H2056 H2056
Child, offspring; Sarah described as having 'no child' (Genesis 11:30), a rare synonym for the common yeled
This rare noun appears in the description of Sarah's barrenness before Isaac's miraculous birth: 'she had no child' (Genesis 11:30). The term is a synonym of the far more common yeled, apparently cognate to Arabic walad and Ethiopic wald. Its rarity in Biblical Hebrew may reflect dialectal or stylistic variation. The context—childlessness as crisis, prelude to divine intervention—charges this simple noun with narrative tension.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Spanish 'hijo' (son/child), English 'a-child,' French 'un-enfant,' German 'ein-Kind'—all use the most common word for offspring in their respective languages, reflecting this term's basic semantic value. Genesis 11:30's statement 'Sarai had no child' sets up the Abraham-Sarah cycle's central drama: the promise of countless descendants to a barren couple. This rare vocabulary choice marks the passage's significance, the absence that will drive the narrative forward. 1×
AR["وَلَدٌ"]·ben["সন্তান"]·DE["ein-Kind"]·EN["a-child"]·FR["un-enfant"]·heb["ולד"]·HI["बचच"]·ID["anak"]·IT["un-bambino"]·jav["putra"]·KO["자녀가"]·PT["filho"]·RU["ребёнка"]·ES["hijo"]·SW["mtoto"]·TR["çocuk"]·urd["اولاد"]
Related Senses
H0376 1. man, person, human male (2130×)H0251 1. brother (blood sibling) (573×)H0120 1. man, human being (individual/generic) (527×)H0802 1. woman, female person (519×)H0802 2. wife, spouse (255×)H0517 1. mother, female parent (217×)G0435 1. man, male person (202×)G1135 1. woman, adult female (190×)H2233 1. offspring, descendants (172×)H0001 2. ancestor, forefather (146×)H5288 1. Youth, young man (122×)H0269 1. sister (female sibling) (113×)H1755 1. generation, contemporaries (96×)G5043 1. child, offspring (89×)G0444 2. people, humankind (86×)H3206 1. child, boy, youth (86×)H2145 1. male (human being) (79×)G3384 1. mother (77×)H6485a 1. Qal passive participle: numbered ones, enrollment (76×)H1397 1. man (strong/mighty) (65×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† וָלָד n.m. offspring, child, only אֵין לָהּ וָלָ֑ד Gn 11:30 (J); si vera l. = Arabic وَلَدٌ; Ethiopic ወልድ (with orig. ו);—in 2 S 6:23, where some edd. have ולד Kt, יָ֑לֶד Qr, Bear and van d. H. give יָ֑לֶד Kt.