Bread in the Old Testament
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following article is adapted from “Bread in the Old Testament” by Thomas L. McDonald from 4 th December 2012. Bread was a staple food in ancient Palestine, made daily in every household. It was such a commonplace item that we do not get details of types, production, and consumption in the Biblical texts. If we look to the wider documents of the Ancient Near East, we find the same constant reference to “bread,” but again: few details. The use of “bread” in the Old Testament is complex, since the word “ lechem : could have various meanings in Semitic languages, with the root representing any staple food. Thus, in Arabic, one has “ lahm ”, “meat”; in Ethiopic “ lahm ”, “cow”; and in the South Arabic language of Soqothra “ lehem ”, “fish”. In Ugaritic, Phoenician, Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, and Mandaic lahm referred to bread specifically and food generally. The highest number of reference...