פקד seems a bit resistant to a single & consistent, root translation or
definition.
We have
Numbers 31:48
ויקרבו אל משה הפקדים אשר לאלפי הצבא שרי האלפים ושרי המשות
and Numbers 31:49
ויאמרו אל משה עבדיך נשאו את ראש אנשי המלחמה אשר בידנו ולא נפקד ממנו איש
In the first verse, פקד appears in the passive participle tense, qal form,
masculine plural. But the army officers don't appear to "be overseen;" but
rather "overseeing."
In the second verse, פקד manifests in the perfect tense, niphal form, third
person, singular. But "and not he is overseen from us, man," does not
readily mean "and not a man is missing from us," as the common translation
expresses.
Is there agreement on a single root or base meaning of פקד ; a meaning that
would become susceptible to the usage in these two verses?
regards,
fred burlingame
[b-hebrew] elusive pa-kad,
fred burlingame, 11/08/2010