The Hebrew word perekh refers to severity, harshness, or crushing rigor — particularly in the context of oppressive labor or brutal treatment. It appears most famously in Exodus to describe the harsh treatment of the Israelite slaves in Egypt, and in Leviticus to prohibit such treatment of fellow Israelites.
The word perekh appears in Exodus 1:13-14 describing the crushing severity of Egypt's oppression: they made Israel serve 'with harshness.' This became the defining negative memory — oppression with perekh — that shaped Israel's ethics toward the vulnerable. Leviticus 25 explicitly prohibits ruling over a fellow Israelite 'with harshness.' Ezekiel 34:4 condemns the shepherds of Israel who ruled with perekh. God's redemption of Israel from harsh servitude becomes the model and motivation for treating others with compassion rather than severity.