לֶ֫חֶם296 H3899
Bread, the staple baked food of the ancient Near East; by extension, food or sustenance in general.
Lechem is the daily bread of the Hebrew Bible — literal loaves baked from grain, broken and shared at every table from Abraham's tent (Gen 18:5) to the bread of the Presence in the tabernacle. Yet it also stretches beyond the bakery to mean 'food' in general, as when Leviticus 3:11 calls a burnt offering 'the food (lechem) of God.' Intriguingly, Arabic cognate lahm means 'meat, flesh' rather than bread, suggesting the root originally pointed to food broadly before Hebrew narrowed it to grain-based staples. One poetic passage in Jeremiah 11:19 uses lechem metaphorically — 'let us destroy the tree with its fruit (lechem)' — where the prophet himself is the 'bread' his enemies would consume.
Senses
1. bread, loaf of bread — Literal bread, a baked loaf made from grain (279x). The primary and most frequent sense, covering everyday bread eaten at meals (Gen 3:19, 'by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread'), ceremonial bread (the showbread, lechem ha-panim), and bread as hospitality (Gen 14:18, Melchizedek brings bread and wine). All major translations render this uniformly — pan (Spanish), pain (French), Brot (German) — with no ambiguity. Includes loaves counted, broken, offered, withheld, and miraculously multiplied. 279×
AR["خُبْزًا","خُبْزٌ","خُبْزٍ"]·ben["রুটি","রুটিতে"]·DE["Brot","mit-Brot"]·EN["bread"]·FR["pain"]·heb["לחם"]·HI["रोटी","रोटी-से","रोति","रोति-क"]·ID["roti"]·IT["pane"]·jav["roti","tedhan"]·KO["떡과","떡으로","떡을","빵","빵과","빵으로","빵을","빵이"]·PT["pão","pão;"]·RU["хлеб","хлеба","хлебом"]·ES["pan"]·SW["chakula","mkate","na-mota"]·TR["ekmek","ekmekle"]·urd["روٹی","روٹی-سے","روٹی-کا"]
2. food, sustenance — Food or sustenance in general, not limited to baked bread (19x). When Leviticus 3:11 calls a sacrifice 'the food (lechem) of YHWH,' or when Numbers 28:24 refers to offerings as 'the food (lechem) of the fire-offering,' bread means nourishment broadly. The Arabic cognate lahm ('flesh, meat') preserves this wider alimentary sense. French nourriture and German Speise appear in translations of these verses, confirming the shift from 'bread' to 'food.' Key passages include 1 Samuel 20:24–27 where lechem designates a royal meal that is clearly more than just bread. 19×
AR["الْخُبْزِ","خُبزُهُم","خُبْزي","خُبْزًا","خُبْزَ","خُبْزَها","خُبْزَهَا","خُبْزُهَا","خُبْزُهُ","طَعامي","طَعامَهُمْ","طَعَامَهَا","طَعَامُ-","لِ-طَعامِ","لِ-طَعامِكَ"]·ben["-খাবারে","-খাবারের","আমার-খাদ্য","আমার-খাবার","খাদ্য","খাবার","তাদের-খাদ্য","তাদের-খাবার","তার-খাদ্য","তার-খাবার","তোমার-ইচ্ছার","তোমার-খাবারের-জন্য"]·DE["Brot","Brot-von","Speise","Speise-von","der-Speise","der-provision-von","sein-Brot","zu-Brot"]·EN["bread-of","food","food-of","for-food-of","for-your-food","her-bread","her-food","his-food","its-food","my-bread","shall-be-its-food","the-food","the-provision-of","their-food"]·FR["le-nourriture","le-provision-de","leur-pain-eux","mon-pain-moi","nourriture","nourriture-de","pain","pain-de","sa-pain-elle","son-pain-lui","à-pain","à-pain-eux","à-ton-pain-toi"]·heb["ה-לחם","ל-לחם","ל-לחמך","לחם","לחמה","לחמו","לחמי","לחמם"]·HI["उसका-भोजन","भोजन","भोजन-अपना।","भोजन-उसका","मेरी-रोटी","रोटी","रोटी-","रोटी-अपनी","रोटी-अपनी।","रोटी-उनकी","रोटी-तेरी-के-लिए","रोति","रोति-के"]·ID["makanan","makanan mereka","makanan-","makanan-mereka","makananku","makanannya","roti","untuk-makanan","untuk-makananmu"]·IT["cibo","cibo-di","il-cibo","il-provision-di","pane","pane-di","pane-loro","pane-mio","pane-sua","pane-suo","per-pane","per-pane-loro","per-pane-tuo"]·jav["dhahar","dhaharan","kanggé-roti-saking","kanggé-rotinipun","pangan","pangan-ipun","roti","rotinipun","tedha-kawula","tedha-nipun","tedhan-ipun","tetedhan"]·KO["그-음식에","그것-의-빵-을","그것의-먹이를","그녀의-음식을","그들의-빵으로","그들의-음식을","그의-먹이이다","그의-음식이","나의-떡","나의-빵","네-양식을-위해","양식을-위해","음식","음식-을","음식을","음식이"]·PT["Seu-pão","o-pão","para-pão-de","para-pão-teu","pão","pão-de","pão-de-","pão-dela","pão-meu","seu-alimento","seu-pão"]·RU["для-пищи","для-пищи-твоей","корм-его","пищу-свою","хлеб","хлеб-его","хлеб-их","хлеб-свой","хлеб-свой,","хлеба-моего","хлебом-его","хлебу"]·ES["Su-pan","el-pan","mi-pan","pan","pan-de","pan-de-","para-alimento-de","para-tu-alimento","su-alimento","su-comida","su-pan"]·SW["cha-Sulemani","chakula","chakula-chake","chakula-changu","chakula-chao","kwa-chakula-cha","kwa-chakula-chako","yatakuwa-chakula-chake"]·TR["ekmegidir","ekmek","ekmeği-olarak","ekmeğimin","ekmeğini-onun","yemeğe","yemeği","yiyecek-için","yiyeceklerini","yiyeceğin-için","yiyeceğini"]·urd["ان کی روٹی","اُس-کا-کھانا","اُس-کی-روٹی","خوراک-اپنی","روٹی","روٹی-اُس-کی","روٹی-اپنی","روٹی؟","لیے-خوراک-کے","میری-روٹی","میری-روٹی-ہیں","کے-لیے-خوراک-تیری"]
Lev 3:11, Lev 3:16, Num 28:24, 1 Sam 20:24, 1 Sam 20:27, 1 Sam 20:34, 1 Kgs 4:22, 1 Kgs 5:9, Job 3:24, Job 6:7, Job 20:14, Job 30:4 (+7 more)
3. sense 3 — A unique metaphorical use in Jeremiah 11:19 (1x): 'Let us destroy the tree with its lechem' — traditionally rendered 'with its bread' or 'with its fruit.' The prophet Jeremiah is the tree; his lechem is his life, his substance, his productive fruit. Spanish con pan su ('with its bread') preserves the literal form, while some traditions read 'with its fruit' (English). This is a prophetic metaphor where bread stands for the vital substance of a person, blending the literal and figurative in Jeremiah's characteristic style. 1×
AR["بِثَمَرِهَا"]·ben["রুটি-তার-সঙ্গে"]·DE["Brot"]·EN["with-its-fruit"]·FR["pain"]·heb["ב-לחמו"]·HI["उसकी-रोटी-समेत"]·ID["dengan-buahnya"]·IT["pane"]·jav["lan-wohané"]·KO["그의-빵-안에서"]·PT["em-seu-pão,"]·RU["с-плодом-его"]·ES["con-pan-su"]·SW["na-matunda-yake"]·TR["ekmekiyle-birlikte"]·urd["اُس-کی-روٹی-سمیت"]
Related Senses
H5921a 1. upon, on, over (spatial) (5443×)H0413 1. directional: to, toward (5366×)H1121a 1. son, male offspring, descendant (4914×)H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)H4428 1. king, human ruler (2518×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)H6440 1. before, in front of (spatial) (1870×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H3027 1. physical hand (body part) (1596×)H1697 1. word, speech, utterance (1235×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
לֶ֫חֶם296 n.m. 1 S 9:7 and (rarely) f. Gn 49:20 (vid. infr., and Dr 1 S 10:4) bread, food (Ph. לחם bread; NH לֶחֶם; Aramaic לַחְמָא, ܠܰܚܡܳܐ, as Heb.; Arabic لَحْمٌ flesh, meat (cf. Frä30));—abs. ל׳ Gn 3:19 +; לָ֑חֶם Gn 31:54 +; לֶ֑חֶם ψ 14:4 + 2 times; cstr. לֶחֶם Ho 9:4 +; sf. לַחְמִי Jb 3:24 +, לַחְמְךָ Ob 7 +, לַחְמָם Ho 9:4b, + v 4a (for MT לָהֶם), We GASm Now, + etc.;— 1. a. bread, the…