What does בְּרִיחַ (bĕriyḥa) mean in the Bible?
A bar can secure a gate or hold a structure together. Its significance depends on what it supports, closes, or restrains in the passage.
Hebrew · H1280
בְּרִיחַ
A bar can secure a gate or hold a structure together. Its significance depends on what it supports, closes, or restrains in the passage.
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בְּרִיחַH1280
Pronunciationbĕriyḥa
What does בְּרִיחַ (bĕriyḥa) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for בְּרִיחַ (H1280) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H1280?
The BSB source-word alignment has 40 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include and bars (9), - (4), the crossbars (4), bars (3), crossbars (3).
Where does בְּרִיחַ (bĕriyḥa) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Exodus 26:26. Its strongest book concentrations include Exodus (15), Nehemiah (5), 2 Chronicles (2), Jeremiah (2).
What This Word Actually Means
A bar can secure a gate or hold a structure together. Its significance depends on what it supports, closes, or restrains in the passage. Exodus specifies wooden crossbars for the tabernacle frames; the instruction concerns the assembly of a sanctuary. Psalm 147 praises the Lord for strengthening Jerusalem's gate bars and blessing the children within. Proverbs uses castle bars as a comparison for the difficulty of resolving disputes with an offended brother.
These are construction, protection, and a relational image, rather than one hidden spiritual meaning. A strong boundary can protect life, while a quarrel can make reconciliation difficult. The proverb does not require a harmed person to surrender protective boundaries or return to a dangerous relationship.
How the Bible Uses It
Tabernacle crossbars connect frames, Jerusalem's gate bars figure within praise for protection, and castle bars illustrate the resistance produced by a relational dispute.
- Exod.26.26
You are also to make five crossbars of acacia wood for the frames on one side of the tabernacle,
Five acacia crossbars are specified for the frames on one side of the tabernacle, within detailed instructions for its assembled structure.
- Ps.147.13
For He strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses the children within you.
The Lord strengthens Jerusalem's gate bars and blesses its children; the following verse adds peace at the borders and satisfying food.
- Prov.18.19
An offended brother is harder to win than a fortified city, and disputes are like the bars of a castle.
An offended brother and disputes are compared to a fortified city and castle bars, describing relational difficulty without prescribing unsafe reconciliation.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itand bars9×Deuteronomy 3:5, 1 Samuel 23:7, 2 Chronicles 8:5, 2 Chronicles 14:7
-4×Exodus 26:27, Exodus 36:32
the crossbars4×Exodus 26:29, Exodus 36:34
bars3×1 Kings 4:13, Jeremiah 49:31, Ezekiel 38:11
crossbars3×Exodus 26:26, Exodus 36:31, Numbers 3:36
its crossbars3×Exodus 35:11, Exodus 39:33, Exodus 40:18
the bars3×Psalms 107:16, Psalms 147:13, Isaiah 45:2
crossbar2×Exodus 26:28, Exodus 36:33
their bars2×Lamentations 2:9, Nahum 3:13
are like the bars1×Proverbs 18:19
bar1×Judges 16:3
barred me in1×Jonah 2:6
its bars1×Job 38:10
the bars of her gates1×Jeremiah 51:30
the gates1×Amos 1:5
with its crossbars1×Numbers 4:31
Show sample aligned rows
Exodus 26:26בְרִיחִ֖םtocrossbarsNoun - masculine pluralExodus 26:27בְרִיחִ֔םto-Noun - masculine pluralExodus 26:27בְרִיחִ֗םto-Noun - masculine pluralExodus 26:28וְהַבְּרִ֥יחַtocrossbarConjunctive waw, Article | Noun - masculine singularExodus 26:29לַבְּרִיחִ֑םtothe crossbarsPreposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine pluralExodus 26:29הַבְּרִיחִ֖םtothe crossbarsArticle | Noun - masculine pluralExodus 35:11בְּרִיחָ֕וtoits crossbarsNoun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine singularExodus 36:31בְּרִיחֵ֖יtocrossbarsNoun - masculine plural constructExodus 36:32בְרִיחִ֔םto-Noun - masculine pluralExodus 36:32בְרִיחִם֙to-Noun - masculine plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowExodus 26:26
Aligned rows40
Books represented18
Exodus15Numbers2Deuteronomy1Judges11 Samuel11 Kings12 Chronicles2Nehemiah5Job1Psalms2Proverbs1Isaiah1Jeremiah2Lamentations1Ezekiel1Amos1Jonah1Nahum1
Source forms
וּבְרִיחָֽיו׃ס3xū·ḇə·rî·ḥāwNehemiah 3:3, Nehemiah 3:6, Nehemiah 3:14
בְּרִ֣יחַ2xbə·rî·aḥJob 38:10, Amos 1:5
בְרִיחִ֔ם2xḇə·rî·ḥimExodus 26:27, Exodus 36:32
הַבְּרִיחִ֖ם2xhab·bə·rî·ḥimExodus 26:29, Exodus 36:34
וּבְרִ֥יחַ2xū·ḇə·rî·aḥ1 Kings 4:13, Ezekiel 38:11
וּבְרִֽיחַ׃2xū·ḇə·rî·aḥ1 Samuel 23:7, 2 Chronicles 8:5
וּבְרִיחָ֖יו2xū·ḇə·rî·ḥāwNumbers 3:36, Numbers 4:31
וּבְרִיחָ֑יו2xū·ḇə·rî·ḥāwNehemiah 3:13, Nehemiah 3:15
Parsing patterns
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine singular7xNumbers 3:36, Numbers 4:31, Nehemiah 3:3, Nehemiah 3:6
Noun - masculine plural5xExodus 26:26, Exodus 26:27, Exodus 36:32
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular4xDeuteronomy 3:5, 1 Samuel 23:7, 2 Chronicles 8:5, Ezekiel 38:11
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person feminine singular3xJeremiah 51:30, Lamentations 2:9, Jonah 2:6
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine singular3xExodus 35:11, Exodus 39:33, Exodus 40:18
Article | Noun - masculine plural2xExodus 26:29, Exodus 36:34
Article | Noun - masculine singular2xExodus 36:33, Judges 16:3
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural construct2xPsalms 107:16, Isaiah 45:2
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Encourage truthful peacemaking without promising that every dispute will quickly resolve.
- Maintain necessary safety boundaries while pursuing appropriate accountability and wise support.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that tabernacle crossbars encode a universal method for resolving family conflict.
- Do not claim that Proverbs commands immediate reconciliation regardless of ongoing harm.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. a bolt
Source Gloss
a bolt
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
a bolt BDB: bar Usage: bar, fugitive.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Physical barrier or obstacle that separates and divides like a fortress gate
Structural elements of city gates providing security and protection for inhabitants
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 42 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
בְּרִיחַ is built from this root:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
The bar gives strength and resistance a visible form. In Exodus, its place belongs to the carefully specified construction of the tabernacle, and teaching should honor that material function before offering broader reflections. Psalm 147 places secure gates beside blessed children, peaceful borders, and food: protection serves the life of a community. Proverbs then draws on fortified resistance to describe the difficulty that offense and disputes can create between people.
These passages invite attention to both the value of protection and the cost of conflict, but they do not collapse those concerns. A teacher may encourage patient, truthful peacemaking while recognizing that boundaries can remain necessary where harm persists. The proverb describes a difficulty; it gives neither an automatic reconciliation procedure nor permission to pressure someone into danger.
Anchor passage
Prov.18.19
Doctrinal connections
- Exodus 26 places material construction within the Lord's instructions for Israel's sanctuary.
- Psalm 147 links the Lord's protection with the wellbeing of children within Jerusalem.
- Psalm 147 describes peaceful borders and food alongside strengthened gates in its praise.
- Proverbs 18 uses fortified resistance to make the effects of disputes visible.
- Relational peacemaking requires wisdom about harm rather than a demand to remove every boundary.
- The three passages distinguish worship construction, communal protection, and the difficulty of repairing offense.
The governed Hebrew root record supplies the lexical identity and the bar or crossbar range. Context determines whether the object is a structural support, a gate fastening, or part of a comparison; English glosses cannot settle its ethical force.
From Old to New Testament
Ephesians 2 describes Christ bringing formerly separated people near and creating peace. That is a theological comparison about reconciliation, not a claim that the Hebrew noun for a bar secretly names Christ or that every protective boundary must disappear.