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פְּקֻדָּה

𐤐𐤒𐤃𐤄

pᵉquddâh

H6486 noun

SILEX Entry

Definition

An instance or act of appointing, oversight, or inspection; often refers to an official duty, responsibility, or function assigned to a person or group, particularly in administrative, military, or priestly contexts. Can also denote an event of divine intervention—either for judgment (punishment) or mercy (deliverance)—depending on context. In some uses, it means an enumeration, accounting, or census (numbering of people or objects). Less commonly, indicates a charge, custody, or trust, including collections stored or appointed for a purpose.

Semantic Range

oversight, official duty, responsibility, appointed event (divine visitation for judgment or deliverance), examination, reckoning, numbering/census, charge/trust, custody, collection or store assigned for a purpose

Root / Etymology

Derived from the root פקד (p-q-d), which means 'to attend to, visit, muster, appoint.' The form פְּקֻדָּה (pequddâh) is a feminine noun formation associated with the idea of a responsibility, inspection, or appointed event or duty. The root connotes specific attention given to someone or something, whether for administrative, military, priestly, or divine purposes. Lexical meaning expands from the concrete act of appointing or visiting to a wide range of official and divine interventions.

Historical & Contextual Notes

פְּקֻדָּה appears across genres in the Hebrew Bible, with nuanced meanings shaped by context. In administrative and military settings (e.g., Numbers, Chronicles), the term refers to official responsibilities, censuses, or duties assigned to leaders or groups (cf. priestly פְּקֻדּוֹת in Numbers 3:32; military oversight in Numbers 4:16). In prophetic and poetic literature (e.g., Isaiah, Jeremiah), it often describes the act of divine 'visitation'—which could bring either judgment or deliverance. English translations vary widely: 'oversight', 'charge', 'office', 'visitation', 'punishment', or 'numbering', rarely capture its full scope. The meaning can also shift diachronically: earlier Israelite administrative use focuses on tangible oversight; later, especially in exilic and post-exilic literature, the theological sense of God's intervention (for good or ill) is more pronounced. The term is sometimes conflated with פָּקַד itself or other nouns such as מִשְׁמֶרֶת (mishmeret, 'guard, charge'), or נְקָמָה (nᵉqamâh, 'vengeance'), but without necessarily conflating administrative with punitive meaning. When rendered as 'visitation' in older translations, readers often miss its broader administrative or legal function as used in ancient Israelite society.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

feminine passive participle of פָּקַד; visitation (in many senses, chiefly official); account, (that have the) charge, custody, that which...laid up, numbers, office(-r), ordering, oversight, [phrase] prison, reckoning, visitation.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

פקד (p-q-d) — attend to, visit, appoint, muster

Root פקד to attend to, visit, appoint, muster
Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H4662 מִפְקָד at mustering-of
H4663 מִפְקָד the appointed-muster site
H6485 פָּקַד I will appoint
H6487 פִּקָּדוֹן in an entrusted deposit
H6488 פְּקִדֻת oversight

Word Forms

15 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2 Occurrences
H6486-09 פְּקֻדָּתָ֛/ם pequdatam HNcfsc/Sp3mp of their visitation their appointed oversight their visitation 9
H6486-12 פְּקֻדּ֖וֹת pequdot HNcfpa executioners official appointments official appointments 4
H6486-08 פְּקֻדַּ֕ת pequdat HNcfsc oversight appointed oversight of oversight of 4
H6486-13 וּ/פְקֻדַּ֣ת ufequdat HC/Ncfsc and the appointed charge and oversight-of and oversight of 3
H6486-01 פְקֻדָּתָ֞/ם fequdatam HNcfsc/Sp3mp [are] their muster their appointed oversight their appointments 2
H6486-10 פְּקֻדָּתְ/ךָ֣ pequdatekha HNcfsc/Sp2ms your visitation your appointed oversight your visitation 1
H6486-15 וּ֝/פְקֻדָּתְ/ךָ֗ ufequdatekha HC/Ncfsc/Sp2ms and your visitation and your appointed oversight and your appointed oversight 1
H6486-03 הַ/פְּקֻדָּ֗ה hapequdah HTd/Ncfsa the punishment the appointed oversight the punishment 1
H6486-14 וּ/פְקֻדָּתָ֔/ם ufequdatam HC/Ncfsc/Sp3mp and their store and their appointed charge and their appointed charge 1
H6486-05 לִ/פְקֻדָּ֖ה lifequdah HR/Ncfsa for an assignment appointed oversight for oversight 1

Occurrences in Scripture

32 occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2
H6486-08 Numbers 3:32 פְּקֻדַּ֕ת pequdat HNcfsc oversight appointed oversight of oversight of
H6486-13 Numbers 3:36 וּ/פְקֻדַּ֣ת ufequdat HC/Ncfsc and the appointed charge and oversight-of and oversight of
H6486-13 Numbers 4:16 וּ/פְקֻדַּ֞ת ufequdat HC/Ncfsc and the oversight and oversight-of and oversight of
H6486-08 Numbers 4:16 פְּקֻדַּ֗ת pequdat HNcfsc oversight appointed oversight of oversight of
H6486-13 Numbers 16:29 וּ/פְקֻדַּת֙ ufequdat HC/Ncfsc and the visitation and oversight-of and visitation of
H6486-12 2 Kings 11:18 פְּקֻדּ֖וֹת pequdot HNcfpa the officers official appointments the appointments
H6486-07 Isaiah 10:3 פְּקֻדָּ֔ה pequdah HNcfsa of visitation appointed oversight of visitation
H6486-14 Isaiah 15:7 וּ/פְקֻדָּתָ֔/ם ufequdatam HC/Ncfsc/Sp3mp and their store and their appointed charge and their appointed charge
H6486-02 Isaiah 60:17 פְקֻדָּתֵ/ךְ֙ fequdatekhe HNcfsc/Sp2fs your overseers your appointed charge your overseers
H6486-09 Jeremiah 8:12 פְּקֻדָּתָ֛/ם pequdatam HNcfsc/Sp3mp of their visitation their appointed oversight of their visitation
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