nature
oil
שמן · יצהר · צהר
Bottom line
Shemen is the general word, oil, which is why the Torah must say shemen zayis zach to specify pure olive oil. Yitzhar is olive oil in itself, and is never paired with zayis in Tanach. Every occurrence of yitzhar is agricultural, the yield of the press, so where a passage lists produce, render it "oil" as a crop and shemen as the substance. What a translator must not do is let one English word erase the fact that yitzhar already carries "olive."
At a glance
| Hebrew | translit | English | what sets it apart |
|---|---|---|---|
| שמן | shemen | oil | the general term, from shuman, fat (Ibn Saruk); needs zayis for olive oil |
| יצהר | yitzhar | olive oil | inherently olive; fresh from the press (Radak); or lamp oil by local custom (Yadler) |
| צהר | tzohar | brightness, noon | the proposed root: oil is clear and shining (Rabbi Yosef Kimchi, Radak) |
Where the authorities disagree
Three accounts of the difference, and they do not reduce to one. The article sets them out as three possible ways of differentiating the words and does not choose among them.
- By species. Menachem Ibn Saruk defines yitzhar as olive oil, while shemen answers to shuman and shamen, fat, and names the fatty, glyceride property of oil. On that basis the column argues, as its own inference rather than Ibn Saruk's stated distinction, that yitzhar means olive oil by definition and shemen may mean oil of any kind. The phrase shemen zayis zach implies as much from the other side: shemen alone does not intrinsically mean olive oil, and yitzhar is never joined to zayis.
- By stage. Radak (Sefer HaShorashim): yitzhar is oil as it comes out of the press. Every occurrence in Tanach is olive oil as an agricultural product, and Iyov 24:11 has a verb form of the word, which Rashi explains as the producing of olive oil. On this reading both words can mean olive oil, yitzhar marking it in its freshest state right after production and shemen covering it in later states as well.
- By local usage. Rabbi Yitzchak Zev Yadler: yitzhar does not mean olive oil at all in itself, but whatever oil a given place burns for light. In Eretz Yisrael that was olive oil, so yitzhar in the Torah means olive oil; Shabbos 26b records that Bavel used sesame oil, Media nut oil, Alexandria radish oil, and Cappadocia naphtha.
The Bottom line follows the first two, which agree on the English and differ only on how narrow the word is, and notes the third where a source is discussing lamp oil outside Eretz Yisrael.
Distinctions
shemen (שמן)
Close to two hundred occurrences with its derivatives, against roughly a tenth as many for yitzhar. Ibn Saruk's link to shuman fixes its sense as the fatty substance, which is why the Torah qualifies it for the Menorah: shemen zayis zach, pure olive oil, pressed and clear.
yitzhar (יצהר)
Rabbi Yosef Kimchi (Sefer HaGilui) roots the word in tzohar, light. His son Radak explains him: oil is a peculiarly clear and shining substance, and for the same reason olive oil is called "gold" (Zechariah 4:12). Ibn Ezra (to Iyov 24:11) takes tzohar in its other sense, "noon," since oil is burned for light and that light resembles the sun at midday. Yitzhar is also a proper name nine times in Tanach, Levi's grandson and Korach's father (Shemos 6:18 and elsewhere). The Midrash has Korach read his father's name as an omen that he would succeed in his rebellion against Moshe: oil always sits on top of water, and Moshe's name was given for his being drawn from the water (Shemos 2:10), so Korach thought he would come out on top. Rabbi Yadler answers that in reality the name pointed not at Korach but at his descendant Shmuel HaNavi, who would use specially made ritual olive oil to anoint David and begin the Messianic line.
Rendering guidance
- Trap: English "oil" absorbs both. In the produce lists where dagan, tirosh v'yitzhar stand together, render "grain, wine and oil"; the triad is fixed, and forcing "olive oil" there overtranslates one member against its neighbors.
- Shemen on its own is "oil," and only "olive oil" where zayis is present or the Menorah is the subject.
- Where a source contrasts the two words (a derashah on Korach's name, or a discussion of the press), keep them apart: yitzhar "fresh-pressed olive oil," shemen "oil."
- Iyov 24:11, the verb form, is "they press out oil," following Rashi.
- The name is Yitzhar, roman and untranslated; do not gloss it "Oil" in the body, and save the wordplay for a note.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Olives and Oil," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 24 Kislev 5777 (2016-12-24): raw text in sources/whats-in-a-word/raw/7061-olives-and-oil.md. The piece is a Chanukah feature, opening from the jug of shemen zayis zach of the Menorah. Primary loci cited: Shemos 6:18, 2:10; Iyov 24:11; Zechariah 4:12; Shabbos 26b; Machberes Menachem; Radak, Sefer HaShorashim; Rabbi Yosef Kimchi, Sefer HaGilui; Ibn Ezra to Iyov 24:11.
Two loci where the article slips and the entry does not follow it. It prints Zechariah 5:12 for the golden oil; the "two olive trees" and the golden oil are at 4:11-12. It prints Shemos 2:11 for Moshe's name being given from the water; that is 2:10.