טָעַם
to taste
also: perceive, eat fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Stem
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”). Here: ‘taste’
Form
- Imperfect
- An incomplete, ongoing, or future action (“he will / would write”).
- Perfect
- A completed action or state — Hebrew marks aspect (completeness) more than strict tense (“he wrote”).
- Infinitive Absolute
- An unbound verbal noun, often intensifying or standing in for a finite verb.
- Jussive
- A third- or second-person volitional form expressing wish or command (“let him write”).
- Imperative
- A direct command (“write!”).
Person
- 3rd Person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
- 1st Person
- The speaker (“I / we”).
- 2nd Person
- The one addressed (“you”).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
- Common
- Either gender — not distinguished for this form.
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
Every verse where H2938 appears in the Book of 2 Samuel — 2 distinct verses. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
2 Samuel
- 2 Samuel 3:35 אֶטְעַם Qal impf 1cs All the people came to cause David to eat bread while it was yet day; but David swore, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread, or anything else, until the sun be down.
- 2 Samuel 19:35 יִטְעַ֤ם Qal impf 3ms I am this day eighty years old: can I discern between good and bad? can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? why then should your servant be yet a burden to my lord the king?
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
“to taste” is the headline sense of the Hebrew verb טעם (ṭâʻam). First canonically at 1 Samuel 14:24, it enters the text early. With 10 verses in 6 books, it is an uncommon word in the Hebrew Bible. It concentrates in 1 Samuel, which alone accounts for 30% of its uses. Beyond “to taste” it also covers “perceive” and “eat” — see its full sense range. See the sense tree, 10-verse concordance, and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H2938 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 10
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 10 distinct verses.
- 6 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 6 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #2,210
- by frequency
- Top 2500 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 2,210 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 10 occurrences in the concordance →
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 10 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 6 verses · 60%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 4 verses · 40%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
- King James Version: Taste 5×
- American Standard Version: Taste 3×, Tasteth 2×
- Berean Standard Bible: Taste 3×, Tastes 2×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Taste 4×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H2938 across 11 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 6 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H2938 across 11 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 6 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H2938 across 10 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 5 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 1 further occurrence.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H2938 across 14 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 10 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Senses in the full BDB
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 4 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
Qal
- Pf. 3 ms. ט׳ 1 S 14:24; 3 fs. טָֽעֲמָה Pr 31:18; 1 s. טָעַמְתִּי 1 S 14:29, 43; Impf. 3 ms. יִטְעַם 2 S 19:36 + 2 times; 1 s. אֶטְעַם 2 S 3:35; 3 mpl. יִטְעֲמוּ Jon 3:7; Imv. mpl. טַעֲמוּ ψ 34:9; Inf. abs. טָעֹם 1 S 14:43;— e.g. 1 Samuel 14:24
- 1. taste, of eating in small quantity, sq. acc. לָ֑חֶם 1 S 14:24, מְעַט דְּבַשׁ v 29, so v 43 (טָעֹם טָעַמְתִּי); לֶחֶם אוֹ כָל־מְאוּמָה 2 S 3:35; מְאוּמָה Jon 3:7. e.g. 1 Samuel 14:24
- 2. of sense of taste, obj. אֶת־אֲשֶׁר אֹכַל וְאֶת־אֲשֶׁר אֶשְׁתֶּה 2 S 19:36; so חֵךְ אֹכֶל יִטְעַם־לוֹ Jb 12:11; חֵךְ יִטְעַם לֶאֱכֹל 34:3. e.g. 2 Samuel 19:36
- 3. fig. Pr 31:18 she tasteth that her gain is good (obj. cl. c. כִּי), i.e. she experiences that her trade is profitable; so טַעֲמוּ וּרְאוּ כִּי־טוֹב יהוה ψ 34:9 taste ye and see that י׳ is good. e.g. Proverbs 31:18
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
vb. taste, perceive (NH id.; Aramaic ܛܥܶܡ, טְעֵים taste; Assyrian n. ṭêmu, sense, command, ZimBP 92 LyonSargontexte 67) AsrbAnnals iii, 95; Arabic طَعِمَ eat, taste, examine by tasting; Ethiopic ጥዕመ: ጠዐመ: taste, examine by tasting, etc. (—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Origin: a primitive root
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
טָעַם
- (b. h.) [to be bright, wise (v. Ps. XXXIV, 9),] to examine, to taste, test, try, experience. Yoma 22ᵇ לא ט׳ טַעַם חטא never tasted the taste of sin (was innocent). Y. Succ. V, 55ᵇ לא היו טוֹעֲמִין טעם וכ׳ had not even a taste of sleep. Ber. 35ᵃ אסור … שיִטְעוֹם וכ׳ one must not taste food without a blessing. Ib. 14ᵃ מהו שיטעום dare he (who fasts) taste food when cooking? Num. R. s. 7 כל מי … היה טוֹעֲמוֹ whoever desired to eat meat felt its taste (in the mannah); a. v. fr. e.g. Psalms 34:9
- 1. to give to taste. Ned. 66ᵇ עד שתַּטְעִימִי … לרב וכ׳ until thou makest R. J. taste of thy dish. B. Mets. 75ᵃ כדי להַטְעִימָן וכ׳ in order to give them a taste of usury (that they might feel its oppressiveness). Cant. R. to VII, 2 תהא … ומטעמני (read ומַטְעִימֵנִי or ומְטַעֲמֵנִי Pi.) thou shalt bring some of them before me and let me taste them; a. fr.
- 2. to make tasteful, to explain. Sot. 21ᵇ המַטְעִים דבריו וכ׳ who explains his case to the judge (trying to preoccupy him), before his adversary appears; Tanḥ. Mishp. 6; a. e.—V. מַטְעֶמֶת.
טְעַם
- Targ. I Sam. XIV, 24; a. fr.—Targ. Y. Deut. XXXII, 1 דלא טַעֲמִין מיתותא which taste no death (heaven and earth).—Ber. 44ᵃ דלא ט׳ זיונא that he tasted no food. Sabb. 11ᵃ לִיטְעוֹם מר מידי take some refreshment, Sir!—Hor. 11ᵃ אִטְעוֹם טעם דאיסורא I wish to try how a forbidden thing tastes; a. fr.
- to give to taste. Targ. Y. Gen. XXIV, 17.—Koh. R. to I, 3 לית את מַטְעַם לי מתבשילי wilt thou not let me taste what I have cooked (for thee?); Lev. R. s. 28; Pesik. R. s. 18; Pesik. Haomer, p. 70ᵃ … מַטְעִים … מתבשילך of the dish prepared for thee?
- to taste. Part. pass. מְטַעַם tasted, touched. Lev. R. l. c. why do the dishes come out ולא מְטַעֲמִין without being touched?; (Koh. R. l. c. ולא טעמין and they taste them not).
טַעַם
- preced.) [pleasure, will (Jonah III, 7),] e.g. Jonah 3:7
- 1. sense, wisdom, sound reasoning; reason, cause, ground. Ab. Zar. 18ᵃ דברים של ט׳ sensible argument. Ḥull. 6ᵃ להחזיר לו ט׳ to give him a clear answer.—Sabb. 83ᵇ ולא נתגלה טַעֲמָהּ the reason of it has not been made known. Ḥull. 101ᵇ מאיזה ט׳ וכ׳ for what reason it has been forbidden to them; a. fr.—Pl. טְעָמִים, טְעָמִין. Snh. 34ᵃ מקרא אחד יוצא לכמה ט׳ ואין טעם אחד וכ׳ one biblical expression may be used for many arguments, but one and the same argument must not be deduced from different biblical expressions. Erub. 13ᵇ טַעֲמֵי טומאה arguments in favor of uncleanness; a. fr.—פִּסְקי טְעָמִים the incisions, in the Bible verse, according to sense; punctuation signs, accents. Meg. 3ᵃ (ref. to ויבינו במקרא, Neh. VIII, 8) אלו פ׳ ט׳ that means the punctuation signs; Y. ib. IV, 74ᵈ bot.; Gen. R. s. 36 (ref. to ושום שכל, Neh. l. c.) אלו הט׳ (sub. פסקי).—Esp. taste. Yoma 22ᵇ, v. טָעַם. Ḥull. 98ᵇ ט׳ כעיקר the taste of a forbidden thing is as forbidden as the substance itself. Pes. 44ᵇ top ליתן ט׳ כעיקר to intimate that the taste (of grapes soaked in water) is equally forbidden as the substance (of grapes). Ḥull. 108ᵃ טַעֲמוֹ ולא ממשו וכ׳ the taste of a thing without the substance (after removing the forbidden substance) is in all cases biblically forbidden. Ib. VII, 4 אם יש בה בנותן ט׳ if there is enough of it to give a taste to the entire mixture. Ib. בזמן שמכירו בנותן ט׳ as long as it can be recognized (and removed), it depends on its giving a taste (whether or not the mixture is forbidden). Ib. 111ᵇ נותן ט׳ בר נותן ט׳ an object forbidden for its having absorbed the taste of a forbidden thing, and which (through mixture) has again given taste to another thing, a taste-giver in the second degree. Ab. Zar. 39ᵇ, a. fr. נותן טעם לפגם (abbr. נ"ט) imparting a deteriorating taste, נ"ט לשבח giving an improving taste; a. v. fr.— e.g. Nehemiah 8:8
טְעַם ²
- 1. pleasure, will. Dan. III, 10; a. e. e.g. Daniel 3:10
- 2. good cheer. Ib. V, 2.
- 3. reason, argument, sense &c. Targ. Job XII, 20; a. e.—B. Bath. 173ᵇ דלא יהבי ט׳ וכ׳ who give no reason for their decisions (judge arbitrarily). Ib., a. fr. מאי ט׳ (abbr. מ"ט) what is the reason (of the law of the Mishnah)?—Kidd. 68ᵇ, a. fr. דריש ט׳ דקרא interprets the biblical law on its reason and accordingly modifies it, extending or limiting, e.g. (B. Mets. 115ᵃ) applying the law Deut. XXIV, 17 only to poor widows. Ib. אלא לרבנן מאי טַעֲמֵיה but according to the Rabbis (who do not interpret the law on its reason), where is the argument for it? (prob. to be read: טַעֲמַיְיהוּ; Yeb. 23ᵃ מנא לן). Ber. 7ᵇ מ"ט לא אתי מר וכ׳ why do you not come to synagogue for prayer?—Ib. 11ᵃ קא מפרשי טַעֲמַיְיהוּ וט׳ וכ׳ they give their reason for their own opinion and for differing with Beth-Sh.—Keth. 83ᵇ הלכה כר׳ … ולא מטַעֲמֵיה the rule (practice) is in agreement with R. S.’s opinion, but not for the reason he had for it. Ib. 84ᵃ כטעמיה וכהלכתיה in agreement both with his argument and his legal opinion; a. fr.—Pes. 21ᵇ, a. fr. ט׳ דכתב וכ׳ the reason (of this) is, because &c., i.e. this is so only because &c.—וּלְטַעֲמֵיךְ now, according to your argument (assuming it to be correct,—what then?). Ber. 43ᵃ; a. v. fr. e.g. Deuteronomy 24:17
- 4. argument on the cause of bereavement, consolation (v. טַמָּא). M. Kat. 18ᵃ למישאל ט׳ מיניה (Ms. M.; second time, לשיולי ביה ט׳) to get his permission to argue (with him), i.e. to console him. Snh. 113ᵃ [read:] למשאל ביה ט׳ (or טמא, v. Rabb. D. S. a. l. note 7) to console him.—בֵּי טַעֲמָא, v. טַמָּא.
- 5. taste. Targ. Num. XI, 8; a. e.—Yoma 78ᵇ ט׳ דמיתותא a foretaste of death. Hor. 11ᵃ, v. טְעַם. Ḥull. 97ᵃ בט׳ it depends on the taste (whether a mixture be forbidden), v. preced. Ib.ᵇ מין בשאינו מינו … בט׳ in case of a mixture of heterogeneous things which are permitted, we decide by the taste; a. fr.—Pl. טַעֲמִין. Targ. Cant. V, 11; 13.
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 11 distinct written forms H2938 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that stem’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
| Form | Parsing | Example | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| אֶטְעַם | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular | 2 Samuel 3:35 | 1 |
| טַעֲמ֣וּ | Verb, Qal, Imperative, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural | Psalms 34:8 | 1 |
| טָ֭עֲמָה | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Proverbs 31:18 | 1 |
| טָעַ֔מְתִּי | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular | 1 Samuel 14:29 | 1 |
| טָעַ֜מְתִּי | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular | 1 Samuel 14:43 | 1 |
| טָעַ֥ם | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | 1 Samuel 14:24 | 1 |
| טָעֹ֨ם | Verb, Qal, Infinitive Absolute | 1 Samuel 14:43 | 1 |
| יִטְעֲמוּ֙ | Verb, Qal, Jussive, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural | Jonah 3:7 | 1 |
| יִטְעַ֤ם | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | 2 Samuel 19:35 | 1 |
| יִטְעַ֥ם | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Job 34:3 | 1 |
| יִטְעַם | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Job 12:11 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H2938, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derived from this word
Compare all same-root words → They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 10 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 10 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
