לֶ֫חֶם
bread
also: food, grain fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Absolute-state word in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
Noun type
- Common
- A common noun — a general class of person, place, or thing (“king,” “city,” “water”), not a specific name.
Stem
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”).
Form
- Infinitive Construct
- A bound verbal noun, frequently with prepositions (“to write / in writing”).
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
Gender
- Both
- Attested as both masculine and feminine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
96 distinct verses where H3899 appears in the Construct state, across 24 books. Filtered view — show all forms. 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.
Genesis 1 verse
Exodus 8 verses
- Exodus 16:22 לֶ֨חֶם֙ n c bs cs It happened that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one, and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.
- Exodus 16:29 לֶ֣חֶם n c bs cs Behold, because Yahweh has given you the Sabbath, therefore he gives you on the sixth day the bread of two days. Everyone stay in his place. Let no one go out of his place on the seventh day."
- Exodus 23:25 לַחְמְ/ךָ֖ n c bs cs + sfx pers 2ms You shall serve Yahweh your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from your midst.
- Exodus 25:30 לֶ֥חֶם n c bs cs You shall set bread of the presence on the table before me always.
- Exodus 29:2 וְ/לֶ֣חֶם conj + n c bs cs unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil: you shall make them of fine wheat flour.
- Exodus 29:23 לֶ֜חֶם לֶ֥חֶם n c bs n c bs cs and one loaf of bread, one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before Yahweh.
- Exodus 35:13 לֶ֥חֶם n c bs cs the table with its poles and all its vessels, and the show bread;
- Exodus 39:36 לֶ֥חֶם n c bs cs the table, all its vessels, the show bread,
Leviticus 17 verses
- Leviticus 3:11 לֶ֥חֶם n c bs cs The priest shall burn it on the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire to Yahweh.
- Leviticus 3:16 לֶ֤חֶם n c bs cs The priest shall burn them on the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire, for a sweet savor; all the fat is Yahweh's.
- Leviticus 7:13 לֶ֣חֶם n c bs cs With cakes of leavened bread he shall offer his offering with the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving.
- Leviticus 8:26 לֶ֥חֶם n c bs cs and out of the basket of unleavened bread, that was before Yahweh, he took one unleavened cake, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer, and placed them on the fat, and on the right thigh.
- Leviticus 21:6 לֶ֧חֶם n c bs cs They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God; for they offer the offerings of Yahweh made by fire, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy.
- Leviticus 21:8 לֶ֥חֶם n c bs cs You shall sanctify him therefore; for he offers the bread of your God: he shall be holy to you: for I Yahweh, who sanctify you, am holy.
- Leviticus 21:17 לֶ֥חֶם n c bs cs "Say to Aaron, 'None of your seed throughout their generations who has a blemish, may approach to offer the bread of his God.
- Leviticus 21:21 לֶ֣חֶם n c bs cs no man of the seed of Aaron the priest, who has a blemish, shall come near to offer the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. Since has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.
- Leviticus 21:22 לֶ֣חֶם n c bs cs He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy.
- Leviticus 22:7 לַחְמ֖/וֹ n c bs cs + sfx pers 3ms When the sun is down, he shall be clean; and afterward he shall eat of the holy things, because it is his bread.
- Leviticus 22:11 בְ/לַחְמֽ/וֹ prep + n c bs cs + sfx pers 3ms But if a priest buys a slave, purchased by his money, he shall eat of it; and such as are born in his house, they shall eat of his bread.
- Leviticus 22:13 מִ/לֶּ֥חֶם prep + n c bs cs But if a priest's daughter is a widow, or divorced, and has no child, and has returned to her father's house, as in her youth, she may eat of her father's bread: but no stranger shall eat any of it.
- Leviticus 22:25 לֶ֥חֶם n c bs cs Neither from the hand of a foreigner shall you offer the bread of your God of any of these; because their corruption is in them. There is a blemish in them. They shall not be accepted for you.'"
- Leviticus 23:17 לֶ֣חֶם n c bs cs You shall bring out of your habitations two wave-loaves of two tenth parts of an ephah: they shall be of fine flour, they shall be baked with yeast, for first fruits to Yahweh.
- Leviticus 23:20 לֶ֨חֶם n c bs cs The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering before Yahweh, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to Yahweh for the priest.
- Leviticus 26:5 לַחְמְ/כֶם֙ n c bs cs + sfx pers 2mp Your threshing shall reach to the vintage, and the vintage shall reach to the sowing time; and you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.
- Leviticus 26:26 לֶחֶם֒ לַחְמְ/כֶם֙ לַחְמְ/כֶ֖ם n c bs n c bs cs + sfx pers 2mp n c bs cs + sfx pers 2mp When I break your staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver your bread again by weight: and you shall eat, and not be satisfied.
Numbers 4 verses
- Numbers 4:7 וְ/לֶ֥חֶם conj + n c bs cs On the table of show bread they shall spread a blue cloth, and put on it the dishes, the spoons, the bowls, and the cups with which to pour out; and the continual bread shall be on it.
- Numbers 14:9 לַחְמֵ֖/נוּ n c bs cs + sfx pers 1cp Only don't rebel against Yahweh, neither fear the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defense is removed from over them, and Yahweh is with us: don't fear them.
- Numbers 15:19 מִ/לֶּ֣חֶם prep + n c bs cs then it shall be that when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall offer up a heave-offering to Yahweh.
- Numbers 28:2 לַחְמִ֜/י n c bs cs + sfx pers 1cs Command the children of Israel, and tell them, My offering, my food for my offerings made by fire, of a sweet savor to me, shall you observe to offer to me in their due season.
Deuteronomy 1 verse
Joshua 2 verses
- Joshua 9:5 לֶ֣חֶם n c bs cs and old and patched shoes on their feet, and old garments on them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and was become moldy.
- Joshua 9:12 לַחְמֵ֗/נוּ n c bs cs + sfx pers 1cp This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go to you; but now, behold, it is dry, and is become moldy:
Judges 2 verses
- Judges 7:13 לֶ֤חֶם n c bs cs When Gideon had come, behold, there was a man telling a dream to his fellow; and he said, Behold, I dreamed a dream; and, behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, and came to the tent, and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.
- Judges 13:16 בְּ/לַחְמֶ֔/ךָ prep + n c bs cs + sfx pers 2ms The angel of Yahweh said to Manoah, Though you detain me, I won't eat of your bread; and if you will make ready a burnt offering, you must offer it to Yahweh. For Manoah didn't know that he was the angel of Yahweh.
1 Samuel 3 verses
- 1 Samuel 21:4 לֶ֥חֶם לֶ֤חֶם n c bs cs n c bs cs The priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women.
- 1 Samuel 21:6 לֶ֗חֶם לֶ֤חֶם לֶ֣חֶם n c bs n c bs cs n c bs cs So the priest gave him holy [bread]; for there was no bread there but the show bread, that was taken from before Yahweh, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.
- 1 Samuel 25:11 לַחְמִ/י֙ n c bs cs + sfx pers 1cs Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men who I don't know where they come from?
1 Kings 3 verses
- 1 Kings 4:22 לֶֽחֶם n c bs cs Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and sixty measures of meal,
- 1 Kings 5:9 לֶ֥חֶם n c bs cs My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon to the sea; and I will make them into rafts to go by sea to the place that you shall appoint me, and will cause them to be broken up there, and you shall receive them; and you shall accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household.
- 1 Kings 7:48 לֶ֥חֶם n c bs cs Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of Yahweh: the golden altar, and the table whereupon the show bread was, of gold;
2 Kings 1 verse
1 Chronicles 2 verses
- 1 Chronicles 9:32 לֶ֣חֶם n c bs cs Some of their brothers, of the sons of the Kohathites, were over the show bread, to prepare it every Sabbath.
- 1 Chronicles 23:29 וּ/לְ/לֶ֨חֶם conj + prep + n c bs cs for the show bread also, and for the fine flour for a meal-offering, whether of unleavened wafers, or of that which is baked in the pan, or of that which is soaked, and for all manner of measure and size;
2 Chronicles 1 verse
Nehemiah 3 verses
- Nehemiah 5:14 לֶ֥חֶם n c bs cs Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even to the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, [that is], twelve years, I and my brothers have not eaten the bread of the governor.
- Nehemiah 5:18 לֶ֤חֶם n c bs cs Now that which was prepared for one day was one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and once in ten days store of all sorts of wine: yet for all this I didn't demand the bread of the governor, because the bondage was heavy on this people.
- Nehemiah 10:33 לְ/לֶ֣חֶם prep + n c bs cs for the show bread, and for the continual meal-offering, and for the continual burnt-offering, for the Sabbaths, for the new moons, for the set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin-offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God.
Job 3 verses
- Job 3:24 לַ֭חְמִ/י n c bs cs + sfx pers 1cs For my sighing comes before I eat, My groanings are poured out like water.
- Job 6:7 לַחְמִֽ/י n c bs cs + sfx pers 1cs My soul refuses to touch them; They are as loathsome food to me.
- Job 20:14 לַ֭חְמ/וֹ n c bs cs + sfx pers 3ms Yet his food in his bowels is turned. It is cobra venom within him.
Psalms 7 verses
- Psalms 41:9 לַחְמִ֑/י n c bs cs + sfx pers 1cs Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, Who ate bread with me, Has lifted up his heel against me.
- Psalms 78:25 לֶ֣חֶם n c bs cs Man ate the bread of angels. He sent them food to the full.
- Psalms 80:5 לֶ֣חֶם n c bs cs You have fed them with the bread of tears, And given them tears to drink in large measure.
- Psalms 102:4 לַחְמִֽ/י n c bs cs + sfx pers 1cs My heart is blighted like grass, and withered, For I forget to eat my bread.
- Psalms 105:40 וְ/לֶ֥חֶם conj + n c bs cs They asked, and he brought quails, And satisfied them with the bread of the sky.
- Psalms 127:2 לֶ֣חֶם n c bs cs It is vain for you to rise up early, To stay up late, Eating the bread of toil; For he gives sleep to his loved ones.
- Psalms 147:9 לַחְמָ֑/הּ n c bs cs + sfx pers 3fs He provides food for the cattle, And for the young ravens when they call.
Proverbs 13 verses
- Proverbs 4:17 לֶ֣חֶם n c bs cs For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence.
- Proverbs 6:8 לַחְמָ֑/הּ n c bs cs + sfx pers 3fs Provides her bread in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest.
- Proverbs 9:5 בְֽ/לַחֲמִ֑/י prep + n c bs cs + sfx pers 1cs "Come, eat some of my bread, Drink some of the wine which I have mixed!
- Proverbs 9:17 וְ/לֶ֖חֶם conj + n c bs cs "Stolen water is sweet. Food eaten in secret is pleasant."
- Proverbs 20:17 לֶ֣חֶם n c bs cs Fraudulent food is sweet to a man, But afterwards his mouth is filled with gravel.
- Proverbs 22:9 מִ/לַּחְמ֣/וֹ prep + n c bs cs + sfx pers 3ms He who has a generous eye will be blessed; For he shares his food with the poor.
- Proverbs 23:3 לֶ֣חֶם n c bs cs Don't be desirous of his dainties, Seeing they are deceitful food.
- Proverbs 23:6 לֶ֭חֶם n c bs cs Don't eat the food of him who has a stingy eye, And don't crave his delicacies:
- Proverbs 27:27 לְֽ֭/לַחְמְ/ךָ לְ/לֶ֣חֶם prep + n c bs cs + sfx pers 2ms prep + n c bs cs There will be plenty of goats' milk for your food, For your family's food, And for the nourishment of your servant girls.
- Proverbs 30:8 לֶ֣חֶם n c bs cs Remove far from me falsehood and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me;
- Proverbs 30:25 לַחְמָֽ/ם n c bs cs + sfx pers 3mp The ants are not a strong people, Yet they provide their food in the summer;
- Proverbs 31:14 לַחְמָֽ/הּ n c bs cs + sfx pers 3fs She is like the merchant ships. She brings her bread from afar.
- Proverbs 31:27 וְ/לֶ֥חֶם conj + n c bs cs She looks well to the ways of her household, And doesn't eat the bread of idleness.
Ecclesiastes 2 verses
Isaiah 6 verses
- Isaiah 4:1 לַחְמֵ֣/נוּ n c bs cs + sfx pers 1cp Seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, "We will eat our own bread, and wear our own clothing: only let us be called by your name. Take away our reproach."
- Isaiah 21:14 בְּ/לַחְמ֖/וֹ prep + n c bs cs + sfx pers 3ms To him who was thirsty they brought water; the inhabitants of the land of Tema did meet the fugitives with their bread.
- Isaiah 33:16 לַחְמ֣/וֹ n c bs cs + sfx pers 3ms He shall dwell on high; his place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks; his bread shall be given [him]; his waters shall be sure.
- Isaiah 51:14 לַחְמֽ/וֹ n c bs cs + sfx pers 3ms The captive exile shall speedily be freed; and he shall not die [and go down] into the pit, neither shall his bread fail.
- Isaiah 58:7 לַחְמֶ֔/ךָ n c bs cs + sfx pers 2ms Isn't it to deal your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house? when you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh?
- Isaiah 65:25 לַחְמ֑/וֹ n c bs cs + sfx pers 3ms The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, says Yahweh.
Jeremiah 2 verses
- Jeremiah 5:17 וְ/לַחְמֶ֗/ךָ conj + n c bs cs + sfx pers 2ms They shall eat up your harvest, and your bread, [which] your sons and your daughters should eat; they shall eat up your flocks and your herds; they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees; they shall beat down your fortified cities, in which you trust, with the sword.
- Jeremiah 11:19 בְּ/לַחְמ/וֹ֙ prep + n c bs cs + sfx pers 3ms But I was like a gentle lamb that is led to the slaughter; and I didn't know that they had devised devices against me, [saying], Let us destroy the tree with the fruit of it, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered.
Lamentations 1 verse
Ezekiel 10 verses
- Ezekiel 4:13 לַחְמָ֖/ם n c bs cs + sfx pers 3mp Yahweh said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.
- Ezekiel 4:15 לַחְמְ/ךָ֖ n c bs cs + sfx pers 2ms Then he said to me, Behold, I have given you cow's dung for man's dung, and you shall prepare your bread thereon.
- Ezekiel 12:18 לַחְמְ/ךָ֖ n c bs cs + sfx pers 2ms Son of man, eat your bread with quaking, and drink your water with trembling and with fearfulness;
- Ezekiel 12:19 לַחְמָ/ם֙ n c bs cs + sfx pers 3mp and tell the people of the land, Thus says the Lord Yahweh concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with fearfulness, and drink their water in dismay, that her land may be desolate, [and despoiled] of all that is therein, because of the violence of all those who dwell therein.
- Ezekiel 16:19 וְ/לַחְמִ/י֩ conj + n c bs cs + sfx pers 1cs My bread also which I gave you, fine flour, and oil, and honey, with which I fed you, you did even set it before them for a sweet savor; and [thus] it was, says the Lord Yahweh.
- Ezekiel 18:7 לַחְמ/וֹ֙ n c bs cs + sfx pers 3ms and has not wronged any, but has restored to the debtor his pledge, has taken nothing by robbery, has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment;
- Ezekiel 18:16 לַחְמ/וֹ֙ n c bs cs + sfx pers 3ms neither has wronged any, has not taken anything to pledge, neither has taken by robbery, but has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment;
- Ezekiel 24:17 וְ/לֶ֥חֶם conj + n c bs cs Sigh, but not aloud, make no mourning for the dead; bind your headdress on you, and put your shoes on your feet, and don't cover your lips, and don't eat men's bread.
- Ezekiel 24:22 וְ/לֶ֥חֶם conj + n c bs cs You shall do as I have done: you shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.
- Ezekiel 44:7 לַחְמִ/י֙ n c bs cs + sfx pers 1cs in that you have brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to profane it, even my house, when you offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant, [to add] to all your abominations.
Daniel 1 verse
Hosea 2 verses
- Hosea 2:5 לַחְמִ/י֙ n c bs cs + sfx pers 1cs For their mother has played the prostitute. She who conceived them has done shamefully; For she said, 'I will go after my lovers, Who give me my bread and my water, My wool and my flax, My oil and my drink.'
- Hosea 9:4 כְּ/לֶ֤חֶם לַחְמָ֣/ם prep + n c bs cs n c bs cs + sfx pers 3mp They won't pour out wine offerings to Yahweh, Neither will they be pleasing to him. Their sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners; All who eat of it will be polluted; For their bread will be for their appetite. It will not come into the house of Yahweh.
Obadiah 1 verse
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.
לחם (lechem) is a Hebrew noun most often rendered “bread.” Scripture first uses it in Genesis 3:19. Spanning 277 verses in 30 books, it ranks among the common words of the Hebrew Bible. Beyond its headline sense, its full sense range takes in “food” and “grain”. Sharing its root, it stands alongside לחם, לחום and לחם. For the data behind this summary, explore the sense tree and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H3899 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 →
- 277
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 277 distinct verses.
- 30 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 30 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #165
- by frequency
- Top 250 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 165 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 277 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 277 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 122 verses · 44%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 78 verses · 28%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 77 verses · 28%
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: Bread 202×, Meat 17×, Food 11×
- American Standard Version: Bread 184×, Food 18×, Loaves of bread 4×
- Berean Standard Bible: Bread 142×, Food 89×, Meal 6×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Bread 215×, Bread of 37×, Food 18×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H3899 across 294 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 43 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 3 further occurrences.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H3899 across 291 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 66 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 H3899 across 276 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 25 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 22 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H3899 across 300 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 22 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
9 senses and sub-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 9 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.
- 1.
- a. bread, the ordinary food of early Hebrews (BenzArch. 84 ff. NowArch. i. 109 ff.) Ex 21:14 (E), Nu 21:5 Jos 9:5, 12 (JE), Dt 8:3; 23:5 Ex 16:3 (P) +; כִּכַּר־ל׳ loaf of bread 1 S 2:36 + (vid. כִּכָּר sub כרר), and without ככר (always c. num.) †1 S 10:4; 16:20 (v. Dr), 17:17; 21:4; 25:18 2 S 16:1 1 K 14:3 2 K 4:42†; חַלַּת ל׳ cake of bread 2 S 6:19 Ex 29:23 + (v. חַלָּה sub I. חלל); made from barley (שְׂעֹרִים) Ju 7:13 2 K 4:42 (v. also לָחֶם supr.); from wheat-flour (סֹלֶת חִטִּים) Ex 29:2 (P); cf. the mixture Ez 4:9; made by baking (אפה) Is 44:15, 19 Lv 26:26 (H; cf. Je 37:21); †פַּת־ל׳ a bit of bread 1 S 2:36 1 K 17:11 Pr 28:21, cf. Ez 13:19, as modest term for a hospitable meal Gn 18:5 (J), Ju 19:5 1 S 28:22†; disting. from meat (flesh), Gn 27:17 (J), 1 S 25:11 1 K 17:6(×2) Ex 16:8, 12 (also v 3 supr.), 29:32, 34 Lv 8:31 (all P), 23:18 (H), 1 Ch 12:40 ψ 78:20 Dn 10:3; = a meal 1 S 20:27, אָכַל ל׳ = take a meal Gn 31:54(×2); 37:25; 43:25, 32 +; אכל לַחְמִי ψ 41:10 eat my bread, establishing an obligation, cf. Ob 7 (read אֹכְלֵי ל׳ according to MartiKauAT; del. ל׳ 𝔊 Hi We, cf. VB) עשׂה ל׳ = make a feast Ec 10:19; מַטֵּה ל׳ staff of bread (as support of life), only late †Ez 4:16; 5:16; 14:13 Lv 26:26 (H), ψ 105:16; cf. מִשְׁעַן ל׳ Is 3:1 (gloss)†; leavened bread is ל׳ חָמֵץ Lv 7:13; unleavened bread is ל׳ מַצּוֹת Ex 29:2 (both P); †ל׳ (הַ)פָּנִים bread of the face (of י׳; i. e. in his presence, Di Lv 24:9 Dr 1 S 21:7): in the sanctuary 1 S 21:7 1 K 7:48 = 2 Ch 4:19, Ex 25:30; 35:13; 39:36, without פ׳ 40:23 (all P); = ל׳ הַתָּמִיד Nu 4:7 (P), ל׳ קֹדֶשׁ 1 S 21:5; in Chr ל׳ הַמַּעֲרָ֑כֶת 1 Ch 9:32 cf. 23:29 Ne 10:34, מ׳ ל׳ 2 Ch 13:11; opp. ל׳ חֹל 1 S 21:5†; ל׳ תְּנוּפָה Lv 23:17 wave-loaf; ל׳ (הַ)בִּכֻּרִים v 20 2 K 4:42 bread of first-fruits. e.g. Exodus 21:14
- b. = bread-corn, the material from which bread is made, i.e. wheat, barley, etc.: Gn 41:54, 55 (E), 47:13, 15, 17(×2), 19 (J), 49:20 (poem in J), Is 28:28; 30:23; 55:10 Je 5:17 Ez 48:18 Jb 28:5 Pr 28:3 ψ 104:14; ל׳ הָאָרֶץ Nu 15:19 (P), ארץ ל׳ 2 K 18:32 = Is 36:17†. e.g. Genesis 41:54
- 2. food in general:
- a. of man Ju 13:16 (kid, v 15), 1 S 14:24(×2), 28 (honey), 28:20; 30:12 Pr 27:27(×2) (goat’s milk) +; נֹתֵן ל׳ לְכָל־בָּשָׂר ψ 136:25 Pr 22:9. e.g. Judges 13:16
- b. of animals, Pr 6:8; 30:25 Is 65:25 Jb 24:5 ψ 147:9†. e.g. Proverbs 6:8
- c. of God (in sacrifices): †ל׳ אֱלהֵיהֶם (cf. RSSem i. 207, 2nd ed., 224) Lv 21:6 cf. v 8, 17, 21, 22, 22:13, 25 (all H), Nu 28:2 (P), Ez 16:19; 44:7, and ל׳ מְגֹאָל Mal 1:7; also ל׳ אִשֶּׁה (לי׳) Lv 3:11, 16 Nu 28:24 (all P)†. e.g. Leviticus 21:6
- 3. other phrases and fig. uses are:
- a. ל׳ רֶשַׁע Pr 4:17 (acc. cogn. c. לָחַם), prob. = food gained by wickedness (‖ יֵין חֲמָסִים), cf. ל׳ שָׁ֑קֶר 20:17, ל׳ כְּזָבִים 23:3; ל׳ עַצְלוּת 31:27 = bread of idleness, i. e. unearned; ל׳ חֻקִּי Pr 30:8 (opp. to riches and poverty, v. חֹק); ל׳ לַחַץ 1 K 22:27 = 2 Ch 18:26, vid. לַחַץ infr.; ל׳ הָעֲצָבִים ψ 127:2, vid. ii. עֶצֶב; ל׳ אוֹנִים Ho 9:4, vid. אָוֶן, p. 20a; ל׳ אֲנָשִׁים Ez 24:17, 22 of food offered to mourners, cf. Je 16:7 (where ins. ל׳ 𝔊 Gf Gie); שַׁלַּח לחמך על־פני המים Ec 11:1 usually interpr. of benevolent giving (cf. Now); De al. of sea-commerce in bread stuffs, cf. Pr 31:14. e.g. Proverbs 4:17
- b. fig. לַחְמֵנוּ הֵם Nu 14:9 (JE) our food are they, i. e. we will devour, destroy, them (cf. Dt 7:16); דִּמְעָתִי ל׳ ψ 42:4 cf. 80:6 (vid. אכל, p. 37b supr.); ל׳ of evil deeds of wicked Jb 20:14; עֵץ בְּלַחְמוֹ Je 11:19 appar. fig. of destroying the prophet and his house, but read prob. בְּלֵחוֹ in its freshness (i. e. untimely), so Hi Gf Che Gie (vid. לֵחַ = sub לחח supra). e.g. Numbers 14:9
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
n.m. 1 S 9:7 and (rarely) f. Gn 49:20 (vid. infr., and Dr 1 S 10:4) bread, food (Ph. לחם bread; NH לֶחֶם; Aramaic לַחְמָא, ܠܰܚܡܳܐ, as Heb.; Arabic لَحْمٌ flesh, meat (cf. Frä30));—abs. ל׳ Gn 3:19 +; לָ֑חֶם Gn 31:54 +; לֶ֑חֶם ψ 14:4 + 2 times; cstr. לֶחֶם Ho 9:4 +; sf. לַחְמִי Jb 3:24 +, לַחְמְךָ Ob 7 +, לַחְמָם Ho 9:4b, + v 4a (for MT לָהֶם), We GASm Now, + etc.;—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from לחם (lâcham) (H3898) — to fight.
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.
לָחַם I
- (cmp. לוּחַ), to join, or to be joined, be inserted.
- to fit, insert; to tenon. Y. Sabb. XII, 13ᶜ המַלְחִים את וכ׳ he who inserts the shutters (of a shop); Y. Bets. I, 60ᶜ המלחם (corr. acc.). Cant. R. to V, 12; ib. to IV, 15, v. לְחִי. Lev. R. s. 3 (ref. to the harmonious parallelism of Is. LV, 7) כאדם שהוא מלחים שני נסרים ומדביקן זה לזה as one fits (with tenon and mortise) two boards and glues them to one another; כאדם שהוא מ׳ שתי כרעי המטה (leave out ומדביקן זה לזה, v. Ar. s. v. מלח) as one inserts two legs of a bedstead. e.g. Isaiah 55:7
לָחַם II
- v. preced.) to join.
- (cmp. use of זָוַג Nithpa.) to come in (hostile) contact, to battle; with ל of person, to assist, battle for. Mekh. B’shall. 2 (ref. to Ex. XIV, 14) לא … יִלָּחֵם לכם אלא לעולם ילחם כנגדן וכ׳ not only this time will he assist you, but he will always battle against your enemies. Tanḥ. Masé 6 כשהלך להִלָּחֵם בישראל when he (Sisera) went to war against &c. Ib. Vayera 7 (ref. בלחומו, Job XX, 23) על המלחמות שהיו נִלְחָמִים עם וכ׳ for the battles which they fought against the Lord; a. fr. e.g. Exodus 14:14
- to contest, dispute. Y. M. Kat. III, 81ᵈ top אם חברים מִתְלַחֲמִים וכ׳ if scholars are at variance with one another, what concern is it to you? (B. Mets. 59ᵇ מנצחים זה את זה וכ׳).
לֶחֶם
- fr. לחח to chew, v. Ges. H. Dict.10 s. v. לוע) food, bread; [Arab. meat]. Ber. V, 1 the benediction over bread (פת) reads: המוציא ל׳ וכ׳ who makest food grow out of the earth; ib. 37ᵇ. Men. XI, 1 שתי הל׳ (sub. ככרות) the two loaves of bread (Lev. XXIII, 17). Ib. ל׳ הפנים the show-bread (on the table of the Sanctuary); a. fr.—Trnsf. tribute, tax, salary (cmp. annona). Ruth R. to II, 14 זו לַחְמָהּ של מלכות that is (thou shalt partake of) the royal maintenance. Zeb. 85ᵃ; Meïl. 7ᵇ לַחְמוֹ של מזבח the tribute belonging to the altar (cmp. Lev. XXI, 6; 8; Neh. V, 14).—Pl. לְחָמִים. Y. Ḥag. III, end, 79ᵈ שני ל׳ two sets of show-bread, opp. to לחם אחד. e.g. Leviticus 23:17
לְחֵם
- 1. same. Targ. Gen. XIV, 18. Ib. XLIII, 31; a. fr.—Snh. 100ᵇ (from Ben Sira) אמר במאי איכול ל׳ ל׳ סב מיניה if a man says, ‘wherewith shall I eat bread (to season it)?’, take the bread from him. Ab. Zar. 35ᵇ ל׳ דארמאי (Ms. M. נהמא) bread baked by gentiles, v. פַּת. Ber. 42ᵇ ניזיל וניכול ל׳ וכ׳ (Ms. M. נהמא) let us go and dine at a certain place; a. fr.
- 2. meat, flesh. Ex. R. s. 42 (ref. to לחמם, Zeph. I, 17) בערביא קורין לבשרא ל׳ in Arabia they call meat laḥma e.g. Zephaniah 1:17
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 97 distinct written forms H3899 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
The 60 most common forms are shown; 37 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H3899, 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.
Derives from
Shares the same root
Derived from this word
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 7 — not the complete family. 1 of the same-root words is a proper name (a person or place). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 264 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 277 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
- Genesis 3:19
- Exodus 2:20
- Leviticus 3:11
- Numbers 4:7
- Deuteronomy 8:3
- Joshua 9:5
- Judges 7:13
- Ruth 1:6
- 1 Samuel 2:5
- 2 Samuel 3:29
- 1 Kings 5:9
- 2 Kings 4:8
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.
