פַרְעֹשׁ Flea
Every verse in which this word stands — 2 places, in canonical order, first appearance to last. These are the places the lexicon carries under this word's own entry, counting every form the text writes it in, which is the number on the list.
The par'osh — David's own word for himself before Shaul, twice: 'after whom do you pursue? After a single flea.' Parosh the family of the returners is a different entry, on the names lists.
אַחֲרֵי מִי יָצָא מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל אַחֲרֵי מִי אַתָּה רֹדֵף אַֽחֲרֵי כֶּלֶב מֵת אַחֲרֵי פַּרְעֹשׁ אֶחָֽד
After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea.
וְעַתָּה אַל־יִפֹּל דָּֽמִי אַרְצָה מִנֶּגֶד פְּנֵי יְהוָה כִּֽי־יָצָא מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל לְבַקֵּשׁ אֶת־פַּרְעֹשׁ אֶחָד כַּאֲשֶׁר יִרְדֹּף הַקֹּרֵא בֶּהָרִֽים
Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of the LORD; for the king of Israel is come out to seek a single flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains.’
Every Hebrew word for “flea”, with its gematria →
Quick answers
What is the Hebrew word for flea?
Flea in Hebrew is פרעש, with a gematria of 650 in the standard method.
How many times is the flea mentioned in the Tanakh?
The word stands 2 times in the Tanakh, first at 1 Samuel 24:15.
A spelling is not a word. The bare letters פרעש stand 8 times in the corpus, which is a different question and often a different number: the same letters can spell a name or another word entirely, and the creature written with a particle attached is a spelling that search never returns. It is here, as itself.
See all 8 occurrences of the spelling פרעש →