body
thumb
At a glance
In short
Bohen is the Torah's word for the thumb and the big toe; gudal and agudal, which may be used interchangeably, are its apparent synonyms in later Hebrew. Rashi equates bohen with gudal in one place, and elsewhere cites Toras Kohanim that the bohen is the middle joint of the gudal. Zikfa, ravravta and ilyon are Aramaic for the thumb, ilyon the Targumim's word for bohen.
Distinctions
Bohen (בהן)
The Torah's word for the right thumb and big toe that receive blood and oil in purifying the metzora (Vayikra 14:14, 14:17, 14:25, 14:28) and blood in consecrating Aharon and his sons (Shemos 29:20; Vayikra 8:23). Abarbanel: it is spelled like bahen, "on them," for the thumb's special role over the other fingers, and was borrowed from the thumb for the similar big toe.
Gudal (גודל) and agudal (אגודל)
Neither is in Tanach; both are frequent in rabbinic writings. Gudal appears twice in the Mishnah (Oholos 13:1, Niddah 8:1), agudal once (Yoma 2:1, where some versions read gudal). Haughty, conspicuous women walked "heel beside gudal" (Shabbos 62b, Yoma 9b), in small steps, one heel never passing the other foot's big toe. Hogras ben Levi, criticized in the Mishnah (Yoma 3:11) for not teaching his art of song, put his gudal in his mouth according to the Gemara (Yoma 38b) and his agudal according to Shir HaShirim Rabbah (to Shir HaShirim 3:6); from this and other sources the two may be used interchangeably. Rabbi Baruch HaLevi Epstein (1860 to 1940) explains the doublet as another case of an aleph added at the start of a Hebrew word, as ezroa (Iyov 31:22) beside zeroa, arm.
Zikfa (זקפא)
One who enters a town and fears the evil eye should take each thumb, zikfa, in the other hand and declare that he is of the seed of Yosef (Berachos 55b); Rashi explains zikfa as gudal, and in the parallel in Pesachim 110a as agudal. The root ז-ק-ף means standing, as the thumb stands out from the side of the hand.
Ravravta (רברבתא)
In Pesachim 109a a certain finger is named three ways: etzba, the generic finger, in the printed Gemara; gudal in some manuscripts; ravravta in Rashi's version (the word is also in Eruvin 10b), which Rashi explains as gudal. It seems, Rabbi Klein suggests, to be a literal Aramaic translation of gudal: the Targumim render gadol as rabbah, which shares its root with ravravta.
Ilyon (אליון)
The Targumim do not render bohen as ravravta or zikfa; they tend to render it ilyon or alyon, ilyona or alyona (see Gittin 69a and Rashi there).
- Linguists relate it to alyah, the fat of an animal's tail, the thumb being fatter and having more cartilage than the other fingers.
- Midrash Tanchuma (Ki Savo 4) reads Hashem's promise to set Yisrael elyon, high above the nations (Devarim 26:19, 28:1), as making them like the ilyon, higher than the four fingers: acting properly, they will rule over the Four Kingdoms (Bavel, Persia and Madai, Yavan, Rome); if not, the Four Kingdoms will subjugate them.
Where the authorities disagree
Is the bohen the whole thumb or its middle joint? Rashi (to Vayikra 14:14) writes that bohen is gudal; Rashi (to Shemos 29:20) cites Toras Kohanim (to Vayikra 8:23) that it is the middle joint of the gudal (see also Rashi and Tosafos to Kesubos 5b, and Rambam's commentary to Mishnah Shabbos 8:1). Two resolutions:
- Some say bohen is the top part of the thumb, reaching to the middle joint, and gudal the entire thumb: somewhat synonymous, but bohen names a part of it.
- Others say bohen literally means gudal, but in its ritual context it is expounded as a particular part of the gudal, from its juxtaposition with the blood placed on the middle of the ear: as that is the middle, so is this.
Which finger is the gudal, and why is it so called? Most commentators take it as the thumb; Rabbeinu Bachya (to Vayikra 8:23) cites an anonymous view that it is the little finger, related to gedilim, fringes (Devarim 22:12). As the thumb:
- Rabbi Shimshon of Shantz (to Oholos 13:1) and Rabbeinu Bachya (to Vayikra 8:23): from ג-ד-ל, the root of gadol, big, as the thumb is generally the thickest.
- Abarbanel (to Shemos 29:20): the two words mark different features of the thumb. Gudal: the greatest and most important finger, since without opposable thumbs no one could grasp; it lets the other fingers work, figuratively holding them together.
Rendering guidance
For translators
- Trap: "thumb" absorbs bohen and gudal; where Toras Kohanim reads bohen as the middle joint of the gudal, "thumb" for both collapses the point.
- In Midrash Tanchuma's play on elyon and ilyon, give both, or the pun is lost.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Rule of Thumb," What's in a Word?, 19 March 2019.
Cited in the essay: Shemos 29:20 (Rashi, Abarbanel); Vayikra 8:23 (Toras Kohanim, Rabbeinu Bachya), 14:14 (Rashi), 14:17, 14:25, 14:28; Devarim 22:12, 26:19, 28:1; Iyov 31:22; Mishnah Oholos 13:1 (Rabbi Shimshon of Shantz), Niddah 8:1, Yoma 2:1, 3:11; Rambam, commentary to Mishnah Shabbos 8:1; Berachos 55b (Rashi); Shabbos 62b; Pesachim 109a, 110a (Rashi); Eruvin 10b; Yoma 9b, 38b; Kesubos 5b (Rashi, Tosafos); Gittin 69a (Rashi); Shir HaShirim Rabbah to Shir HaShirim 3:6; Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Savo 4; Rabbi Baruch HaLevi Epstein.