Bible Dictionary: Pitch

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Easton's Bible Dictionary

(Genesis 6:14), asphalt or bitumen in its soft state, called "slime" (Genesis 11:3; 14:10; Exodus 2:3), found in pits near the Dead Sea (q.v.). It was used for various purposes, as the coating of the outside of vessels and in building. Allusion is made in Isaiah 34:9 to its inflammable character. (see SLIME.)

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

1. (n.) A thick, black, lustrous, and sticky substance obtained by boiling down tar. It is used in calking the seams of ships; also in coating rope, canvas, wood, ironwork, etc., to preserve them.

2. (n.) See Pitchstone.

3. (n.) To cover over or smear with pitch.

4. (n.) Fig.: To darken; to blacken; to obscure.

5. (v. t.) To throw, generally with a definite aim or purpose; to cast; to hurl; to toss; as, to pitch quoits; to pitch hay; to pitch a ball.

6. (v. t.) To thrust or plant in the ground, as stakes or poles; hence, to fix firmly, as by means of poles; to establish; to arrange; as, to pitch a tent; to pitch a camp.

7. (v. t.) To set, face, or pave with rubble or undressed stones, as an embankment or a roadway.

8. (v. t.) To fix or set the tone of; as, to pitch a tune.

9. (v. t.) To set or fix, as a price or value.

10. (v. i.) To fix or place a tent or temporary habitation; to encamp.

11. (v. i.) To light; to settle; to come to rest from flight.

12. (v. i.) To fix one's choice; -- with on or upon.

13. (v. i.) To plunge or fall; esp., to fall forward; to decline or slope; as, to pitch from a precipice; the vessel pitches in a heavy sea; the field pitches toward the east.

14. (n.) A throw; a toss; a cast, as of something from the hand; as, a good pitch in quoits.

15. (n.) That point of the ground on which the ball pitches or lights when bowled.

16. (n.) A point or peak; the extreme point or degree of elevation or depression; hence, a limit or bound.

17. (n.) Height; stature.

18. (n.) A descent; a fall; a thrusting down.

19. (n.) The point where a declivity begins; hence, the declivity itself; a descending slope; the degree or rate of descent or slope; slant; as, a steep pitch in the road; the pitch of a roof.

20. (n.) The relative acuteness or gravity of a tone, determined by the number of vibrations which produce it; the place of any tone upon a scale of high and low.

21. (n.) The limit of ground set to a miner who receives a share of the ore taken out.

22. (n.) The distance from center to center of any two adjacent teeth of gearing, measured on the pitch line; -- called also circular pitch.

23. (n.) The length, measured along the axis, of a complete turn of the thread of a screw, or of the helical lines of the blades of a screw propeller.

24. (n.) The distance between the centers of holes, as of rivet holes in boiler plates.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

PITCH

pich: The translation of the noun kopher, and the verb kaphar, in Genesis 6:14 and of the noun zepheth, in Exodus 2:3 Isaiah 34:9. In Genesis 6:14 the words are the ordinary forms for "covering," "cover," so that the translation "pitch" is largely guesswork, aided by the Septuagint, which reads asphaltos, "bitumen," here, and by the fact that pitch is a usual "covering" for vessels. The meaning of zepheth, however, is fixed by the obvious Dead Sea imagery of Isaiah 34:9-15 Exodus 2:3 zepheth is combined with chemar, which also means bitumen (Genesis 14:10; see SLIME), and the distinction between the words (different consistencies of the same substance?) is not clear.

Burton Scott Easton

Greek

2681. kataskenoo -- to pitch one's tent, encamp, dwell
... to pitch one's tent, encamp, dwell. Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: kataskenoo
Phonetic Spelling: (kat-as-kay-no'-o) Short Definition: I encamp, tabernacle ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2681.htm - 6k

4078. pegnumi -- to make fast
... to make fast. Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: pegnumi Phonetic Spelling:
(payg'-noo-mee) Short Definition: I pitch a tent Definition: I fasten, pitch a ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4078.htm - 6k

1981. episkenoo -- to tent upon, fig. abide
... 1981 (from 1909 , "" and 4637 , "to dwell in a pitched tent") -- properly, to pitch
(live in) a tent; (figuratively) power radiating from Christ as He comes ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1981.htm - 7k

4637. skenoo -- to have one's tent, dwell
... tabernacle. Cognate: 4637 -- properly, to pitch or live in a tent, "denoting
much more than the mere notion of dwelling" (M. Vincent). ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4637.htm - 7k

Strong's Hebrew

2203. zepheth -- pitch
... 2202, 2203. zepheth. 2203a . pitch. Transliteration: zepheth Phonetic
Spelling: (zeh'-feth) Short Definition: pitch. pitch From ...
/hebrew/2203.htm - 5k

3724b. kopher -- pitch
... kopher. 3724c . pitch. Transliteration: kopher Short Definition: pitch. Word Origin
of uncertain derivation Definition pitch NASB Word Usage pitch (1). ...
/hebrew/3724b.htm - 5k

2203a. zepheth -- pitch
... zepheth. 2203b . pitch. Transliteration: zepheth Short Definition: pitch. Word
Origin perhaps of foreign origin Definition pitch NASB Word Usage pitch (3). ...
/hebrew/2203a.htm - 5k

3722b. kaphar -- to pitch (with pitch)
... 3722a, 3722b. kaphar. 3723 . to pitch (with pitch). Transliteration: kaphar
Short Definition: cover. Word Origin denominative verb ...
/hebrew/3722b.htm - 5k

167. ahal -- to move a tent (from place to place)
... Origin denominative verb from the same as ohel Definition to move a tent (from place
to place) NASB Word Usage moved tent (1), moved tents (1), pitch tent (1). ...
/hebrew/167.htm - 6k

2583. chanah -- to decline, bend down, encamp
... camped (3), Settling (1). abide in tents, camp, dwell, encamp, grow to an end,
lie, pitch tent, rest in tent. A primitive root (compare ...
/hebrew/2583.htm - 6k

8628. taqa -- to thrust, clap, give a blow, blast
... 1), clap (2), drive (1), driven (1), drove (2), fasten (1), fastened (3), give pledges*
(1), given (1), guarantor (1), guarantor* (1), pitch (1), pitched (1 ...
/hebrew/8628.htm - 6k

3724. kopher -- the price of a life, ransom
... Definition: bribe. bribe, pitch, ransom, satisfaction, sum of money, village
From kaphar; properly, a cover, ie (literally) a village ...
/hebrew/3724.htm - 5k

5186. natah -- to stretch out, spread out, extend, incline, bend
... 1), leaning (1), lengthen (1), lengthened (1), lengthens (1), let down (1), offer
(1), outstretched (17), pervert (4), perverted (1), pitch (1), pitched (11 ...
/hebrew/5186.htm - 7k

6965. qum -- to arise, stand up, stand
... decree, X be dim, endure, X enemy, enjoin, get up, make good, help, hold, (help
to) lift up (again), make, X but newly, ordain, perform, pitch, raise (up ...
/hebrew/6965.htm - 7k

Library

Tow Smeared with Pitch.
... Chapter X."Tow Smeared with Pitch. ... If, therefore, any one be found smeared with sins
and lusts as with pitch, the fire easily gets the mastery of him. ...
/.../unknown/recognitions of clement /chapter x tow smeared with pitch.htm

The Burning Æsculapius; Tricks with Fire.
... For (the magician) lays his hand upon the cauldron of pitch, [250] which is in,
as it were, a boiling state; and throwing in (at the same time) vinegar and ...
/.../chapter xxxiii the burning aesculapius tricks.htm

The Legend of La Brea {331A}
... Down beside the loathly Pitch Lake, In the stately Morichal, {331b} Sat an
ancient Spanish Indian, Peering through the columns tall. ...
/.../kingsley/andromeda and other poems/the legend of la brea.htm

Against Men who Embellish Themselves.
... For their service the towns are full of those who take out hair by pitch-plasters,
shave, and pluck out hairs from these womanish creatures. ...
/.../clement/the instructor paedagogus/chapter iii against men who embellish.htm

Trinidad
... He left somewhat too soon. For on the 22d of March Raleigh sailed into Cedros
Bay, and then went up to La Brea and the Pitch Lake. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/kingsley/at last/chapter iii trinidad.htm

Book vii. On the Useful or the Ordinary
... [Ps.68(69):22(21)]. Pitch is inequity and blackness of offenses: in Solomon:
he who touches pitch is defiled from it. [Eccl.13:1]. ...
/.../eucherius/the formulae of st eucherius of lyons/book vii on the useful.htm

Date and Place of Writing.
... The mention of pitch (v.27) as a readily obtainable commodity is inconclusive,
as stated under the corresponding section of Part II. ...
/.../daubney/the three additions to daniel a study/date and place of writing 2.htm

Isaiah's Discourse
... And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into
brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. ...
/.../various/select masterpieces of biblical literature/v isaiahs discourse.htm

The Saint among Sinners
... earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark,
and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture k/the saint among sinners.htm

Footnotes:
... {331a} This myth about the famous Pitch Lake of ... {331b} A magnificent wood of the
Mauritia Fanpalm, on the south shore of the Pitch Lake. {331c} Humming-birds. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/kingsley/andromeda and other poems/footnotes .htm

Thesaurus

Pitch (25 Occurrences)
... them. 2. (n.) See Pitchstone. 3. (n.) To cover over or smear with pitch.
4. (n.) Fig.: To darken; to blacken; to obscure. 5. (vt ...
/p/pitch.htm - 18k

Slime (6 Occurrences)
... The vale of Siddim was full of slime pits (14:10). Jochebed daubed the "ark of
bulrushes" with slime (Exodus 2:3). (see PITCH.). Noah Webster's Dictionary. ...
/s/slime.htm - 11k

Sharp (115 Occurrences)
... 4. (superl.) High in pitch; acute; as, a sharp note or tone. 5. (superl.)
Raised a semitone in pitch; as, C sharp (C/), which is ...
/s/sharp.htm - 38k

Pits (13 Occurrences)
... chomer, "clay," "mortar"): In the account of the ark in Genesis 6:14, kopher Septuagint
asphaltos; Vulgate: bitumen; compare Arabic kufr, "pitch") does not ...
/p/pits.htm - 13k

Bitumen (3 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary Genesis 11:3, RV, margin, rendered in the AV "slime"),
a mineral pitch. With this the ark was pitched (6:14. ...
/b/bitumen.htm - 8k

Brimstone (14 Occurrences)
... BRIMSTONE. brim'-ston, brim'-stun (gophrith; to theion): The word translated "brimstone"
probably referred originally to the pitch of trees, like the cypress. ...
/b/brimstone.htm - 14k

Gopher (1 Occurrence)
... Lagarde considered that it was connected with gophrith, meaning "brimstone," or
"pitch," while others connect it with kopher, also meaning "pitch"; hence ...
/g/gopher.htm - 9k

Flat (33 Occurrences)
... 8. (superl.) Below the true pitch; hence, as applied to intervals, minor, or lower
by a half step; as, a flat seventh; A flat. ... 30. (vi) To fall form the pitch. ...
/f/flat.htm - 21k

Bulrushes (3 Occurrences)
... Slime (chemar, "bitumen"), pitch (zepheth, "pitch") was probably the sticky mud
of the Nile with which to this day so many things in Egypt are plastered. ...
/b/bulrushes.htm - 10k

Wood (226 Occurrences)
... Lagarde considered that it was connected with gophrith, meaning "brimstone," or
"pitch," while others connect it with kopher, also meaning "pitch"; hence ...
/w/wood.htm - 42k

Bible Concordance

Pitch (25 Occurrences)

Genesis 6:14 Make a ship of gopher wood. You shall make rooms in the ship, and shall seal it inside and outside with pitch.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 2:3 When she could no longer hide him, she took a papyrus basket for him, and coated it with tar and with pitch. She put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river's bank.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 33:7 Now Moses used to take the tent and to pitch it outside the camp, far away from the camp, and he called it "The Tent of Meeting." It happened that everyone who sought Yahweh went out to the Tent of Meeting, which was outside the camp.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Numbers 1:52 The children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, according to their divisions.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV WBS RSV)

Numbers 1:53 But the Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel: and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony.
(KJV JPS WBS)

Numbers 2:2 Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their father's house: far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they pitch.
(KJV JPS WBS)

Numbers 2:3 And on the east side toward the rising of the sun shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch throughout their armies: and Nahshon the son of Amminadab shall be captain of the children of Judah.
(KJV JPS WBS)

Numbers 2:5 And those that do pitch next unto him shall be the tribe of Issachar: and Nethaneel the son of Zuar shall be captain of the children of Issachar.
(KJV JPS WBS)

Numbers 2:12 And those which pitch by him shall be the tribe of Simeon: and the captain of the children of Simeon shall be Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.
(KJV JPS WBS)

Numbers 2:27 And those that encamp next unto him shall be the tribe of Asher: and the prince of the children of Asher shall be Pagiel the son of Ochran.
(See JPS)

Numbers 3:23 The families of the Gershonites shall pitch behind the tabernacle westward.
(KJV JPS WBS)

Numbers 3:29 The families of the sons of Kohath shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle southward.
(KJV JPS WBS)

Numbers 3:35 And the chief of the house of the father of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail: these shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle northward.
(KJV JPS WBS)

Numbers 3:38 And those that encamp before the tabernacle eastward, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrising, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel; and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.
(See JPS)

Deuteronomy 1:33 who went before you in the way, to seek you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way you should go, and in the cloud by day.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV WBS RSV)

Joshua 4:20 And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal.
(KJV)

Proverbs 20:20 If anyone puts a curse on his father or his mother, his light will be put out in the blackest night.
(See NIV)

Isaiah 13:20 It will never be inhabited, neither will it be lived in from generation to generation. The Arabian will not pitch a tent there, neither will shepherds make their flocks lie down there.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Isaiah 34:9 Its streams will be turned into pitch, its dust into sulfur, And its land will become burning pitch.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Jeremiah 6:3 Shepherds with their flocks shall come to her; they shall pitch their tents against her all around; they shall feed everyone in his place.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Jeremiah 10:20 My tent is destroyed, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth from me, and they are no more: there is none to spread my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.
(See NIV)

Ezekiel 4:2 and lay siege against it, and build forts against it, and cast up a mound against it; set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it all around.
(See NAS)

Ezekiel 25:4 therefore, behold, I will deliver you to the children of the east for a possession, and they shall set their encampments in you, and make their dwellings in you; they shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk.
(See NIV)

Daniel 11:45 He shall plant the tents of his palace between the sea and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
(See NAS RSV NIV)

Amos 5:20 Won't the day of Yahweh be darkness, and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it?
(See NIV)

Subtopics

Pitch

Pitch in Making the Basket in Which Moses Was Hidden

Pitch used by Noah, in the Ark (Ship)

Pitch: An Opaque Mineral Used As a Plaster and Cement

Related Terms

Slime (6 Occurrences)

Sharp (115 Occurrences)

Pits (13 Occurrences)

Bitumen (3 Occurrences)

Brimstone (14 Occurrences)