Word Study

Who doesn’t love a freshly baked slice of bread?  With the exception of people who have health problems, most of us see bread as a basic staple of our food.  In Hebrew the word for bread is לֶחֶם – Lechem.  Bread was the basic food in grain-based societies, and had many forms beginning with more porridge like food to sophisticated breads (in Egypt they had many types of baked goods).

Challah bread is the most common bread for Shabbat in Jewish circles, and in many cases is the common bread used before and after Shabbat.  This word actually has its origins in Biblical Hebrew.  The word חלה Challah is probably from the word חלל which in this context means “hollow”.  The idea is that the bread rises to a thickness which creates the small cavities.

In the amazing and beautiful story of the birth of Shmuel, we are presented with the powerful prayer of his mother Hannah.

This week I woke up to a rainy day which is expected at the beginning of Spring here in Israel.  This rain, if it is the last of the season, is known as the מַלְקוֹשׁ-Malqosh.  We can find this meaning in Deuteronomy 11:14 where the text uses the merism יוֹרֶה וּמַלְקוֹשׁ to indicate the first and last rainfall.  

We all know the famous “Eshet Chayil” of Proverbs 31:10.  Commonly it is translated as “Woman of Valour” to indicate great deeds.  The text does go ahead and give us a long list of deeds which this woman does.  The same attribute is also used to describe men of great deeds such as Exodus 18:21.

Many words in Hebrew can have several meanings which are based on context.  Here is a case of one word which in time became a symbol for bad things, such as demonic powers and the devil, when originally it was used to describe good things.

I was asked the following question about the relationship between man and woman in the context of Gen 2:24, and the meaning of the words בשר אחד.