncmsa and chance and a chance encounter 1
H6294-01 פֶּ֥גַע pega HNcmsa misfortune encounter! 1

Occurrences in Scripture

2 total occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
H6294-01 1 Kings 5:18 פֶּ֥גַע pega HNcmsa misfortune encounter!
H6294-02 Ecclesiastes 9:11 וָ/פֶ֖גַע vafega HC/Ncmsa and chance and a chance encounter
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