1. eat, take food — Qal, Hiphil, and Piel: to eat, to take food, or to cause to eat (feed). The basic Qal sense 'eat' appears in 2 Sam 12:17 (David refused to eat bread, בָּרָה), and 2 Sam 13:6, 10 (Amnon's request for Tamar to prepare food so he could eat, וְאֶבְרֶה). The Hiphil causative 'cause to eat, feed' appears in 2 Sam 3:35 (לְהַבְרוֹת 'to cause David to eat') and 2 Sam 13:5 (וְתַבְרֵנִי 'and let her feed me'). The Piel infinitive לְבָרוֹת in Lam 4:10 refers to food/sustenance in a famine context. Cognate with Akkadian baru 'eat' and its derivatives. Glosses confirm eating semantics: arb آكُلَ/يَأكُل, deu essen, fra manger, hin खाना/खिलाना, kor 먹다/먹이다, spa comer/hacer comer. All forms represent the same core lexeme 'eat' across its verbal stems. 6×
AR["طَعَامَهُنَّ","فَآكُلَ","لِ-يُأْكِلُوا","وَتُطعِمَني-","يَأكُل"]·ben["এবং-খাওয়াক-আমাকে","এবং-খাব","খাওয়াতে","খাবার","খেলেন"]·DE["[לברות]","er-ass","und-ich-wird-iss","und-lass-ihr-feed-mich","zu-cause-zu-iss"]·EN["and-I-will-eat","and-let-her-feed-me","food","he-ate","to-cause-to-eat"]·FR["[לברות]","et-je-fera-mange","et-que-sa-nourris-moi","il-mangea","à-cause-à-mange"]·heb["ברא","ו-אברה","ו-תבר-ני","ל-ברות","ל-הברות"]·HI["और-खिलाए-मुझे","और-मैं-खाऊँ","खाई","खिलाने-को","भोजन"]·ID["dan-aku-makan","dan-beri-aku-makan","makan","makanan","untuk-memberi-makan"]·IT["[לברות]","a-causa-a-mangia","e-io-vorrà-mangia","e-lascia-lei-feed-me","egli-mangiò"]·jav["dhahar","kangge-ndamel-dhahar","lan-kula-dhahar","lan-nyukani-kula-dhahar","tedha"]·KO["그리고-먹여주게-나에게","그리고-먹으리라-내가","먹이려고","먹지","음식-으로"]·PT["comeu","e-comerei","e-dê-me-de-comer","para-comida","para-fazer-comer"]·RU["ел","и-накормит-меня","и-поем-я","накормить","пищей"]·ES["comió","para-hacer-comer","por-comida","y-comeré","y-me-alimente"]·SW["chakula-chao","kula","kumfariji","na-anilishe","na-nile"]·TR["ve-yedirsin-bana","ve-yiyeyim","yedi","yedirmek","yiyecek-olarak"]·urd["اور-کھاؤں","اور-کھلائے-مجھے","کھانا","کھایا","کھلانے-کے-لیے"]
▼ 1 more sense below
Senses
2. choose, select — Qal imperative: to choose or select. Attested in 1 Sam 17:8 (בְּרוּ לָכֶם אִישׁ 'choose for yourselves a man'), where Goliath challenges the Israelites to select a champion for single combat. This is likely a separate root (בָּרָה II) homonymous with בָּרָה I 'eat,' or possibly related to בָּרַר 'purify, select.' The semantic distance from 'eat' is confirmed by the multilingual glosses, which all show selection/choice rather than eating: arb اخْتَارُوا 'choose,' deu erwähle, fra choisis, hin चुनो, kor 택하라, spa elegid. BDB and other lexica treat this as a distinct entry. 1×
AR["اخْتَارُوا-"]·ben["বেছে-নাও"]·DE["erwaehle"]·EN["choose"]·FR["choisis"]·heb["ברו"]·HI["चुनो-"]·ID["pilihlah"]·IT["scegli"]·jav["milih-"]·KO["택하라-"]·PT["escolhei-"]·RU["выберите-"]·ES["elegid-"]·SW["chagueni"]·TR["seçin-"]·urd["چُنو"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† I. בָּרָה vb. eat (Assyrian barû & deriv. ZimBP 31) Qal Pf. 2 S 12:17 בָּרָה; Impf. אֶבְרֶה 2 S 13:6, 10 eat bread (בְּרוּ־לָכֶם 1 S 17:8 scribal error for בחדו לכם 1 K 18:25 DrSm 107). Pi. Inf. לְבָרוֹת La 4:10 for devouring. Hiph. Impf. תַּבְרֵנִי 2 S 13:5; Inf. לְהַבְרוֹת 2 S 3:35 cause to eat bread.