bread

This is the basic human food of all times. Besides meaning ‘bread’ in the form that we know today, biblical Hebrew is using the word ‘le•chem’ as a general name for food.

The biblical bread, according to several researchers, was not made from the wheat grain that we use today, but from a grain named ‘do•chan’ (millet).

‘Le•chem’ is mentioned many times in the Bible (242) and sometimes in form of special words, such as “le•chem ha•pa•nim” (the bread of display) in Exodus 35:13, and names such as ‘Bethlehem’ in I Samuel 20:6 and Matthew 2:8. (In Hebrew, this name is composed of two words: “Beit Le•chem”).

It is important to mention the interesting connection between the vital source of livelihood, ‘le•chem’ (bread), and the root word, ‘la•chem’ (to fight). Fighting is usually an act taken to ensure one’s livelihood. Perhaps this equation indicates the inherent connection between these two livelihood extreme ends.