To serve
פְּלַחStrong’s H6399pelach (pe-lach)
Appears in 10 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Pelach is the Aramaic word usually translated “paying reverence”, “pay reverence” and “servants of”. It appears in 10 verses of the Old Testament.
“There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”
Meaning
- To serve, worship, revere, minister for, pay reverence to(P'al)
How it's translated
- paying reverence 6
- they will pay reverence 3
- and servants of 1
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Daniel 9
- Ezra 1
2 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- Daniel 3:14In contextNebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
- Daniel 3:17In contextIf it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
- Daniel 3:18In contextBut if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
- Daniel 3:28In contextThen Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.
- Daniel 6:16In contextThen the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.
- Daniel 6:20In contextAnd when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?
Aramaic dictionary
פְּלַח pelach · to serve
1) to serve, worship, revere, minister for, pay reverence to 1a) (P'al) 1a1) to pay reverence to 1a2) to serve
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “serve” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
SERVE, verb transitive
serv. [Latin servio. This verb is supposed to be from the noun servus, a servant or slave, and this from servo, to keep.]
- To work for; to bestow the labor of boky and mind in the employment of another.“Jacob loved Rachel and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy youngest daughters” Genesis 29:18“No man can serve two masters” Matthew 6:24
- To act as the minister of; to perform official duties to; as, a minister serves his prince.
- To attend at command; to wait on.
- To obey servilely or meanly. be not to wealth a servant.
All definitions and other forms of “serve”
- To supply with food; as, to be served in plate.
- To be subservient or subordinate to.
- To perform the duties required in; as, the curate served two churches.
- To obey; to perform duties in the employment of; as, to serve the king or the country in the army or navy.
- To be sufficient, or to promote; as, to serve one's turn, end or purpose.
- To help by good offices; as, to serve one's country.
- To comply with; to submit to.
- To be sufficient for; to satisfy; to content.
- To be in the place of any thing to one.
- To treat; to requite; as, he served me ungratefully; he served me very ill; We say also, he served me a trick, that is he deceived me, or practiced an artifice on me.
- In Scripture and theology, to obey and worship; to act in conformity to the law of a superior, and treat him with due reverence.“Fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and truth. As for me and my house, we will serve the lord” Joshua 24:14
- In a bad sense, to obey; to yeild compliance or act according to.“Serving divers lusts and treasures” Titus 3:3
- To worship; to render homage to; as, to serve idols or false gods.
- To be a slave to; to be in bondage to.
- To serve one's self of, to use; to make use of; a Gallicism, [se sevir de.]
- To use; to manage; to apply.
- In seamen's language, to wind something round a rope to prevent friction.
SERVE, verb intransitive
serv.
- To be a servant or slave.“The Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve” Isaiah 14:3
- To be employed in labor or or other business for another.
- To be in subjection.
- To wait; to attend; to perform domestic offices to another.
- To perform duties, as in the army, navy or in any office.
- To answer; to accomplish the end.
- To be sufficient for a purpose.
- To suit; to be convenient.
- To conduce; to be of use.
- To officiate or minister; to do the honors of; as, to serve at a public dinner.
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Aramaic, not from any one translation.