H7608 H7608
flesh, meat; near kin, blood relative
This noun means flesh, used both literally (as meat or bodily flesh) and figuratively (as blood relation). In Leviticus 18:17 it appears in the prohibition against marrying both a woman and her daughter: 'they are her near relatives'—literally 'her flesh.' The term emphasizes the physical, biological connection—shared blood and kinship. The marriage prohibitions in Leviticus 18 repeatedly invoke this language of 'flesh,' treating sexual relations with close kin as violations of fundamental boundaries.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Leviticus 18:17 forbids marrying a woman and her daughter because 'they are her near relatives'—literally 'they are her flesh.' The phrase establishes blood connection as the reason for prohibition: these relationships are too close, the shared kinship creating incestuous overlap. Spanish 'su carne' (her flesh) preserves the literal Hebrew. This usage extends 'flesh' from physical substance to kinship category, treating biological connection as defining relational boundaries. The flesh-language makes abstract kinship viscerally concrete. 1×
AR["قَرِيبَتُهَا"]·ben["তার-আত্মীয়"]·DE["relatives-ihr"]·EN["relatives-her"]·FR["relatives-sa"]·heb["שארה"]·HI["रक्त-सम्बन्धी"]·ID["kerabat-dekatnya"]·IT["relatives-lei"]·jav["kulawarganipun"]·KO["살-의-그녀"]·PT["sua-parente"]·RU["родня-её"]·ES["su-carne"]·SW["jamaa-yake"]·TR["yakın-akrabaları"]·urd["اس-کی-رشتہ-دار"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)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×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† שְׁאֵר n.m. ψ 73:26 flesh (perhaps orig. the inner flesh, full of blood, next the bones, cf. HoffmZAW iii (1883), 107, and בָּשָׂר = (orig.) flesh next the skin);—שׁ׳ abs. ψ 78:20, 27, cstr. Mi 3:3 +, sf. שְׁאֵרִי Je 51:35 ψ 73:26, etc.;— 1. flesh: a. as food, Ex 21:10 (HPS also 1 S 9:24, for הַנִּשְׁאָר), ψ 78:20 (‖ לֶחֶם), v 27 (‖ עוֹף בָּנָף); fig. Mi 3:2 (‖ עוֹר), v 3 (‖ id.), Je 51:35 (‖…