פָּגַע (pa.ga)
pa.ga
to fall on
H:VQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 41 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:V
Word Overview
The Hebrew verb paḡaʿ describes an encounter that is sudden, forceful, or unavoidable. Its core sense involves striking against something, whether by accident or intent. This physical impact extends to human interactions, where it can mean meeting someone unexpectedly or confronting them with a request. The word appears in contexts ranging from geographic boundaries being reached to soldiers falling upon enemies.
A key distinction lies in its versatility: the same root describes both violent attack and urgent entreaty. In Ruth 1:16, Naomi’s daughter-in-law “falls upon” her with affectionate insistence, while in Judges 8:21, Gideon’s men strike down Midianite princes. This duality shows that paḡaʿ captures any intense meeting where one party imposes themselves on another, whether through love or hostility.
Its usage in Joshua highlights its descriptive power for territorial limits, as when borders “reach” specific landmarks. The verb’s force comes from this idea of direct contact—whether a hand touching a boundary stone or a plea reaching a king’s ear. Translators often render it as “meet,” “fall upon,” or “entreat,” depending on whether the encounter is physical, hostile, or supplicatory.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The Hebrew word paḡaʿ describes an encounter that is sudden, forceful, or unavoidable. Its core sense involves striking against something, whether by accident or intent. This physical impact extends to human interactions, where it can mean meeting someone unexpectedly or confronting them with a request.
A key distinction lies in its versatility: the same root describes both violent attack and urgent entreaty. In Ruth 1:16, Naomi’s daughter-in-law “falls upon” her with affectionate insistence, while in Judges 8:21, Gideon’s men strike down Midianite princes. This duality shows that paḡaʿ captures any intense meeting where one party imposes themselves on another, whether through love or hostility.
Its usage in Joshua highlights its descriptive power for territorial limits, as when borders “reach” specific landmarks. The verb’s force comes from this idea of direct contact—whether a hand touching a boundary stone or a plea reaching a king’s ear. Translators often render it as “meet,” “fall upon,” or “entreat,” depending on whether the encounter is physical, hostile, or supplicatory.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 41 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- and/ it touches7×
- and/ he fell4×
- and/ fall3×
- you entreat2×
- when/ meets/ he2×
- fall2×
- you will meet1×
- you should fall/ !1×
- we will entreat1×
- to/ fall1×
- they touch/ !1×
- they should meet1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- וַ/יִּפְגַּע\־4×
- פָּגַ֣ע2×
- פְּגַע\־2×
- יִפְגְּעוּ\־2×
- וּ/פָגַע֙2×
- וּ/פָגַ֣ע2×
- וּ/פְגַע\־2×
- בְּ/פִגְע/וֹ\־2×
- תִּפְגַּע\־1×
- תִּפְגְּעִי\־1×
- תִּפְגְּע֥וּ/ן1×
- תִפְגַּ֞ע1×
Key Verses
-
Genesis 23:8
He talked with them, saying, “If you agree that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,
This verse uses paḡaʿ for 'entreat,' showing the word's application in urgent, respectful pleading rather than physical force.
-
Exodus 5:3
They said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Yahweh, our God, lest he fall on us with pestilence, or with the sword.”
Here the phrase 'fall on us with pestilence' illustrates the word's sense of sudden, unavoidable divine judgment or attack.
-
Ruth 1:16
Ruth said, “Don’t urge me to leave you, and to return from following you, for where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God.
Ruth’s binding declaration uses paḡaʿ to depict an intense, personal encounter where loyalty imposes itself on Naomi's situation.
-
Judges 8:21
Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “You rise and fall on us; for as the man is, so is his strength.” Gideon arose, and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescents that were on their camels’ necks.
The phrase 'fall on us' here captures the direct, violent confrontation between Gideon and the Midianite kings.
-
Joshua 16:7
It went down from Janoah to Ataroth, to Naarah, reached to Jericho, and went out at the Jordan.
This occurrence shows the word extended to geography, where a border 'reaches' or touches a landmark like Jericho.