Bishalach: Armed and Ready
When the Pharaoh finally let the Jews leave Egypt, the Bible reports that the Jews were chamushim (Ex. 13:18). Most of my readers are likely familiar with the exegetical interpretations of this word cited by Mechilta and Rashi (there), which interpret the word chamushim as a cognate of the Hebrew word chamesh (“five”) in explaining that only one-fifth, one-fiftieth, or one-five-hundredth of the Jews enslaved in Egypt actually left in the exodus. However, the more literal understanding of the word chamushim means that the Jews exiting Egypt were “armed.” As Nachmanides explains, the Jews entering the wilderness were “packing heat,” because they were scared that the Philistines or other nations might attack them en route the Holy Land. In fact, one Midrash states (Bamidbar Rabbah §13:20) that chamushim means the same thing as chalutzim, while other Midrashim (Mechilta d’Rabbi Yishmael to Ex. 13:18, Shemot Rabbah §20:19) state that chamushim means mezuyanim. All three of these words — chamush, chalutz, and mezuyan — are adjectives that refer to those who are “armed” and ready to do battle. In this essay, we explore these three synonyms by analyzing their respective etymologies and tracing them to their core meanings.
Although the term chamush only appears once in the Pentateuch (in Ex. 13:18, as mentioned above), it appears another three times in rest of the Bible: The first is when Joshua reminds the Tribes of Gad and Reuben that they undertook to militarily help the rest of the Jews conquer the Holy Land proper as a condition for them receiving their land in the trans-Jordan region. In that context, Joshua says that "armed" (chamush) soldiers from Gad and Reuben were expected to lead the Jews’ war effort (Josh. 1:14). Similarly, when relating that soldiers from Gad and Reuben did precisely that, the word chamush appears again(Josh. 4:12). Finally, the word chamush also appears in the sense of “armed men” in the context of Gideon’s war with the Midianites (Jud. 7:11). [In Modern Hebrew, the association with armaments continued to be developed, such that the word tachmoshet refers to “ammunition/ammo.”]
According to the classical lexicographers like Menachem Ibn Saruk (920–970), Yonah Ibn Janach (990–1050), Shlomo Ibn Parchon (the 12th century author of Machberet HeAruch), and Radak (1160–1235), the word chamush can be traced to the triliteral root CHET-MEM-SHIN. Besides the meaning “armed,” that root begets words that relate to the number “five” (like chamesh, chomesh, chamishah, chamishim, etc…)
One particular word derived from the “number five” meaning of this root is chomesh, typically translated as “lower abdomen.” The word appears only four times in the Bible — all in the Book of Samuel (II Sam. 2:23, 3:27, 4:6, 20:10), when referring to various people who were assassinated by being stabbed in the chomesh. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 49a) explains that the chomesh refers to the spot near the fifth rib, where the gallbladder and liver are suspended, such that a stab at exactly that place proves lethal. This explains how chomesh relates back to CHET-MEM-SHIN, but what does chamush have anything to do with that root?
Early grammarians like Ibn Janach, Rabbi Yehudah Ibn Balaam (1000–1070), Ibn Parchon, Ibn Ezra, and Radak see the adjective chamush as derived from the noun chomesh, arguing that those who are “armed” typically have a weapon girded to the part of their body that corresponds to their chomesh. Ibn Saruk, on the other hand, takes the exact opposite approach, arguing that the noun chomesh actually derives from chamush, rather than the other way around!
The Talmud offers an exegetical approach that connects chamush to chamesh: The Mishnah (Shabbat 6:4) discusses what sorts of paraphernalia a man might be allowed to equip himself with when going out into a public domain on Shabbat. In that context, the Mishnah mentions five different weapons with which a man might arm himself: a sword, a bow, a shield, a club, and a spear. On this Mishnah, the Jerusalemic Talmud (Shabbat 6:4) comments that when the Torah states that the Jews exiting Egypt were chamushim, the word chamushim is a cognate of the word chamesh (“five”) and alludes to the fact that the Jews were armed with “five” types of weapons — the very same five listed in the Mishnah. In this way, we have another of way of seeing how chamush relates back to other meanings of the root CHET-MEM-SHIN. [Although the standard editions of the Jerusalemic Talmud read “fifteen” instead of “five,” the version I cited is the one preferred by Rabbi David Frankel (1704–1762) in Korban HaEidah (there), Rabbi Baruch Epstein (1860–1941) in Torah Temimah (to Ex. 13:18) and by Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky (in his commentary there). Mechilta D’Rashbi and the Yemenite Midrash HaBeiur (to Ex. 13:18) also seems to have had the “five” version. See also Baal HaTurim (to Ex. 13:18).]
All four times that chamush appears in the Bible, the Hebrew word is rendered by Targum into Aramaic as a cognate of zariz (“encourage,” “arouse,” “strengthen, “embolden”). This refers to the fact that armed men are prepared and ready for a fight at a moment’s notice.
Interestingly, when Joseph advises Pharaoh to store produce during the seven plentiful years in order to supply Egypt with food for the impending seven years of famine, the Bible uses the verb chimesh to denote this idea (Gen. 41:43). Targum Onkelos, Rashi, and Ibn Parchon see this verb as somewhat related to chamush by connecting that word to zariz. In context, it would mean that Joseph said that the Pharaoh should “encourage” his subjects to save during the years of surplus. On the other hand, Rashbam, Ibn Ezra, Daat Zekanim, Radak, and others see chimesh as related to chamesh, explaining that Joseph advised Pharaoh that he should impose a “one-fifth” tax on his subjects in order to keep the royal reserves supplied (this is also implied in Ibn Saruk’s Machberet Menachem). A third explanation is proffered by Ibn Janach, who sees the word chimesh as related to the Arabic word chamus, which means “hidden” and is a cognate of the Hebrew kamus (discussed in “Revealing the Secret,” Oct. 2022).
There are several other ways of explaining the etymology of chamush: Rabbi Dr. Ernest Klein (no relation) conjectures that chamush relates to the number five in the sense of a military formation divided into five parts: van, body, rear, and two flanks. Alternatively, we may argue that the most basic weapon at man's disposal is one's own fist, which consists of five fingers, so it makes sense that the word for one bearing a weapon might be related to the number five. The German philologistWilhelm Gesenius (1786–1842) sees the Hebrew chamush as related to the Arabic word hamas (“to be eager/manly in battle"), as the SHIN-sound in Hebrew often becomes a SIN/SAMECH-sound in Arabic. As an aside, David Curwin at Balashon Blog (Oct. 19, 2023) clarifies that the name of the Arab terrorist organization Hamas is technically an acronym for the Arabic term for “The Islamic Resistance Movement,” but was almost certainly also influenced by the Arabic word hamas as well.
Like the word chamush, the word chalutz also means “armed.” In fact, when Moses originally stipulated with the Tribes of Gad and Reuben that they send soldiers to lead the rest of the Jews in conquering the Holy Land proper, those armed men were called chalutzim (Num. 32:30, 32:32, Deut. 3:18). The term chalutz in this military sense appears seventeen times in the Bible, mostly in the Books of Numbers (Num. 31:5, 32:21, 32:27, 32:29-30, 32:32), and Joshua (Josh. 6:7, 6:9, 6:13), but also in Chronicles (I Chron. 12:24-25, II Chron. 17:18, 20:21, 28:14) and Isaiah (Isa. 15:4).
The word chalutz is but one of many different offshoots of the root CHET-LAMMED-TZADI. Other words derived from that root include the acts of “removing something from its place,” “slipping off an article of clothing,” “saving/extracting something from danger,” “thighs/loins/hips.” This root also appears in the given name Cheletz, borne by one of King David’s warriors (II Sam. 23:26, I Chron. 11:27, 27:10) and another individual (I Chron. 2:39). [For more about this versatile root and especially about the word chalitzah, see my article “The Year of Slipping of Away (Part 1 of 2)” (May 2022).]
What this means is that there is a word that refers to a body part derived from the same root as chalutz, just like we saw with chamush. Paralleling what we saw about chamush, Ibn Balaam, and Ibn Ezra (to Num. 31:3), and Ibn Parchon see the adjective chalutz as derived from the noun chalatzim (“thighs/loins/hips”). In other words, the anatomical meaning gives way to the “armed” meaning because those ready to fight often are often supplied with weapons that are fastened to their “thighs/loins/hips.”
This approach is also accepted by Radak in his Sefer HaShorashim, who adds that the “armed” meaning of chalutz also relates to “removing something from its place” meaning of CHET-LAMMED-TZADI He explains that soldiers and militiamen are figuratively “removed” from the rest of nation by being designated as military fighters. Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim of Breslau (1740–1814)takes this a step further by defining chalutzim as referring specifically to those units of soldiers who were “extracted” from the rest of the military formation to serve on the frontlines ahead of the rest of the army. Alternatively, I propose that chalutzim refer to those who have “extracted” their weapon from its holder/sheath (or are at least ready to do so at a moment’s notice), but I have not found any philologists who explicitly say this.
Ibn Janach in his Sefer HaShorashim understands that the “armed” meaning of chalutz derives from the “slipping off an article of clothing” meaning of CHET-LAMMED-TZADI, seemingly because those ready for battle often shed themselves of some of their civilian clothing in order to prepare themselves for war.
Like the word chamush, the Targumim often render chalutz and its various inflections into Aramaic as zariz. Interestingly, in the pages of the Torah journal Aspaklaria, Rabbi Elimelech Bleiberg and Rabbi Itamar Habshush debated whether the Modern Hebrew meaning of chalutz in the sense of “pioneer” is related to the connection between chalutz and zariz seen in Targum, or is a Modern Hebrew neologism.
Now that we’ve clearly established that chalutz and chamush both mean “armed,” we can consider whether or not there is a difference between these apparent synonyms. The Malbim (to Josh. 4:12) takes note of the similar meanings of these two words, but clarifies that chamushim refers to soldiers divided into military formations of fifty men (hence the connection to chamesh), while chalutzim refers to soldiers who were “slipped off/separated” from the rest of the nation. Rabbi Moshe Tedeschi Ashkenazi (1821–1898) in his work Otzar Nirdafim (§22) agrees with Malbim’s characterization of chalutzim, but explains chamushim slightly differently as referring to those soldiers who are armed at their chomesh (per the grammarians mentioned above who saw chamush as related to chomesh). If both words are named after body parts, then the difference lies in their etymological basis as to exactly which body part they refer.
Another word in Hebrew to refer to one who is “armed” is mezuyan. This word does not appear in the Bible or in the Mishnah, but it does make many appearances in the Talmud. For example, the term listim mezuyiin refers to “armed robbers,” and appears both in the Babylonian Talmud (Kiddushin 11a, Bava Kamma 57a-b, 80a, 114a, Bava Metzia 22a, 29b, 43a, 58a, 93b, 95a, Bava Batra 92b, Temurah 15b) and the Jerusalemic Talmud (Shekalim 2:1, Shavuot 8:1). Likewise, Rashi (to Num. 21:3) defines chalutzim as mezuyanim.
The adjective mezuyan clearly derives from the Aramaic noun zayin (“weapon”). That Aramaic word is the standard Targumic rendering of the Hebrew neshek (“weapon”) and other comparable terms. In fact, the Hebrew letter ZAYIN orthographically resembles a weapon (perhaps a spear?). In the Talmud, the standard term for “weapon” is klei zayin (literally, "implement/instrument of weapon"), which again appears both in the Babylonian Talmud (Eruvin 45a, Nazir 59a, Sanhedrin 82a, Makkot 10a, Avodah Zarah 15b-16a, 25b) and the Jerusalemic Talmud (Peah 1:1, Pesachim 4:3, Avodah Zarah 1:6, 2:1). In fact, Rabbi Eliyahu Bachur (1469–1549) in Sefer Tishbi explicitly defines the word zayin as wafen in German (a cognate of the English weapon) and arma in Latin (a cognate of the English arms).
Case in point: the rabbis teach that a Torah Scholar who mastered Midrash but not Halacha is like an unarmed strongman, while one mastered Halacha but not Midrash is like an armed weakling. Only if one has mastered both Midrash and Halacha, is a Torah Scholar likened to an armed strong warrior (Avot D'Rabbi Natan ch. 29). In that passage, the rabbis used the term mezuyan and “has a zayin in his hand” interchangeably. After the Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni to Deut. §534) states that a bachelor should make sure to get married, it offers a parable to a wife’s protectiveness by stating “do not settle without a wife, rather make a holder for your zayin.” [In Modern Hebrew slang, the word zayin assumed a rude meaning, which scholars like David Assaf and Yisrael Bartel see as a bowdlerized form of the Hebrew word zanav (“tail”) used in an insulting way.]
Although the terms mezuyan or zayin do not appear in the Bible, there is a similar word — azenecha (Deut. 23:4), which means “weapon.” Ibn Saruk sees that word as derived from the triliteral root ALEPH-ZAYIN-NUN, but Radak argues that the initial ALEPH is radical to the root, and the word’s root is actually ZAYIN-VAV-NUN (while Ibn Janach goes both ways on this question). According to the latter approach, azen is quite similar to zayin. Interestingly, Rabbi Pappenheim traces both zayin and azen to the biliteral root ZAYIN-NUN ("sustenance and fulfillment of needs"), explaining that a weapon provides a combatant with the appropriate equipment to withstand his enemy’s onslaughts. [See Sefer HaTishbi who also cites some as explanation susim meyuzanim (in Jer. 5:8) as referring to “armed horses.”]
My wife Shira Yael Klein mentioned to me another Hebrew term for “being armed,” and then I saw that Rabbi Shlomo of Urbino (15th century Italy) in Ohel Moed lists this word as a synonym to chalutz and chamush: vayarek. This appears when the Bible reports that Abraham mustered (vayarek) his 318 followers and drafted them into a militia that he formed to save his nephew Lot who had been captured (Gen. 14:14). Targum Onkelos (there) translates vayarek into a cognate of zariz, just like he did with the words chalutz and chamush, which points to the notion that it is a synonym of those words. Technically-speaking, this is somewhat inexact because vayarek is a verb, while chalutz and chamush are adjectives, but the basic idea remains the same.
Rabbi Pappenheim traces the word vayarek to the biliteral root REISH-KUF (“emptying”), noting that when one draws something from its container, one has effectively emptied the container. Mastering this action of emptying a container in the sense of drawing one’s sword from its sheath (or a gun from its holster) gives a fighter a military edge and prepares him for battle.
We conclude with the Midrash that tells us the secret of Abraham's military successes: "Not through a weapon (zayin) and not through a shield (magen), but through prayer and supplication" (Vayikra Rabbah §25:4). Indeed, Psalm 91 which is said to protect against all sorts of dangers — and is especially used to pray for soldiers in war — does not contain the letter ZAYIN, alluding to the idea that if one could tap into the power of prayer, then such physical weapons would become superfluous.
