אָח (ach)
ach
hearth
H:N-FQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 2 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:N-F
Word Overview
The Hebrew noun ach refers to a metal container for burning coals, commonly translated as a fire-pot or brazier. This vessel was essential in ancient households for providing portable heat and warmth during cold evenings.
Its usage is quite specific in the biblical text, appearing only twice in the Old Testament. Both occurrences are found in the book of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 36:22), where King Jehoiakim cuts the written scroll and throws the pieces into this heated container to burn them. This concrete image highlights the physical destruction of God’s word through fire.
While most English translations use "fire-pot," some modern versions opt for "brazier" to convey its function as a stand for glowing embers. The word underscores the tangible reality of heat and consumption in these narrative moments.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word ach describes a simple metal brazier used to hold burning coals for warmth. In ancient homes, this portable fire-pot was a vital source of comfort against the chill of winter evenings. It represents the tangible reality of heat and light in daily life, offering physical relief to those gathered around it.
In Jeremiah 36, this familiar object takes on a darker tone as King Jehoiakim uses it to destroy God’s written word. The king sat in his winter house, warming himself by the brazier while he cut up and burned the scroll containing the prophet’s message. This act highlights how easily warmth can be twisted into destruction when pride overrides reverence.
Yet even in this scene of defiance, the fire remains a tool God can use. Jeremiah was commanded to write another scroll, showing that human attempts to silence truth are ultimately futile. The brazier, meant for comfort, became an instrument of judgment against those who rejected divine instruction. We find hope in knowing that God’s word endures beyond any human effort to erase it.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 2 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- the/ fire-pot3×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- הָ/אָֽח\׃1×
- הָ/אָ֖ח1×
- הָ/אָ֑ח1×
Key Verses
-
Jeremiah 36:22
Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, and there was a fire in the brazier burning before him.
This verse establishes the brazier as a source of winter warmth for the king, grounding the scene in a familiar domestic setting before the act of destruction occurs.
-
Jeremiah 36:23
When Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier.
Here the brazier becomes the instrument of judgment as Jehoiakim burns the scroll, symbolizing the rejection of God’s message through a deliberate act of consumption by fire.