מַחֲצִית
ma.cha.tsit
half
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Hebrew word "ma.cha.tsit" (H4276, מַחֲצִית) has a straightforward meaning of "half". It is a quantifier used to express a proportion, dividing something into two equal parts. This word is used 16 times in the Bible. The significance of "ma.cha.tsit" lies in its role as a unit of measurement and comparison. It is used to describe various concepts, such as time (e.g., the half of the day), portions of food (e.g., half an ephah), and even numbers (e.g., half a tribe). By employing "ma.cha.tsit", the authors of the Bible provide a sense of relatability and clarity, making abstract ideas more concrete and understandable to their audience. In biblical contexts, "ma.cha.tsit" often highlights the idea of balance, completeness, or satisfaction. By dividing something into two equal parts, the word implies a sense of wholeness and fulfillment, underscoring the importance of equity and moderation.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
16 total occurrences across the text
He read from it before the wide place that was in front of the water gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women, and of those who could understand. The ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law.
Exodus 30:13They shall give this, everyone who passes over to those who are counted, half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs); half a shekel for an offering to Yahweh.
Exodus 30:13They shall give this, everyone who passes over to those who are counted, half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs); half a shekel for an offering to Yahweh.
Exodus 30:15The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls.
Exodus 30:23“Also take fine spices: of liquid myrrh, five hundred shekels; and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, even two hundred and fifty; and of fragrant cane, two hundred and fifty;
Exodus 38:26a beka a head, that is, half a shekel, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for everyone who passed over to those who were counted, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty men.
Leviticus 6:20“This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer to Yahweh in the day when he is anointed: one tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering perpetually, half of it in the morning, and half of it in the evening.
Leviticus 6:20“This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer to Yahweh in the day when he is anointed: one tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering perpetually, half of it in the morning, and half of it in the evening.
Numbers 31:29Take it from their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest, for Yahweh’s wave offering.
Numbers 31:30Of the children of Israel’s half, you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the livestock, and give them to the Levites, who perform the duty of Yahweh’s tabernacle.”
Numbers 31:42Of the children of Israel’s half, which Moses divided off from the men who fought
Numbers 31:47even of the children of Israel’s half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of animal, and gave them to the Levites, who performed the duty of Yahweh’s tabernacle, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
Joshua 21:25Out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with its pasture lands, and Gath Rimmon with its pasture lands: two cities.
1 Kings 16:9His servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him. Now he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah;
1 Chronicles 6:61To the rest of the sons of Kohath were given by lot, out of the family of the tribe, out of the half-tribe, the half of Manasseh, ten cities.
1 Chronicles 6:70and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Aner with its pasture lands, and Bileam with its pasture lands, for the rest of the family of the sons of Kohath.