The word פֶּרֶךְ appears six times in the Tanakh. Twice it describes the enslavement of the Israelites in Egypt, three times in Vayikra in laws prohibiting harsh treatment of Israelite servants, and once in Yechezkel, in the prophet's criticism of the leaders of Israel.
For example, we read:
וַיַּעֲבִדוּ מִצְרַיִם אֶת־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּפָרֶךְ
"And the Egyptians made the Israelites work with harshness."
(Shemot 1:13)
The word פֶּרֶךְ is an abstract noun, and in every biblical occurrence it is preceded by the preposition ב־. The phrase בְּפָרֶךְ therefore functions adverbially, describing how the work or rule was imposed. It is commonly translated "harshly," "ruthlessly," or "with rigor."
Some translations make the meaning more specific. Robert Alter translates the verse, "And the Egyptians put the Israelites to work at crushing labor," and explains that he understands the word according to a root meaning "to break into pieces" or "to pulverize." Everett Fox similarly has "with crushing-labor," following the early rabbinic interpretation.
These translations capture one important understanding of פֶּרֶךְ, but "labor" is not actually contained in the word פֶּרֶךְ. It is supplied from the context. This becomes particularly clear in Vayikra, where בְּפָרֶךְ modifies the verb רדה, "to rule," rather than עבד, "to work." So a translation such as "with harshness" or "with severity" more closely reflects the grammatical form of the word.
The interpretation reflected by Alter and Fox has a long history. Rashi explains פֶּרֶךְ as עבודה קשה המפרכת את הגוף ומשברתו, hard labor that breaks down the body. And the root פרך is indeed used in later Hebrew with the meaning "break, crush, crumble." Klein defines it as "to break, crush, rub, grind, crumble." Related words include parikh פָּרִיךְ, something brittle or crisp, and hifrikh הִפְרִיךְ, which in modern Hebrew means "to refute," as in the sense of breaking down an argument.
Not all scholars, however, understand פֶּרֶךְ from the idea of crushing. Hayim Tawil compares it with Akkadian pirku and pariktu, words associated with “harm, wrong, injustice.” On that basis, בְּפָרֶךְ may originally have meant something like “with injustice” or “with ruthless oppression,” rather than “with crushing force.” The Encyclopaedia Mikrait likewise discusses Akkadian evidence connected with coercion and oppressive labor. To support this, Tawil quotes Rambam (Hilkhot Avadim 1:6), who writes that perekh indicates labor that is unnecessary, i.e., unjust/unjustified.
Parokhet is built on the same three consonants as perekh. The פָּרֹכֶת was the curtain in the Mishkan separating the Holy from the Holy of Holies:
וְהִבְדִּילָה הַפָּרֹכֶת לָכֶם בֵּין הַקֹּדֶשׁ וּבֵין קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים
"...The parokhet shall separate for you between the Holy and the Holy of Holies."
(Shemot 26:33)
In later Jewish usage, parochet also came to refer to the curtain placed in front of the Torah ark in a synagogue.
The meaning of פָּרֹכֶת seems fairly easy to explain. A number of scholars compare it with Akkadian parāku, meaning "to lay across, block, obstruct, shut off." Akkadian also has pariktu, meaning a barrier, wall, curtain, or obstruction. That fits the function of the parokhet very well: it lay across the sanctuary and blocked both access and view.
Cassuto on Shemot 26:3, for example, writes that פָּרֹכֶת comes from a root פרך whose original meaning was "to close, shut." Kaddari similarly derives it from the root corresponding to Akkadian parāku, "to block a road." The Encyclopaedia Mikrait and TDOT also give this as a major explanation. TDOT notes that the curtain "functioned as a barrier obstructing access and view."
So it's not really a question as to what פָּרֹכֶת means. The debate is whether the פֶּרֶךְ of Egyptian slavery belongs to the same root.
Some dictionaries say no. BDB distinguishes two roots פרך. One is behind פֶּרֶךְ, "harshness, severity." The other is related to Akkadian parāku, "bar, shut off," and is the source of פָּרֹכֶת. Klein appears to make a similar distinction. He lists פֶּרֶךְ among the derivatives of the root meaning "break, crush, rub, grind, crumble," while his entry for פָּרֹכֶת instead compares Akkadian parāku, "to go across, bar."
In this approach, the resemblance between פֶּרֶךְ and פָּרֹכֶת is a coincidence. They represent two different roots that just happen to have the same consonants.
Other scholars are more willing to connect them. HALOT places both פֶּרֶךְ and פָּרֹכֶת under the same presumed, reconstructed root *פרך. The comparative evidence includes a surprisingly broad group of meanings: crushing and rubbing on the one hand, but also blocking, obstructing, violence, and injustice on the other. The word פָּרֹכֶת is explained as something that "blocks off, separates," while פֶּרֶךְ is associated with violence and oppressive servitude.
Kaddari likewise brings Akkadian parāku, "to block a road," into his discussion of both words, while also citing related forms meaning cruelty, rubbing, and pressing.
The Ben-Yehuda dictionary offers perhaps the most interesting attempt to connect them. It takes the older meaning of פרך to be "close, lock, confine." It then suggests that עֲבוֹדַת פֶּרֶךְ originally referred specifically to the labor of slaves who were confined or imprisoned. It describes them as עבדים כלואים, imprisoned slaves.
According to this interpretation, the connection of פרך with פָּרֹכֶת becomes quite solid The parokhet is something that shuts off a space; perekh may originally have described the forced labor of people who themselves were shut in.
So this leaves us with three main explanations of פֶּרֶךְ.
One sees it as deriving from "break, crush," the interpretation found in traditional Jewish commentary and reflected in modern translations such as Alter's and Fox's.
Another connects it with "block, shut off, confine," which would make פֶּרֶךְ and פָּרֹכֶת two derivatives of the same root. The Ben-Yehuda dictionary's suggestion that perekh referred to the labor of imprisoned slaves is the clearest version of this view.
A third understands it primarily in terms of injustice, violence, or ruthless treatment, based particularly on the Akkadian evidence emphasized by Tawil.
These meanings may seem far apart, but the Akkadian evidence itself makes the picture less tidy. Forms in this group can refer to obstruction and barriers, but also to violence and injustice. That may explain why HALOT is comfortable treating them as one broad etymological family, while BDB and Klein prefer to separate them.
So while פָּרֹכֶת is very likely connected with the idea of blocking or shutting off, the origin of פֶּרֶךְ remains less certain. It may refer to labor that crushes, labor imposed with ruthless injustice, or, as the Ben-Yehuda dictionary suggests, labor carried out under confinement.
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