פְּקִדֻת (pe.qi.dut)
pe.qi.dut
oversight
H:N-FQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 1 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:N-F
Word Overview
The Hebrew noun peqidut is a rare term found only once in the Old Testament, appearing in Jeremiah 37:13. In this specific context, it translates to "sentinel" or "guard," referring to a person stationed at a gate to monitor who enters or leaves the city. The word derives from the root p-q-d, which carries meanings of visiting, inspecting, or numbering, suggesting that a peqidut is one who exercises oversight through active watchfulness.
While the related verb often implies God’s visitation or judgment in prophetic literature, this noun form focuses on the human role of surveillance. The text describes Jeremiah being seized by a guard at the Benjamin Gate, highlighting the political tension of the time. Translators typically render it as "guard" or "overseer," capturing the idea of someone entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring and controlling access to a restricted area.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word peqidut appears only once in Scripture, describing a sentinel stationed at the Benjamin Gate who monitored who entered or left Jerusalem. In Jeremiah 37:13, this guard seizes the prophet, accusing him of defecting to the enemy. The term captures a moment of intense political tension and human oversight, where one person holds the power to restrict another’s movement based on suspicion.
While this specific instance highlights fear and accusation, the root meaning suggests watchfulness as a form of care or inspection. For your faith, this reminds us that God is also the ultimate Overseer. He sees what happens behind closed gates and knows the truth even when human guards misjudge our motives. We can trust that His vision is far more accurate than any earthly authority.
This rare word invites us to consider who we allow to define our actions. When others misunderstand or accuse us, we find peace in knowing that God’s oversight is faithful. He does not make hasty judgments based on surface-level appearances. Instead, He sees the heart and acts with perfect justice and love.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 1 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- [the] guard1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- פְּקִדֻ֔ת1×
Key Verses
-
Jeremiah 37:13
When he was in Benjamin’s gate, a captain of the guard was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are defecting to the Chaldeans!”
This verse identifies Irijah as the captain of the guard who exercises his peqidut by seizing Jeremiah, illustrating the word's concrete meaning of a watchman enforcing access control.