רַק H7534
thin, lean—describing gaunt cattle in Pharaoh's dream
This adjective appears exclusively in Genesis 41's account of Pharaoh's dream, describing the emaciated cows that devoured the healthy ones. The word paints a picture of extreme thinness or leanness, emphasizing the severity of the coming famine. The repetition across three verses (41:19, 20, 27) underscores the disturbing nature of the vision that troubled Pharaoh and required Joseph's interpretation.
Senses
1. sense 1 — All three occurrences modify the feminine plural 'cows' (פָּרוֹת) in Pharaoh's dream narrative. The multilingual evidence shows cognate terms across Spanish 'flacas' (lean), while German uses 'mageren' (gaunt). The word appears in parallel with דַּקּוֹת (thin) in verses 3-4, creating a doublet that intensifies the image of severe leanness representing seven years of famine. 3×
AR["الْ-هَزِيلَاتُ", "الْ-هَزِيلَاتِ", "وَ-هَزِيلَاتُ"]·ben["আর-শীর্ণ", "শীর্ণ"]·DE["die-mageren", "und-magere-von"]·EN["and-thin-of", "the-thin"]·FR["et-thin-de", "le-thin"]·heb["ה-רקות", "ו-רקות"]·HI["और-दुबली", "दुबली"]·ID["dan-kurus", "yang-kurus"]·IT["e-thin-di", "il-thin"]·jav["kuru", "lan-kuru"]·KO["그리고-마른", "마른"]·PT["as-magras", "e-magras-de"]·RU["и-худых", "худые", "худых"]·ES["las-flacas", "y-flacas-de"]·SW["na-wembamba", "wembamba"]·TR["-kemikli", "ve-kemikli"]·urd["اور-پتلی", "پتلی"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
רַק †1. adj. thin;—fpl. רַקּוֹת, of kine, Gn 41:19, 20, 27 (‖ v 3, 4 דַּקּוֹת). 2. 109 adv. with restrictive force, only, altogether, surely (syn. אַךְ);— a. only, Gn 14:24; 41:40 רַק הַכִּסֵּא אֶגְדַּל מִמֶּךָּ only as regards the throne, etc., 47:22 רַק אַדְמַת הַכֹּהֲנִים לֹא קָנָה, 50:8; Ex 8:5 רַק בַּיְאֹר תִּשָּׁאַרְנָח, 10:17 וְיָסֵר מֵעָלַי רַק הַמָּוֶת הַזֶּה only this death, Dt 2:35…