פַּס (pas)
pas
palm
A:N-MQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 2 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- A:N-M
Word Overview
The Hebrew noun pas refers specifically to the palm of the hand. It appears only twice in the entire Hebrew Bible, both times within the book of Daniel (Daniel 5:5 and 5:25). In these contexts, it describes the physical surface where writing appears on the wall during Belshazzar’s feast.
Unlike other Hebrew words for hand or fingers, pas isolates the central part of the palm. This precise anatomical focus highlights the supernatural nature of the event: the message is not written by a human hand using tools, but appears directly on the skin itself. The word underscores the immediacy and intimacy of divine judgment.
Translators typically render pas as "palm" to distinguish it from the broader term for hand (yad). This specificity reminds readers that the writing was not merely held or gestured toward, but inscribed upon the very center of human agency. The rarity of the word in Scripture makes its usage in Daniel particularly striking.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word pas points to the very center of human action—the palm itself. In Daniel 5, it describes where divine writing appeared during a royal feast. This detail shows that God’s message was not distant or abstract. It landed directly on the surface of human agency, demanding immediate attention.
When we face moments of clarity or conviction, they often feel just as direct. The text reminds us that spiritual truths are not hidden in complex theories. They appear where our hands work and where our lives unfold. This specificity invites trust in God’s ability to speak clearly into our daily routines.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 2 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- palm/ the1×
- [the] palm of1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- פַּסָּ֣/א1×
- פַּ֥ס1×
Key Verses
-
Daniel 5:5
In the same hour, the fingers of a man’s hand came out and wrote near the lamp stand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace. The king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
This verse identifies the specific anatomical location—the palm—where the mysterious writing first appeared, grounding the supernatural event in physical reality.
-
Daniel 5:24
Then the part of the hand was sent from before him, and this writing was inscribed.
Here the term confirms that the divine message was inscribed directly onto the hand, emphasizing the personal nature of the judgment delivered to the king.