6556. perets

Lexical Summary

perets: Breach, gap, bursting forth

Original Word: פֶרֶץ
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: perets
Pronunciation: PEH-rets
Phonetic Spelling: (peh'-rets)
KJV: breach, breaking forth (in), X forth, gap
NASB: breach, breaches, breakthrough, gap, mishap
Word Origin: [from H6555 (פָּרַץ - broken down)]

1. a break (literally or figuratively)

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

breach, breaking forth in, forth, gap

From parats; a break (literally or figuratively) -- breach, breaking forth (in), X forth, gap.

see HEBREW parats

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
from parats
Definition
a bursting forth, breach
NASB Translation
breach (10), breaches (3), breakthrough (2), gap (1), mishap (1), outburst* (2).

Brown-Driver-Briggs

I. מֶּ֫רֶץ noun masculine^{Job 30:14} bursting forth, breach; absolute ׳פ Judges 21:15 +, מָּ֑רֶץ Genesis 38:29 +; construct מֶּרֶץ 2 Samuel 5:20 +; plural מְּרָצִים Amos 4:3 +, מְּרָצוֺם Ezekiel 13:5, suffix מִּרְצֵיהֶץ Amos 9:11 (מְּרָצֶיהָ We Now); —

1 bursting forth, out burst, of water 2 Samuel 5:20 = 1 Chronicles 14:11; from womb Genesis 38:29 (J).

2 breach in wall Amos 4:3; 1 Kings 11:27; Nehemiah 6:1; Psalm 144:14; Job 30:14; so (with גָּדַר, i.e. repair) Amos 9:11; Isaiah 58:12; figurative of effect to avert calamity, עָלָה בַּמְּרָצוֺת Ezekiel 13:5 ("" גָּדַר), עָמַד בַּמֶּרֶץ Ezekiel 22:30 ("" id.), compare Psalm 106:23, by instruction and (especially) intercession.

3 broken wall, נֹפֵל ׳פ Isaiah 30:13.

4 figurative of outburst of ׳יs wrath, accusative of congnate meaning with verb with מָּרַץ 2 Samuel 6:8 = 1 Chronicles 13:11; Job 16:14 (מֶּרֶץ עַלמְּֿנֵיפָֿ֑רֶץ); בְּ ׳עָשָׂה פ Judges 21:15.

Topical Lexicon

Core Concept of פֶרֶץ (pérets)

A “breach,” “bursting forth,” or “gap,” whether in a wall, a people, or the orderly boundaries God has set. The term portrays sudden disruption—sometimes brought about by divine judgment, sometimes accomplished by the Lord on behalf of His people, and sometimes repaired by faithful intercession and obedience.

Earliest Appearance: Genesis 38:29

At Tamar’s delivery Judah’s midwife cries, “How you have broken out! This breach be upon you” (Genesis 38:29), naming the child Perez. Here פֶרֶץ becomes a memorial of the unexpected way God preserves Judah’s line, foreshadowing both royal and Messianic purposes.

Military Breakthroughs

• 2 Samuel 5:20 and 1 Chronicles 14:11 record David’s victory at Baal Perazim: “The LORD has broken out against my enemies before me like a bursting flood.” פֶרֶץ marks the moment Yahweh sweeps away opposition and establishes Davidic authority.
• 2 Samuel 6:8 and 1 Chronicles 13:11 (Perez Uzzah) warn that the same power that routs enemies also judges irreverence among God’s own people.

Breaches in Walls and Infrastructure

• 1 Kings 11:27: Solomon repairs “the breach in the city of David,” showing that earthly kingship must guard what God has already secured.
• Nehemiah 6:1: the governor testifies that “no breach was left in” Jerusalem’s wall—tangible evidence that God’s covenant love still shelters the returning remnant.
• Amos 4:3 pictures exiled women “going out through the breaches,” while Amos 9:11 promises God will “wall up its breaches” in David’s fallen tent. Both prophecies hinge on פֶרֶץ: judgment scatters, restoration mends.

Personal and Corporate Suffering

• Job laments, “He breaks me with breach upon breach; He runs at me like a warrior” (Job 16:14). The term voices the piling blows of inexplicable pain.
• Job 30:14 echoes the imagery: “They come like a wide breach,” portraying social humiliation and abandonment.
• Judges 21:15 says “the LORD had made a gap in the tribes of Israel,” acknowledging divine sovereignty even in communal grief.

Intercession: Standing in the Breach

• Psalm 106:23 recounts Moses who “stood in the breach before Him to turn His wrath away.”
• Ezekiel 13:5 and Ezekiel 22:30 indict leaders who will not “stand in the breach” for the land. These texts elevate priestly, prophetic, and ultimately Christ’s mediatorial role—meeting divine holiness while protecting a sinful people.

Moral Collapse and Discipline

• Isaiah 30:13 compares stubborn trust in Egypt to “a breach bulging out,” ready to fall in an instant. Sin creates fissures that only repentance can repair.
• Amos 4:3 illustrates the inescapable consequences of injustice; the oppressed city will crumble and its inhabitants pass through the gaps.

Promise of Restoration

• Isaiah 58:12: “You will be called Repairer of the Breach.” Genuine fasting and righteousness equip God’s people to mend what sin has fractured.
• Amos 9:11 looks forward to the re-erected booth of David—fulfilled in the Messiah who both breaks and heals, tearing down walls of hostility and building a living temple of Jew and Gentile.

Ministry Implications

1. Vigilance: leaders must guard against spiritual and moral breaches that invite calamity.
2. Intercession: faithful servants emulate Moses, pleading for mercy where judgment threatens.
3. Restoration: gospel ministry repairs breaches—reconciling sinners to God, families to wholeness, and churches to unity.
4. Hope: every fracture in Scripture ultimately serves God’s larger purpose of salvation, climaxing in Jesus Christ, the true Repairer of the Breach.

Forms and Transliterations

בַּפְּרָצ֔וֹת בַּפֶּ֣רֶץ בַּפֶּ֧רֶץ בפרץ בפרצות וּפְרָצִ֥ים ופרצים כְּפֶ֣רֶץ כפרץ פִּרְצֵיהֶ֗ן פֶ֭רֶץ פֶּ֔רֶץ פֶּ֕רֶץ פֶּ֖רֶץ פֶּ֭רֶץ פָ֑רֶץ פָּ֑רֶץ פרץ פרציהן bap·pə·rā·ṣō·wṯ bap·pe·reṣ bappərāṣōwṯ bapperaTzot bappereṣ bapPeretz Faretz Feretz kə·p̄e·reṣ keFeretz kəp̄ereṣ pā·reṣ p̄ā·reṣ pāreṣ p̄āreṣ Paretz pe·reṣ p̄e·reṣ pereṣ p̄ereṣ Peretz pir·ṣê·hen pirṣêhen pirtzeiHen ū·p̄ə·rā·ṣîm uferaTzim ūp̄ərāṣîm

Englishman's Concordance

Genesis 38:29
HEB: פָּרַ֖צְתָּ עָלֶ֣יךָ פָּ֑רֶץ וַיִּקְרָ֥א שְׁמ֖וֹ
NAS: What a breach you have made
KJV: How hast thou broken forth? [this] breach [be] upon thee: therefore his name
INT: have made and A breach was called his name

Judges 21:15
HEB: עָשָׂ֧ה יְהוָ֛ה פֶּ֖רֶץ בְּשִׁבְטֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
NAS: had made a breach in the tribes
KJV: had made a breach in the tribes
INT: had made the LORD A breach the tribes of Israel

2 Samuel 5:20
HEB: אֹיְבַ֛י לְפָנַ֖י כְּפֶ֣רֶץ מָ֑יִם עַל־
NAS: before me like the breakthrough of waters.
KJV: before me, as the breach of waters.
INT: enemies before the breakthrough of waters and

2 Samuel 6:8
HEB: פָּרַ֧ץ יְהוָ֛ה פֶּ֖רֶץ בְּעֻזָּ֑ה וַיִּקְרָ֞א
KJV: had made a breach upon Uzzah:
INT: had made of the LORD'S A breach Uzzah is called

1 Kings 11:27
HEB: סָגַ֕ר אֶת־ פֶּ֕רֶץ עִ֖יר דָּוִ֥ד
NAS: [and] closed up the breach of the city
KJV: [and] repaired the breaches of the city
INT: the Millo closed the breach of the city David

1 Chronicles 13:11
HEB: פָרַ֧ץ יְהוָ֛ה פֶּ֖רֶץ בְּעֻזָּ֑א וַיִּקְרָ֞א
KJV: had made a breach upon Uzza:
INT: had made of the LORD'S A breach Uzza called

1 Chronicles 14:11
HEB: אוֹיְבַ֛י בְּיָדִ֖י כְּפֶ֣רֶץ מָ֑יִם עַל־
NAS: by my hand, like the breakthrough of waters.
KJV: by mine hand like the breaking forth of waters:
INT: enemies my hand the breakthrough of waters and

Nehemiah 6:1
HEB: נ֥וֹתַר בָּ֖הּ פָּ֑רֶץ גַּ֚ם עַד־
NAS: and [that] no breach remained
KJV: the wall, and [that] there was no breach left
INT: and no remained breach although that

Job 16:14
HEB: יִפְרְצֵ֣נִי פֶ֭רֶץ עַל־ פְּנֵי־
NAS: He breaks through me with breach after
KJV: He breaketh me with breach upon
INT: breaks breach up on

Job 16:14
HEB: עַל־ פְּנֵי־ פָ֑רֶץ יָרֻ֖ץ עָלַ֣י
NAS: after breach; He runs
KJV: upon breach, he runneth
INT: up on breach runs and

Job 30:14
HEB: כְּפֶ֣רֶץ רָחָ֣ב יֶאֱתָ֑יוּ
NAS: As [through] a wide breach they come,
KJV: [upon me] as a wide breaking in [of waters]: in
INT: breach As a wide come

Psalm 106:23
HEB: בְחִיר֗וֹ עָמַ֣ד בַּפֶּ֣רֶץ לְפָנָ֑יו לְהָשִׁ֥יב
NAS: one stood in the breach before
KJV: before him in the breach, to turn away
INT: his chosen stood the breach before to turn

Psalm 144:14
HEB: מְֽסֻבָּ֫לִ֥ים אֵֽין־ פֶּ֭רֶץ וְאֵ֣ין יוֹצֵ֑את
NAS: bear Without mishap and without loss,
KJV: [may be] strong to labour; [that there be] no breaking in, nor going out;
INT: bear Without mishap and without loss

Isaiah 30:13
HEB: הֶעָוֹ֣ן הַזֶּ֔ה כְּפֶ֣רֶץ נֹפֵ֔ל נִבְעֶ֖ה
NAS: iniquity will be to you Like a breach about to fall,
KJV: Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall,
INT: iniquity this A breach to fall A bulge

Isaiah 58:12
HEB: לְךָ֙ גֹּדֵ֣ר פֶּ֔רֶץ מְשֹׁבֵ֥ב נְתִיב֖וֹת
NAS: the repairer of the breach, The restorer
KJV: The repairer of the breach, The restorer
INT: will be called the repairer of the breach the restorer of the streets

Ezekiel 13:5
HEB: לֹ֤א עֲלִיתֶם֙ בַּפְּרָצ֔וֹת וַתִּגְדְּר֥וּ גָדֵ֖ר
NAS: You have not gone up into the breaches, nor
KJV: Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up
INT: nor gone the breaches build the hedge

Ezekiel 22:30
HEB: גָּדֵר֩ וְעֹמֵ֨ד בַּפֶּ֧רֶץ לְפָנַ֛י בְּעַ֥ד
NAS: and stand in the gap before
KJV: and stand in the gap before
INT: the wall and stand the gap before for

Amos 4:3
HEB: וּפְרָצִ֥ים תֵּצֶ֖אנָה אִשָּׁ֣ה
NAS: You will go out [through] breaches [in the walls], Each one
KJV: And ye shall go out at the breaches, every
INT: out breaches will go Each

Amos 9:11
HEB: וְגָדַרְתִּ֣י אֶת־ פִּרְצֵיהֶ֗ן וַהֲרִֽסֹתָיו֙ אָקִ֔ים
NAS: And wall up its breaches; I will also raise
KJV: and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up
INT: the fallen and wall breaches ruins raise

19 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 6556
19 Occurrences

bap·pə·rā·ṣō·wṯ — 1 Occ.
bap·pe·reṣ — 2 Occ.
p̄ā·reṣ — 1 Occ.
p̄e·reṣ — 1 Occ.
kə·p̄e·reṣ — 4 Occ.
pā·reṣ — 2 Occ.
pe·reṣ — 6 Occ.
pir·ṣê·hen — 1 Occ.
ū·p̄ə·rā·ṣîm — 1 Occ.