A6523 — פַּרְזֶל (parzel)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H6523
Language: Aramaic
Original: פַּרְזֶל
Transliteration: parzel
Pronunciation: par-zel'
Part of Speech: Masculine noun
Root: Corresponding to H1270 בַּרְזֶל (barzel) — iron
Occurrences: 14 unique verses; 20 tokens (Daniel only)
First Occurrence: Dan 2:33 — "His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay."
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

(Aramaic) corresponding to בַּרְזֶל; iron:—iron.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
iron	9	64.3%
of iron	3	21.4%
the iron	3	21.4%
and as iron	1	7.1%
as iron	1	7.1%

Virtually all KJV variation is prepositional phrasing around the same word "iron." There is no semantic ambiguity in translation.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Daniel	14	3.9

All 14 occurrences are in Daniel's Aramaic sections (Daniel 2, 4, 5, 7). The word does not appear outside Daniel.

Semantic Categories¶

1. The Iron Legs — Fourth Kingdom's Crushing Strength¶

The dominant use: iron symbolizes the fourth world empire (legs of the statue in Nebuchadnezzar's dream), characterized by its crushing, subduing power. - Dan 2:33 — "His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay." - Dan 2:40 — "the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise."

2. Iron and Clay — Divided Vulnerability¶

Iron mixed with potter's clay represents a kingdom that is partly strong and partly brittle — unable to adhere into a unified whole. - Dan 2:41 — "thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided" - Dan 2:42 — "as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken" - Dan 2:43 — "they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay"

3. Destroyed Together with All Metals by the Stone¶

All materials of the image — including iron — are shattered simultaneously by the stone cut without hands. - Dan 2:35 — "the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff" - Dan 2:45 — "it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold"

4. Iron Band on the Tree Stump¶

A distinct symbolic use: a band of iron and brass restrains the stump of the tree in Nebuchadnezzar's personal humbling vision. - Dan 4:15 — "leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field" - Dan 4:23 — same binding imagery, until seven times pass over him

5. Metals of Pagan Worship and Temple Vessels¶

Iron appears in a list of materials from which idols are made, or vessels used for profane worship by Belshazzar. - Dan 5:4 — "praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone" - Dan 5:23 — "vessels of his house before thee... praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone"

6. The Iron-Toothed Fourth Beast¶

In Daniel's vision of the four beasts, the fourth beast has iron teeth — a parallel to the statue's iron legs, reinforcing the fourth-kingdom symbol. - Dan 7:7 — "exceedingly strong; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it" - Dan 7:19 — "exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
חֲזָא (chăzâʼ)	H2370	7x (50%)	"thou sawest / I saw" — visionary beholding of the image or beast
חֲסַף (chăçaph)	H2635	7x (50%)	"iron and clay" — mixed feet/toes composition
נְחָשׁ (nᵉchâsh)	H5174	7x (50%)	"iron and brass" — paired metals in both statue and beast
דְּקַק (dᵉqaq)	H1855	6x (43%)	"break in pieces" — iron's crushing action
רְגַל (rᵉgal)	H7271	6x (43%)	"feet of iron and clay"
אֶבֶן (ʼeben)	H69	5x (36%)	"the stone smote the iron"
דְּהַב (dᵉhab)	H1722	4x (29%)	full metal sequence: gold, silver, brass, iron
חֵיוָא (chêyvâʼ)	H2423	4x (29%)	"the fourth beast with iron teeth"
כְּסַף (kᵉçaph)	H3702	4x (29%)	full metal sequence including iron
תַּקִּיף (taqqîyph)	H8624	3x (21%)	"strong as iron" — comparative strength

Word Family / Cognates¶

H1270 בַּרְזֶל (barzel) — Hebrew counterpart: iron; used throughout the non-Aramaic OT (appears in 49 unique verses); same meaning, different language register. Common in descriptions of weapons, tools, and constraints.

Synonyms¶

No synonyms returned by search_relationships.py for this Aramaic lemma.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms returned by search_relationships.py for this Aramaic lemma.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
בַּרְזֶל (barzel)	H1270	both = "iron"	barzel is Hebrew (used outside Daniel); parzel is Aramaic (Daniel only); functionally synonymous — one is the Aramaic loanword form of the other

Semantic Domains¶

No semantic-domain data returned by search_relationships.py for this Aramaic lemma.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occ	PMI	Notes
σιδήρεος (sidḗreos)	G4603	10	8.94	"made of iron" — adjectival form; primary bridge
σίδηρος (sídēros)	G4604	5	7.31	"iron" — nominal form
ὀστράκινος (ostrákinos)	G3749	4	8.66	"of earthenware/clay" — co-occurs because iron and clay appear together

The NT continues the iron symbolism of Daniel via the LXX: Rev 2:27 and 19:15 use σιδήρεος (G4603), directly echoing the Daniel image through the LXX rendering of parzel.

Note: No cross-testament trace created — primary LXX bridge co-occurrence (10) is below the threshold of 20 for a dedicated TR file.