Jastrow: פַּרְקוּלָא

פַּרְקוּלָא, פַּרְקוּלָה f. (furcilla, furcula) fork, an instrument of torture put on the culprit’s shoulders with his hands tied to it (v. Sm. Ant. s. v. Furca). Yalk. Prov. 961 end (ref. to Prov. XXVIII, 13) משל ללסטיס … הודה הוא נוטל פ׳ like the case of a robber (rebel) who is judged before the questionarius; as long as he is stubborn, he is smitten, but when he confesses, he gets the furcilla (and is put to death); אבל הקב"ה אינו כן אלא עד שלא הודה נוטל פ׳ וכ׳ but not so acts the Lord; as long as the offender does not confess, he gets the furcilla (is doomed to die), but when he confesses, he is pardoned; Yalk. Ps. 854 ניתן פרקילא (read ניטל); Pesik. Shub., p. 159ᵃ (restore the passage acordingly). Ib.ᵇ הוא נותן פ׳ he (the questionarius) has the furcilla put upon him, when he is taken out and put to death; ib. היא נותן להם וכ׳ he (the Lord) places the furcilla upon them (condemns them, Hos. XIV, 1), and then he allows them to come back (ib. 2); Yalk. Hos. 532.