What does פָּלִיט (pāliyṭ) mean in the Bible?
Pālîṭ identifies an escaped person or survivor, with the narrative giving that person's situation and role. Genesis 14:13 describes an escapee reporting Lot's capture to Abram.
Hebrew · H6412
פָּלִיט
Pālîṭ identifies an escaped person or survivor, with the narrative giving that person's situation and role. Genesis 14:13 describes an escapee reporting Lot's capture to Abram.
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פָּלִיטH6412
Pronunciationpāliyṭ
What does פָּלִיט (pāliyṭ) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for פָּלִיט (H6412) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H6412?
The BSB source-word alignment has 24 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include a fugitive (3), escape (2), a few fugitives (1), and refugees (1), are fugitives (1).
Where does פָּלִיט (pāliyṭ) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 14:13. Its strongest book concentrations include Ezekiel (7), Jeremiah (6), Isaiah (2), Judges (2).
What This Word Actually Means
Pālîṭ identifies an escaped person or survivor, with the narrative giving that person's situation and role. Genesis 14:13 describes an escapee reporting Lot's capture to Abram. Ezekiel 33:21 records a fugitive from Jerusalem bringing news that the city has been taken. In both passages a displaced or surviving person carries significant testimony; the label is not a verdict that the person's suffering makes the report unworthy of attention.
Obadiah 1:14 forbids cutting off fugitives or delivering up survivors during Judah's distress. Isaiah 66:19 describes survivors being sent to nations that have not heard God's fame to proclaim His glory. These are different settings, not one modern immigration category or a claim that every survivor has an identical mission. Teaching should respect the reported crisis, agency and responsibility attached to each person while refusing to treat flight from danger as spiritual failure or exploit vulnerability for another party's advantage.
Passage contextCanonical parallel
How the Bible Uses It
An escapee reporting capture, a fugitive announcing Jerusalem's fall, protected survivors and survivors sent as witnesses have distinct roles. The noun identifies people within crisis and aftermath rather than assigning a uniform moral status, legal category or personal calling.
- Gen.14.13
Then an escapee came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the Oaks of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and Aner, all of whom were bound by treaty to Abram.
An escapee brings Abram news after Lot and possessions have been captured. The person's testimony enables a response to the crisis rather than inviting contempt for having escaped.
- Ezek.33.21
In the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth day of the tenth month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and reported, “The city has been taken!”
A fugitive reports that Jerusalem has been taken, with the next verse connecting his arrival to the prophet's restored speech. The report's place in the narrative must remain specific.
- Obad.1.14
Nor should you stand at the crossroads to cut off their fugitives, nor deliver up their survivors in the day of their distress.
The address forbids blocking fugitives or handing over survivors in the day of distress. Their vulnerability must not be used as an opportunity to aid the disaster.
- Isa.66.19
I will establish a sign among them, and I will send survivors from among them to the nations—to Tarshish, Put, and the archers of Lud; to Tubal, Javan, and the islands far away who have not heard of My fame or seen My glory. So they will proclaim My glory among the nations.
Survivors are sent to named nations and distant places to proclaim God's glory. The specific prophetic commission does not assign every contemporary survivor an identical task.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Ita fugitive3×Judges 12:5, Ezekiel 24:26, Ezekiel 33:21
escape2×2 Kings 9:15, Jeremiah 44:14
a few fugitives1×Jeremiah 44:14
and refugees1×Jeremiah 50:28
are fugitives1×Judges 12:4
as refugees1×Numbers 21:29
of the fugitives1×Amos 9:1
one escaped1×Lamentations 2:22
or escape1×Jeremiah 42:17
or fugitive1×Joshua 8:22
survivors1×Isaiah 66:19
the fugitive1×Ezekiel 33:22
The survivors1×Ezekiel 7:16
their fugitives1×Obadiah 1:14
Then an escapee1×Genesis 14:13
Those who escape1×Jeremiah 44:28
to him who has escaped1×Ezekiel 24:27
will escape1×Ezekiel 6:8
you fugitives1×Isaiah 45:20
You who have escaped1×Jeremiah 51:50
your survivors1×Ezekiel 6:9
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 14:13הַפָּלִ֔יטtoThen an escapeeArticle | Noun - masculine singularNumbers 21:29פְּלֵיטִם֙toas refugeesNoun - masculine pluralJoshua 8:22וּפָלִֽיט׃toor fugitiveConjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singularJudges 12:4פְּלִיטֵ֤יtoare fugitivesNoun - masculine plural constructJudges 12:5פְּלִיטֵ֤יtoa fugitiveNoun - masculine plural construct2 Kings 9:15פָלִיט֙toescapeNoun - masculine singularIsaiah 45:20פְּלִיטֵ֣יtoyou fugitivesNoun - masculine plural constructIsaiah 66:19פְּ֠לֵיטִיםtosurvivorsNoun - masculine pluralJeremiah 42:17וּפָלִ֔יטtoor escapeConjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singularJeremiah 44:14פָּלִ֤יטtoescapeNoun - masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowGenesis 14:13
Aligned rows24
Books represented11
Genesis1Numbers1Joshua1Judges22 Kings1Isaiah2Jeremiah6Lamentations1Ezekiel7Amos1Obadiah1
Source forms
הַפָּלִ֔יט3xhap·pā·lîṭGenesis 14:13, Ezekiel 24:27, Ezekiel 33:22
פְּלִיטֵ֤י2xpə·lî·ṭêJudges 12:4, Judges 12:5
הַפָּלִ֖יט1xhap·pā·lîṭEzekiel 24:26
הַפָּלִ֧יט1xhap·pā·lîṭEzekiel 33:21
וּפְלֵטִ֖ים1xū·p̄ə·lê·ṭîmJeremiah 50:28
וּפָלִ֔יט1xū·p̄ā·lîṭJeremiah 42:17
וּפָלִֽיט׃1xū·p̄ā·lîṭJoshua 8:22
וּפְלִיטֵ֨י1xū·p̄ə·lî·ṭêJeremiah 44:28
Parsing patterns
Article | Noun - masculine singular5xGenesis 14:13, Ezekiel 24:26, Ezekiel 24:27, Ezekiel 33:21
Noun - masculine plural4xNumbers 21:29, Isaiah 66:19, Jeremiah 44:14, Jeremiah 51:50
Noun - masculine plural construct4xJudges 12:4, Judges 12:5, Isaiah 45:20, Ezekiel 6:8
Noun - masculine singular4x2 Kings 9:15, Jeremiah 44:14, Lamentations 2:22, Amos 9:1
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular2xJoshua 8:22, Jeremiah 42:17
Adjective - masculine plural construct | third person masculine singular1xObadiah 1:14
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural1xJeremiah 50:28
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural construct1xJeremiah 44:28
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Hear a survivor's account with care and support protective choices without demanding spiritual proof or immediate public disclosure.
- Keep present legal classifications separate from the noun's ancient contextual roles and from moral responsibility to avoid exploitation.
Avoid claiming...
- Pālîṭ does not imply deficient trust, a compulsory public mission or that survival erases the need for care.
- The noun does not independently decide immigration status or authorize handing a vulnerable person over for another party's gain.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. One who has escaped danger or judgment; emphasizes successful deliverance rather than mere flight
Source Gloss
a refugee
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
One who has escaped danger or judgment; emphasizes successful deliverance rather than mere flight
a refugee BDB: escaped one Usage: (that have) escape(-d, -th), fugitive.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Word Origins
פָּלִיט is built from this root:
For the Preacher and Teacher
Genesis 14 treats the escapee's report as consequential information, not as an occasion to shame the messenger for surviving. Ezekiel likewise places the arriving fugitive and news of Jerusalem's fall within the prophet's narrative. These examples let a displaced person remain a speaking agent instead of reducing the person to the disaster or treating the report as less credible because escape has occurred.
Obadiah speaks directly against cutting off fugitives and handing over survivors, naming responsibility toward people in distress. Isaiah describes another setting in which survivors are sent to proclaim God's glory among nations. That commission cannot become pressure requiring every harmed person to turn a crisis into immediate public testimony. Matthew 2:13-15 supplies a Christian narrative comparison of flight from a lethal threat when Joseph takes the child and His mother to Egypt. Together these witnesses make room for protective departure and attentive care without diagnosing a survivor's faith, prescribing one recovery timetable or settling modern legal classifications.
Anchor passage
Obad.1.14
Doctrinal connections
- Genesis 14:11-16 places an escapee's report before Abram's response to the capture of Lot and others.
- Ezekiel 33:21-22 links a fugitive's report of Jerusalem's fall with the prophet's restored speech.
- Obadiah 1:11-15 condemns gloating, looting, blocking fugitives and delivering survivors in Judah's distress.
- Isaiah 66:18-21 describes survivors sent to proclaim God's glory among nations and distant places.
- Matthew 2:13-14 records a protective command and Joseph's nighttime departure with the child and His mother.
- Matthew 2:15 locates that stay in Egypt within the narrative's stated fulfillment rather than a universal legal classification.
Licensed entries document pālîṭ and pālêṭ as escaped-person or refugee observations under this identifier. The citation follows pālîṭ without promoting a merger; crisis, role and construction identify the person more precisely than a modern administrative category can.
From Old to New Testament
Matthew 2:13-15 recounts Joseph taking the child and His mother to Egypt in response to a lethal threat. It supplies a Christian narrative comparison in which flight serves protection. It does not use the Hebrew noun, make every pālîṭ occurrence a Christ type or establish a modern refugee's legal classification.
Passage contextCanonical parallel