Biblica Analytica
H3899G Hebrew

לֶ֫חֶם

le.chem

food

Lexicon Entry

Definition
food
Transliteration
le.chem
Strong's Number
H3899G
Occurrences
72
Semantic Domain
Food & Drink

Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.

What Original Readers Understood

Explored

# H3899: לֶחֶם (lechem) – Food The Hebrew word *lechem* carries the primary meaning of "food," functioning as a foundational vocabulary item in biblical texts with 72 documented occurrences. This frequency suggests the term addresses a concept of basic human importance, appearing regularly enough to warrant consistent use across biblical narratives and legal material. The simplicity of the definition—"food"—indicates that *lechem* serves as a general category word rather than a specialized culinary term. Unlike more specific vocabulary that might denote particular types of meals or ingredients, this lemma captures the broad concept of nourishment and sustenance itself. Its prevalence in biblical discourse (72 occurrences) reflects how frequently ancient Hebrew texts engaged with the fundamental concerns of obtaining and consuming food. The significance of this word extends beyond mere dietary reference; it appears substantial enough in biblical material to serve as a conceptual anchor in discussions of survival, provision, and human welfare. The straightforward definition and high occurrence rate together suggest that *lechem* was the standard, unmarked term for food in biblical Hebrew, making it essential vocabulary for understanding how biblical writers discussed basic human needs and daily sustenance.

Source data & methodology
Strong's
H3899G
Lemma
לֶ֫חֶם
Transliteration
le.chem
Definition
food
Occurrences
72
Model
claude-haiku-4-5-20251001
Prompt version
1

AI synthesis uses only the lexicon data above as context — never training knowledge.

Occurrences in Scripture

72 total occurrences across the text — showing 50

Job 6:7

My soul refuses to touch them. They are as loathsome food to me.

Job 20:14

yet his food in his bowels is turned. It is cobra venom within him.

Job 24:5

Behold, as wild donkeys in the desert, they go out to their work, seeking diligently for food. The wilderness yields them bread for their children.

Job 30:4

They pluck salt herbs by the bushes. The roots of the broom tree are their food.

Psalms 42:3

My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”

Leviticus 3:16

The priest shall burn them on the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire, for a pleasant aroma; all the fat is Yahweh’s.

Psalms 104:14

He causes the grass to grow for the livestock, and plants for man to cultivate, that he may produce food out of the earth:

Psalms 136:25

who gives food to every creature; for his loving kindness endures forever.

Psalms 146:7

who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. Yahweh frees the prisoners.

Psalms 147:9

He provides food for the livestock, and for the young ravens when they call.

Proverbs 23:3

Don’t be desirous of his dainties, since they are deceitful food.

Proverbs 27:27

There will be plenty of goats’ milk for your food, for your family’s food, and for the nourishment of your servant girls.

Proverbs 27:27

There will be plenty of goats’ milk for your food, for your family’s food, and for the nourishment of your servant girls.

Proverbs 28:3

A needy man who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain which leaves no crops.

Proverbs 30:8

Remove far from me falsehood and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me,

Proverbs 30:22

For a servant when he is king, a fool when he is filled with food,

Proverbs 30:25

The ants are not a strong people, yet they provide their food in the summer.

Proverbs 31:14

She is like the merchant ships. She brings her bread from afar.

Isaiah 65:25

The wolf and the lamb will feed together. The lion will eat straw like the ox. Dust will be the serpent’s food. They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain,” says Yahweh.

Jeremiah 5:17

They will eat up your harvest and your bread, which your sons and your daughters should eat. They will eat up your flocks and your herds. They will eat up your vines and your fig trees. They will beat down your fortified cities in which you trust with the sword.

Jeremiah 11:19

But I was like a gentle lamb that is led to the slaughter. I didn’t know that they had devised plans against me, saying, “Let’s destroy the tree with its fruit, and let’s cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered.”

Jeremiah 44:17

But we will certainly perform every word that has gone out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then had we plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil.

Jeremiah 52:6

In the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was severe in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.

Lamentations 4:4

The tongue of the nursing child clings to the roof of his mouth for thirst. The young children ask bread, and no one breaks it for them.

Ruth 1:6

Then she arose with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country of Moab; for she had heard in the country of Moab how Yahweh had visited his people in giving them bread.

Ezekiel 16:49

“ ‘ “Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: pride, fullness of bread, and prosperous ease was in her and in her daughters. She also didn’t strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

1 Samuel 20:27

On the next day after the new moon, the second day, David’s place was empty. Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why doesn’t the son of Jesse come to eat, either yesterday, or today?”

Ezekiel 44:7

in that you have brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to profane it, even my house, when you offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant, to add to all your abominations.

Ezekiel 48:18

The remainder in the length, alongside the holy offering, shall be ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward; and it shall be alongside the holy offering. Its increase shall be for food to those who labor in the city.

Daniel 10:3

I ate no pleasant bread. No meat or wine came into my mouth. I didn’t anoint myself at all, until three whole weeks were fulfilled.

Malachi 1:7

You offer polluted bread on my altar. You say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ In that you say, ‘Yahweh’s table is contemptible.’

Genesis 37:25

They sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.

Genesis 39:6

He left all that he had in Joseph’s hand. He didn’t concern himself with anything, except for the food which he ate. Joseph was well-built and handsome.

Genesis 43:31

He washed his face, and came out. He controlled himself, and said, “Serve the meal.”

Genesis 43:32

They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians don’t eat with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians.

Genesis 47:12

Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all of his father’s household with bread, according to the sizes of their families.

Genesis 47:13

There was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.

Genesis 47:15

When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, “Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For our money fails.”

Genesis 47:17

They brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, and for the flocks, and for the herds, and for the donkeys: and he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock for that year.

Genesis 47:17

They brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, and for the flocks, and for the herds, and for the donkeys: and he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock for that year.

Genesis 47:19

Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh. Give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land won’t be desolate.”

Genesis 49:20

“Asher’s food will be rich. He will produce royal dainties.

Leviticus 3:11

The priest shall burn it on the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire to Yahweh.

Leviticus 22:7

When the sun is down, he shall be clean; and afterward he shall eat of the holy things, because it is his bread.

Leviticus 22:11

But if a priest buys a slave, purchased by his money, he shall eat of it; and those who are born in his house shall eat of his bread.

Leviticus 22:13

But if a priest’s daughter is a widow, or divorced, and has no child, and has returned to her father’s house as in her youth, she may eat of her father’s bread; but no stranger shall eat any of it.

Numbers 21:5

The people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, there is no water, and our soul loathes this disgusting food!”

Numbers 21:5

The people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, there is no water, and our soul loathes this disgusting food!”

Numbers 28:2

“Command the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘See that you present my offering, my food for my offerings made by fire, as a pleasant aroma to me, in their due season.’

Numbers 28:24

In this way you shall offer daily, for seven days, the food of the offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh. It shall be offered in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering.