action
war
At a glance
In short
Milchamah is the common Biblical word for war, appearing over three hundred times in Tanach, and its verb lochem, to wage war, appears around three hundred times as well. Krav also means war, battle, combat, in such phrases as yom krav and klei krav. Pulmus is Mishnaic, from Greek polemos, war, and appears three times in one Mishnah (Sotah 9:14). Rabbi Klein presents these as apparent synonyms, together with b'tarunya and kenigia; pulmus and those two are Greek. He draws no line between milchamah and krav. The root of milchamah is disputed. It is almost unanimously traced to ל-ח-ם, the root of lechem, bread; Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim derives both words from ח-ם, heat; and the Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament suggests that the basic idea of ל-ח-ם is "coming together." Rabbi Klein always understood the word batrunya as "battle," but on further investigation it appears to be b'tarunya, which Rabbi Binyamin Mussafia explains as Greek for tyranny. Kenigia is disputed too: Rabbeinu Gershom and the Rashba define it as war, and the Rashbam as hunting, which the Greek kynigia supports.
Distinctions
Milchamah (מלחמה), lochem (לוחם)
Almost unanimously traced to the root ל-ח-ם, which also yields lechem (bread) and meat.
- Menachem Ibn Saruk (Machberes Menachem) lists the three senses as separate declensions without insinuating any link between them.
- Ibn Janach (Sefer HaShorashim) collapses the food senses into one broad "staple food," most instances of lechem being bread and some meat; Rabbi Klein adds that this can be confirmed from cognate languages, Arabic lahm usually meaning meat and, in the South Arabic dialect of Soqotra, fish.
- Radak (Sefer HaShorashim) closes the gap further: war can be figuratively characterized as the sword of the combatants "eating" the slain.
- Rav Hirsch (to Bereishis 3:19, 10:9, 14:2) reads the root as struggle, especially for survival: man struggles against nature for his bread and against his fellow who would take it, and milchamah is that second struggle between parties; by his phonetic etymology he links ל-ח-ם to ל-א-ם (leom, nation), the existential fight of a polity to survive.
Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim (Cheshek Shlomo) takes a totally different approach, deriving lechem and milchamah from the two-letter core ח-ם. Rabbi Klein calls this noteworthy, since Pappenheim generally holds that a biliteral core joins only with ה, א, מ, נ, ת, י, or ו to form a three-letter root, and here he has it join an initial lamed. The core is heat: cham, hot; cheimah, anger heated up; chamah, the sun; chaman, an idol in the shape of the sun; chum, brown, the color of what looks sunburnt; chemah, butter, made by agitating and so heating milk; cheimas, a flask for butter or like a butter vat; and chami/chamos, parents-in-law, who shower a daughter-in-law with warm love. Bread is baked by heat, and two sides go to war only once matters have heated to the point of fighting.
The Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament (vol. 7) suggests another approach: the basic idea of ל-ח-ם is coming together, people joining for a meal or eaters in contact with food, and combatants in close contact on the battlefield; its scholars adduce the Arabic lahhama, soldering or welding. The sense is already in Rabbinic Hebrew, where halchamah is soldering (Yerushalmi Beitzah 1:5, Vayikra Rabbah 3:3, Shir HaShirim Rabbah 4:30, 5:10), as in Modern Hebrew, and the Netziv (Haamek Davar to Bamidbar 28:2) already partially makes the point: lechem relates to halchamah since food solders body to soul, and korbanos are called lechem because they cement the bond between Klal Yisrael and Hashem. The Netziv does not explicitly connect this to milchamah, as the scholars of the TDOT did.
As an aside, Lachmi is the name of the brother of Golias (Divrei HaYamim I 20:5), and Lachman ben Ristak that of a gentile named in the Gemara (Eruvin 63b).
Krav (קרב)
Root ק-ר-ב, meaning approaching, innards, and war, which the classical lexicographers (Ibn Saruk, Ibn Janach, Radak) present as three distinct senses.
- Rabbi Klein says the truth is blurrier: to approach is to come nearer to the inside of a perimeter and reach its innards, and in battle the attackers approach while the defenders protect what lies within their line. Some verbs of ק-ר-ב literally mean approaching but contextually refer to potential battle (Shemos 14:10, Devarim 2:19 and 20:10). The same root gives korban, brought near to the mizbeach and, in a metaphysical sense, bringing the one who offers it near to Hashem, and it is used of relations, two people coming together (Bereishis 20:4, Vayikra 18:6, Devarim 22:14, Yeshayahu 8:3).
- Rav Hirsch (to Tehillim 140:2) relates akrav, the scorpion, with an added initial ayin, since it is always poised to attack.
- Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh of Carpentras (Aholei Yehudah) links garav, a kind of boil, to krav by the interchange of gimmel and kuf: it itches so fiercely that a man feels impelled to wage war on himself scratching it, even to bleeding.
In Tanach krav appears in such phrases as yom krav, day of battle (Zecharyah 14:3, Tehillim 78:9, Iyov 38:23), and klei krav, weapons (Koheles 9:18).
Pulmus (פולמוס)
Mishnaic, in the sense of war or battle, a loanword from Greek polemos, war. It appears three times in one Mishnah (Sotah 9:14), listing takanos enacted at the time of the pulmus of Vespasian, the pulmus of Titus, and the last pulmus. The Greek is also the etymon of English polemic, whose sense has shifted to a war of words while keeping the core idea of combat; so too Modern Hebrew pulmus is often a controversy or debate, not an actual war.
B'tarunya (טרוניא)
Avodah Zarah 2b-3a: in the future the nations will claim they would have kept the Torah had it been given them, and Hashem will test them with the mitzvah of sukkah; the Gemara asks how mitzvos can be given then, and answers that Hashem does not come b'tarunya with His creations. Rabbi Klein says he always understood the word as batrunya, "battle," Hashem not fighting against His creations, but on further investigation it appears it should be read b'tarunya, the beis a preposition. Rabbi Binyamin Mussafia (Mussaf HeAruch) writes that tarunya is a Hebraization of the Greek tyronia, tyranny. On this reading, Rabbi Klein explains, Hashem in His benevolence always gives people another chance, rather than imposing His will like a dictator. The same Greek word is in the Targumim, which render sarnei Plishtim (Yehoshua 13:3, Shoftim 3:3 and 16:5-27, Shmuel I 5:8-11, 6:4, 6:16, 7:7, 29:7, Divrei HaYamim I 12:20) as turnaei Plishtaei (in Modern Hebrew a seren is roughly a captain). Bereishis Rabbah 42:4 says Rome imposed a tironya on the nations; Matnos Kehunah there reads it as tyranny, that is, sovereignty or lordship, while Rabbi Nosson of Rome (Sefer HeAruch) reads it as a tax for military funding, and Dr. Alexander Kohut (Aruch HaShalem) writes at great length to defend that reading.
Kenigia (קניגיא)
A hapax in the Bavli, so its precise meaning is not readily apparent: Gavriel is destined to do kenigia with the Leviasan (Bava Basra 74b-75a).
- The Mainz commentary ascribed to Rabbeinu Gershom (to Bava Basra 75a), and the Rashba, define it as milchamah.
- The Rashbam (there) explains it as hunting, and buttresses this from Chullin 60b, which asks whether Moshe was a kenigi or a balistiri, that is a hunter or an archer (so Rashi and Rabbeinu Gershom there), the point being that such detail about kosher and non-kosher animals could only have come from Above.
Kenigia is indeed a loanword from Greek kynigia, which in fact means hunting or pursuing predatory beasts, and which linguists derive from kyon, dog (whence English canine and cynicism). By the shift of an original k to h in the Germanic languages (Greek kardia, keras, Latin centum; English heart, horn, hundred), kyon is related to English hound and Yiddish and German hunt, and kynigia to English hunt. Rabbi Klein once thought kenigia might be related to English king, German Koenig, and Yiddish kenig; Rabbi Shaul Goldman assured him that those belong with kin, kind, and genus, for the regent's rightful parentage.
Also discussed in
Radak on these roots
Sefer HaShorashim
ל-ח-ם
To eat, and לֶחֶם, food of every kind, said most of all of bread; from this sense, מִלְחָמָה, war, and to fight, since in war the sword eats on this side and on that.
Eating, and food of every kind
כִּי לָֽחֲמוּ לֶחֶם רֶשַׁע (Mishlei 4:17), for they have eaten the food of wickedness; כִּֽי־תֵשֵׁב לִלְחוֹם אֶת־מוֹשֵׁל (Mishlei 23:1), when you sit to eat with a ruler; לְכוּ לַֽחֲמוּ בְֽלַֽחֲמִי (Mishlei 9:5), come, eat of my food. וּלְחֻמֵי רֶשֶׁף (Devarim 32:24) he glosses אכולי רשף, eaten up by the fiery bolt. Some read וְשֹׁרֶשׁ רְתָמִים לַחְמָֽם (Iyov 30:4), the root of the broom is their food, from this sense; Radak has already written of it under the root חָמַם. Every לֶחֶם, he says, is a word for food in general. It falls on meat alone, as לֶחֶם אִשֶּׁה (Vayikra 3:11), the food of the fire offering, and אֶת־קָרְבָּנִי לַחְמִי לְאִשַּׁי (Bamidbar 28:2), My offering, My food, for My fires; it takes in meat and terumos together at לֶחֶם אֱלֹהָיו (Vayikra 21:22), the food of his God, and likewise מִלֶּחֶם אָבִיהָ תֹּאכֵל (Vayikra 22:13), she eats of her father's food. It settled on bread more than on other foods because bread is the mainstay of what a man eats.
What the growing ends in
לְהוֹצִיא לֶחֶם מִן־הָאָֽרֶץ (Tehillim 104:14), to bring bread out of the earth, names the end the grass is for, since bread does not come out of the ground but through causes that go before it. So too צֶמַח בְּלִי יַֽעֲשֶׂה־ קֶּמַח (Hoshea 8:7), growth that makes no flour: the end of the growth is the flour, though acts pass into acts before it is reached, and the flour is not the last end either, for the last end is the bread, in what suits a man.
The tree in his bread
נַשְׁחִיתָה עֵץ בְּלַחְמוֹ (Yirmiyahu 11:19) is let us destroy the tree with its fruit: he takes בְּלַחְמוֹ as בפריו, its fruit. His father reads the words turned about, נשחיתה לחמו בעץ, that is, let us ruin his food with the tree. On that reading the tree is the one called in Arabic דפל"א, which is a deadly poison, and of it was said that Hashem showed him a tree and he cast it into the water (Shemos 15:25), a miracle inside a miracle, as Chazal say (Yelamdenu, Beshalach). Yonasan renders the same way, נִרְמֵי סַמָא דְמוֹתָא בְּמֵיכְלֵיהּ, let us cast deadly poison into his food.
Asher's rich bread
מֵֽאָשֵׁר שְׁמֵנָה לַחְמוֹ (Bereishis 49:20), out of Asher, his bread shall be rich, takes in every food: whatever his land brings out will be rich. שְׁמֵנָה, rich, belongs to his land, as though the pasuk said a rich land will be his bread, the words being cut short as at וּמַֽאֲכָלוֹ בְּרִאָֽה (Chavakuk 1:16), and his food is fat. Or else שְׁמֵנָה is said of לַחְמוֹ, meaning by it an עוּגָה, a cake, or a חַלָּה, a loaf, which is a feminine word; and likewise לֶחֶם תְּנוּפָה שְׁתַּיִם (Vayikra 23:17), two of wave bread, means חַלּוֹת, loaves.
War, and whom a man fights for
מִלְחָמָה, war, is from this same sense, because in war there is the eating of the sword from this side and from that. The verb from it: לְחַם אֶת־ לֹֽחֲמָֽי (Tehillim 35:1), fight those who fight me, and לֹחֵם יִלְחָצֵֽנִי (Tehillim 56:2), a fighter presses me; and אִם־ נִלְחֹם נִלְחַם בָּֽם (Shoftim 11:25), did he ever fight against them, and וַיִּלָּחֶם עִם־לִבְנָֽה (Yehoshua 10:29), he fought with Livnah. Three he glosses as fighting on someone's behalf: אֲֽשֶׁר־ נִלְחַם אָבִי עֲלֵיכֶם (Shoftim 9:17), that my father fought over you, is בעבורכם, for your sake; כִּי י"י נִלְחָם לָהֶם (Shemos 14:25), for Hashem fights for them, is בעבורם, on their behalf; and יִלָּחֵם לָכֶם (Shemos 14:14), He will fight for you, is on your behalf. וַיִּלָּֽחֲמוּנִי חִנָּֽם (Tehillim 109:3) he glosses וילחמו בי חנם, they fought against me for nothing.
Fighting at the gates
אָז לָחֶם שְׁעָרִים (Shoftim 5:8), then fighting at the gates: Rabbi Yonah writes that לָחֶם is a past verb of the light form, on the measure of יָבֵשׁ חָצִיר (Yeshayahu 40:7), the grass is withered. Rabbi Yonah goes on: though it has a segol, a segol at times comes in place of a tzere; were it of the heavy form the lamed would have a patach, as is usual, but since it has a kamatz it is a past verb of the light form. Radak adds that it may also be a noun on the pattern of חָמֵץ, leaven, so that the words say there was war in the gates, though this one has a segol and that one a tzere.
כִּי לָֽחֲמוּ לֶחֶם רֶשַׁע (משלי ד, יז), כלומר אכלו מאכל לחם רשע. וּבַל־אֶלְחַם בְּמַנְעַמֵּיהֶֽם (תהלים קמא, ד), אַל־תִּלְחַם אֶת־לֶחֶם רַע עָיִן (משלי כג, ו), כִּֽי־תֵשֵׁב לִלְחוֹם אֶת־מוֹשֵׁל (משלי כג, א), לְכוּ לַֽחֲמוּ בְֽלַֽחֲמִי (משלי ט, ה). וּלְחֻמֵי רֶשֶׁף (דברים לב, כד), פירוש אכולי רשף. ויש מפרשים מזה וְשֹׁרֶשׁ רְתָמִים לַחְמָֽם (איוב ל, ד). וכבר כתבנוהו בשרש חָמַם. וכל לחם ענינו כלל לכל מאכל. ועל הלחם לבדו כִּי לֹא עַל־הַלֶּחֶם לְבַדּוֹ יִחְיֶה הָֽאָדָם (דברים ח, ג), בשש נקודות. לְהוֹצִיא לֶחֶם מִן־הָאָֽרֶץ (תהלים קד, יד), אמר מה שהוא תכלית העשב כי הלחם אינו יוצא מן הארץ אלא על ידי סבות קדמוהו. וכן צֶמַח בְּלִי יַֽעֲשֶׂה־קֶּמַח (הושע ח, ז), לפי שתכלית הצמח הקמח, אף על פי שיש ביניהם פעלים יצא מפועל אל פועל עד שיגיע אל התכלית והוא הקמח, ואינו התכלית האחרון, כי התכלית האחרון הוא הלחם במה שיאות אל האדם. והורגל הלשון הזה על הלחם יותר משאר המאכלים לפי שהוא עיקר מאכל האדם. ונופל על הבשר לבדו לֶחֶם אִשֶּׁה (ויקרא ג, יא), אֶת־קָרְבָּנִי לַחְמִי לְאִשַּׁי (במדבר כח, ב), וכן כִּֽי־אֶת־לֶחֶם אֱלֹהֶיךָ הוּא מַקְרִיב (ויקרא כא, ח), וכן הֵמָּה כִּדְוֵי לַחְמִֽי (איוב ו, ז). ומשקל אחר וּלְחֻמָם כַּגְּלָלִֽים (צפניה א, יז), וְיַמְטֵר עָלֵימוֹ בִּלְחוּמֽוֹ (איוב כ, כג). לֶחֶם אֱלֹהָיו מִקָּדְשֵׁי הַקֳּדָשִׁים וּמִן־הַקֳּדָשִׁים יֹאכֵֽל (ויקרא כא, כב), כולל הבשר והתרומות. וכן מִלֶּחֶם אָבִיהָ תֹּאכֵל (ויקרא כב, יג). נַשְׁחִיתָה עֵץ בְּלַחְמוֹ (ירמיה יא, יט), בפריו. ואדוני אבי ז"ל פירשו הפוך נשחיתה לחמו בעץ, כלומר נשחיתה מאכלו בעץ, והעץ הוא הנקרא בערבי דפל"א והוא סם המות ועליו נאמר וַיּוֹרֵהוּ י"י עֵץ וַיַּשְׁלֵךְ אֶל־הַמַּיִם (שמות טו, כה), היה נס בתוך נס כדברי רבותינו ז"ל (ילמדנו סדר בשלח פרשת אז ישיר). וכן תרגם יונתן נִרְמֵי סַמָא דְמוֹתָא בְּמֵיכְלֵיהּ. מֵֽאָשֵׁר שְׁמֵנָה לַחְמוֹ (בראשית מט, כ), כולל כל מאכל כלומר כל מאכל שתוציא ארצו יהיה שמן. ומלת שְׁמֵנָה נופלת על ארצו כאילו אמר ארץ שְׁמֵנָה יהיה לחמו, והוא חסר כמו וּמַֽאֲכָלוֹ בְּרִאָֽה (חבקוק א, טז), ועוד נפרשנו בשרש שׁמן. או אומר שמנה על לחמו וירצה בו עוּגָה או חַלָּה שהיא לשון נקבה. וכן לֶחֶם תְּנוּפָה שְׁתַּיִם (ויקרא כג, יז), רוצה לומר חַלּוֹת. והכלל כי כל לחם ענינו מאכל. וכן מזה הענין מִלְחָמָה לַֽי"י (שמות יז, טז), לפי שיש במלחמה מאכל החרב מזה ומזה. והפעל מזה לְחַם אֶת־לֹֽחֲמָֽי (תהלים לה, א), לֹחֵם יִלְחָצֵֽנִי (תהלים נו, ב), כִּֽי־רַבִּים לֹֽחֲמִים לִי מָרֽוֹם (תהלים נו, ג). והנפעל אִם־נִלְחֹם נִלְחַם בָּֽם (שופטים יא, כה), אֲֽשֶׁר־נִלְחַם אָבִי עֲלֵיכֶם (שופטים ט, יז) בעבורכם. כִּי י"י נִלְחָם לָהֶם (שמות יד, כה), בעבורם אָז נִלְֽחֲמוּ (שופטים ה, יט), וַיִּלָּֽחֲמוּ עָלֶֽיהָ (יהושע י, לד), וַיִּלָּחֶם עִם־לִבְנָֽה (יהושע י, כט). י"י יִלָּחֵם לָכֶם (שמות יד, יד), בעבורכם. לֹא תַֽעֲלוּ וְלֹא תִֽלָּֽחֲמוּ (דברים א, מב), וַיִּלָּֽחֲמוּנִי חִנָּֽם (תהלים קט, ג), וילחמו בי חנם. וכתב רבי יונה כי אָז לָחֶם שְׁעָרִים (שופטים ה, ח), פעל עבר מן הקל על משקל יָבֵשׁ חָצִיר (ישעיה מ, ז). ואף על פי שהוא בסגול פעמים יבא הסגול תחת צרי. ואם היה מהפעל הכבד היה הלמ"ד בפתח כמנהג, אבל מאחר שהוא קמוץ הוא פעל עבר מהקל. ויתכן היותו שם בפלס חָמֵץ, כלומר או היתה מלחמה בשערים, ואף על פי שזה בסגול וזה בצרי.
ק-ר-ב
To draw near, and to bring near; קָרוֹב, near; קָרְבָּן, the thing brought near on the mizbeach. Close to it, קֶרֶב, the inward part. In another sense, קְרָב, war.
Drawing near
וְלֹֽא־ קָרַב זֶה אֶל־זֶה כָּל־הַלָּֽיְלָה (Shemos 14:20), and the one did not come near the other all night, and קָֽרְבָה שְׁנַת־הַשֶּׁבַע (Devarim 15:9), the seventh year has drawn near.
Near, and nearness
The adjective is קָרוֹב, near: וְאִישׁ אֶת־ קְרֹבֽוֹ (Shemos 32:27), and each man his kinsman, and בִּקְרֹבַי אֶקָּדֵשׁ (Vayikra 10:3), through those near Me I will be sanctified. The noun is in קִֽרֲבַת אֱלֹהִים לִי־טוֹב (Tehillim 73:28), the nearness of Hashem is good for me.
Bringing near, and the offering
Where the verb takes an object it is to bring near or to offer: וְהִקְרִיב הַכֹּהֵן אֶת־הַכֹּל (Vayikra 1:13), and the kohen shall offer it all, and וּפַרְעֹה הִקְרִיב (Shemos 14:10), and Pharaoh brought near, which he reads as Pharaoh bringing his camp near. וַיִּקְרַב הַמֶּלֶךְ עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּחַ (Melachim II 16:12) he reads as the king offering his offering on the mizbeach; or else עַל stands for אֶל, and the king drew near to the mizbeach. What is brought near upon the mizbeach is called a קָרְבָּן (Vayikra 1:2).
The inward part
A sense close to this: קֶרֶב is what is within. וַתִּצְחַק שָׂרָה בְּקִרְבָּהּ (Bereishis 18:12), and Sarah laughed within her, that is, within her heart. קִרְבָּם בָּֽתֵּימוֹ לְֽעוֹלָם (Tehillim 49:12), their inward thought, their houses for ever: that is, in their thought they will dwell in their houses for ever. Some read it as קברם, their grave, with the letters turned about. כִּֽי־יָקוּם בְּקִרְבְּךָ נָבִיא (Devarim 13:2), if a navi arises in your midst. The entrails are called so because they are within: וְהַקֶּרֶב וְהַכְּרָעַיִם (Vayikra 1:13), and the entrails and the legs.
Another sense: war
כְּיוֹם הִלָּֽחֲמוֹ בְּיוֹם קְרָֽב (Zecharyah 14:3), as on the day He fought, on a day of war, and טוֹבָה חָכְמָה מִכְּלֵי קְרָב (Koheles 9:18), wisdom is better than implements of war. וּֽקֲרָב ־לִבּוֹ (Tehillim 55:22), and his heart is war, he explains: his mouth is smooth and his heart is war. The sense of all of them, he says, is war, and the Targum of מִלְחָמָה (Bereishis 14:2), war, is קְרָבָא.
וְלֹֽא־קָרַב זֶה אֶל־זֶה כָּל־הַלָּֽיְלָה (שמות יד, כ), וְקָֽרַבְתָּ מוּל בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן (דברים ב, יט), וְקָֽרְבוּ אֶל־אֲשֶׁר לָעָֽם (יחזקאל מב, יד), גם הוא פעל עומד. וכן תרגם יונתן וְיִתְעַרְבוּן עִם עַמָא. קָֽרְבָה שְׁנַת־הַשֶּׁבַע (דברים טו, ט). אֶל־אֱלֹהֶיהָ לֹא קָרֵֽבָה (צפניה ג, ב), הצרי לגזרת פעל. וַֽאֲבִימֶלֶךְ לֹא קָרַב אֵלֶיהָ (בראשית כ, ד), וָֽאֶקְרַב אֶל־הַנְּבִיאָה (ישעיה ח, ג), וְאָז יִקְרַב לַֽעֲשֹׂתוֹ (שמות יב, מה), אַל־תִּקְרַב הֲלֹם (שמות ג, ה). וְהָיָה בִּֽקְרָב־אִישׁ לְהִשְׁתַּֽחֲוֹת לוֹ (שמואל ב' טו, ה), נקרא בקמץ חטף. לְקָרְבָה אֶל־הַמְּלָאכָה (שמות לו, ב), בְּקָרְבָתָם לִפְנֵֽי־י"י (ויקרא טז, א), קְרַב אַתָּה וּֽשֲׁמָע (דברים ה, כד), קָרְבָה אֶל־נַפְשִׁי גְאָלָהּ (תהלים סט, יט), כולם פעלים עומדים. וַיַּרְא הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת־הַמִּזְבֵּחַ וַיִּקְרַב הַמֶּלֶךְ עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּחַ (מלכים ב' טז, יב), פעל יוצא כלומר שהקריב קרבנו על המזבח. או יהיה עַל המזבח כמו אֶל המזבח וגם הוא פעל עומד. והתאר קָרוֹב י"י (תהלים לד, יט), קְרֹבִים אֵלָיו (דברים ד, ז), וְאִישׁ אֶת־קְרֹבֽוֹ (שמות לב, כז), בִּקְרֹבַי אֶקָּדֵשׁ (ויקרא י, ג). ומשקל אחר וְאֵת כָּל־הַקָּרֵב אֶל־שֻׁלְחַן הַמֶּֽלֶךְ־שְׁלֹמֹה (מלכים א' ה, ז), הֹלֵךְ וְקָרֵב (שמאל א' יז, מא), הֵמָּה בְנֵֽי־צָדוֹק הַקְּרֵבִים (יחזקאל מ, מו). והשם קִרְבַת אֱלֹהִים יֶחְפָּצֽוּן (ישעיה נח, ב), קִֽרֲבַת אֱלֹהִים לִי־טוֹב (תהלים עג, כח), חטף. ויש ספרים קִרְבַת אֱלֹהִים יֶחְפָּצֽוּן, מלעיל, וקִֽרֲבַת אֱלֹהִים לִי־טוֹב, חטף. ויש ספרים קִרְבַת אֱלֹהִים יֶחְפָּצֽוּן, חטף. וקִֽרֲבַת אֱלֹהִים לִי־טוֹב, מלעיל. אבל בספר אכלה ואכלה כתוב שניהם טעמם מלעיל. והנפעל וְנִקְרַב בַּֽעַל־הַבַּיִת (שמות כב, ז), וְנִקְרַבְתֶּם בַּבֹּקֶר לְשִׁבְטֵיכֶם (יהושע ז, יד). והפעל הכבד [הִפְעִיל] וְהִקְרִיב הַכֹּהֵן אֶת־הַכֹּל (ויקרא א, יג), וְאֶת־בָּנָיו תַּקְרִיב (שמות כט, ד), הַקְרֵב אֹתָהּ בְּנֵי־אַֽהֲרֹן (ויקרא ו, ז), הֵם מַקְרִיבִם (ויקרא כא, ו), תַּקְרִבוּן אֵלַי (דברים א, יז). וּפַרְעֹה הִקְרִיב (שמות יד, י), ופירושו הקריב מחנהו כי הוא פעל יוצא. וכן כַּֽאֲשֶׁר הִקְרִיב לָבוֹא מִצְרָיְמָה (בראשית יב, יא), ואפשר שהוא פעל עומד. וכבד אחר [פִּעֵל] כִּי־קֵֽרְבוּ כַתַּנּוּר (הושע ז, ו), קָרְבוּ רִֽיבְכֶם (ישעיה מא, כא), וְקָרַב אֹתָם (יחזקאל לו, יז), בפלס פַּלַּג לְשׁוֹנָם (תהלים נה, י), אלו יוצאים. והעומד כִּי קֵרְבוּ לָבֽוֹא (תהלים לו, ח). ושם לדבר הקרב על המזבח קָרְבָּן לַֽי"י (ויקרא א, ב). ובהעמדת הקמץ וברפיון הבי"ת בְּשַׂר הַקָּרְבָֽן (יחזקאל מ, מג), בפלס הַדָּֽרְבָֽן (שמואל א' יג, כא). ורבי יונה כתבו בחטפות הקו"ף וברפיות הבי"ת. ובשרק הקו"ף וּלְקֻרְבַּן הָֽעֵצִים (נחמיה יג, לא). וענין קרוב לזה וְקֶרֶב אִישׁ וְלֵב עָמֹֽק (תהלים סד, ז), בשש נקודות. וַתִּצְחַק שָׂרָה בְּקִרְבָּהּ (בראשית יח, יב), כלומר בתוך לבה. קִרְבָּם בָּֽתֵּימוֹ לְֽעוֹלָם (תהלים מט, יב) כלומר במחשבתם שיהיו שוכנים בבתיהם לעולם. ויש מפרשים כמו הפוך קברם. בְּקֶרֶב בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל (עמוס ז, י), בשש נקודות. כִּֽי־יָקוּם בְּקִרְבְּךָ נָבִיא (דברים יג, ב), בתוכך. וכן נקראו המעים לפי שהם בתוך. וְהַקֶּרֶב וְהַכְּרָעַיִם (ויקרא א, יג), וְקִרְבּוֹ וּכְרָעָיו (ויקרא א, ט). וענין אחר כְּיוֹם הִלָּֽחֲמוֹ בְּיוֹם קְרָֽב (זכריה יד, ג), טוֹבָה חָכְמָה מִכְּלֵי קְרָב (קהלת ט, יח), פָּדָה בְשָׁלוֹם נַפְשִׁי מִקֲּרָב־לִי (תהלים נה, יט), וּפָנֶיךָ הֹֽלְכִים בַּקְרָֽב (שמואל ב' יז, יא). וּֽקֲרָב־לִבּוֹ (תהלים נה, כב), כלומר פיו חלק ולבו מלחמה. הקבוץ בלשון נקבות קְרָבוֹת יֶחְפָּֽצוּ (תהלים סח, לא). ענין כולם מלחמה. ותרגום מִלְחָמָה (בראשית יד, ב) קְרָבָא. ובאו מקרב לי, וּֽקֲרָב־לִבּוֹ בקמץ חטף תחת הקמץ הרחב לתפארת. או יהיה עקרו בחלם ומפני סמיכות המקף הושבו לקמץ חטף אף על פי שאין להם סמיכות אחר.
Radak, Sefer HaShorashim, Berlin 1847. Public domain, digitised by Sefaria from the National Library of Israel.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Chukas: Words for War," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 5 July 2025.
Cited in the essay: Menachem Ibn Saruk, Machberes Menachem, and the Sefer HaShorashim of Ibn Janach and of Radak, s.v. ל-ח-ם; Rav Hirsch to Bereishis 3:19, 10:9, 14:2 and Tehillim 140:2; Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim, Cheshek Shlomo s.v. ח-ם; Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, vol. 7; Yerushalmi Beitzah 1:5; Vayikra Rabbah 3:3; Shir HaShirim Rabbah 4:30, 5:10; the Netziv, Haamek Davar to Bamidbar 28:2; Divrei HaYamim I 20:5; Eruvin 63b; Shemos 14:10; Devarim 2:19, 20:10; Bereishis 20:4; Vayikra 18:6; Devarim 22:14; Yeshayahu 8:3; Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh of Carpentras, Aholei Yehudah; Zecharyah 14:3; Tehillim 78:9; Iyov 38:23; Koheles 9:18; Sotah 9:14; Avodah Zarah 2b-3a; Rabbi Binyamin Mussafia, Mussaf HeAruch; Yehoshua 13:3, Shoftim 3:3, 16:5-27, Shmuel I 5:8-11, 6:4, 6:16, 7:7, 29:7, Divrei HaYamim I 12:20 with the Targumim; Bereishis Rabbah 42:4 with Matnos Kehunah; Rabbi Nosson of Rome, Sefer HeAruch; Dr. Alexander Kohut, Aruch HaShalem; Bava Basra 74b-75a with Rabbeinu Gershom, Rashbam, and Rashba; Chullin 60b with Rashi and Rabbeinu Gershom; Rabbi Shaul Goldman.