StrongerBible

okhel

אֹכֶל

HebrewH0400food, meat, ...

Appears 43 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 14:11Gen 41:35 (2×)Gen 41:36Gen 41:48 (3×)Gen 42:7Gen 42:10Gen 43:2Gen 43:4Gen 43:20Gen 43:22Gen 44:1Gen 44:25Gen 47:24Exo 12:4Exo 16:16Exo 16:18Exo 16:21Lev 11:34Lev 25:37Psa 78:30Psa 104:21Psa 104:27Psa 145:15Mal 1:12
Root family
Word studyOH-khelnoun

What okhel means

food: anything eaten, especially as a supply or provision

TranslatabilityDirectCertaintySettled

This is the plain, everyday word for food, the things people (and animals) eat. It is the noun built from the common verb "to eat," so it names the eating-stuff itself rather than any single dish or recipe.

In practice it leans toward food viewed as a supply. It is the word for the grain Joseph stockpiles against the famine, the provisions travelers carry, and the rations a household lives on. From there it stretches naturally to the produce a field yields, the prey God provides for wild animals, and even the food set on the LORD's altar. These are not separate meanings, just the one idea of "food" seen in different settings.

Because it is so ordinary, it usually carries no special weight of its own; the meaning comes from what surrounds it, such as who is storing the food, who is going hungry, or who is providing it.

Gen 14:11Gen 41:35 (2×)Gen 41:36Gen 41:48 (3×)Gen 42:7Gen 42:10Gen 43:2Gen 43:4Gen 43:20Gen 43:22Gen 44:1Gen 44:25

What scholars say about okhel

The standard lexica treat אֹכֶל as a single, well-understood noun "food, eating, foodstuff," a nominal form of the root אכל "to eat" (BDB, s.v.; HALOT, s.v.). It is the general term for edible supply, distinguished in usage but not in core meaning from its cognates אׇכְלָה (H0402) and מַאֲכָל (H3978), and overlapping the much broader לֶחֶם. Its concentration in the Joseph narrative reflects subject matter (the famine stores of Genesis 41 to 47) rather than a distinct lexical sense.

Sources

  • BDB, s.v. אֹכֶלlexicon
  • HALOT, s.v. אֹכֶלlexicon

All attested forms of אֹכֶל

m s absolute

אֹכֶל

Gen 41:35, Gen 41:36, Gen 41:48, Gen 42:7, Gen 42:10, Gen 43:2, Gen 43:4, Gen 43:20

m s construct

אָכְלָם

Gen 14:11, Psa 78:30, Psa 104:21, Psa 104:27, Psa 145:15

m s construct

אָכְלוֹ

Exo 12:4, Exo 16:16, Exo 16:18, Exo 16:21, Mal 1:12

m s construct

אֹכֶל

Gen 41:35, Gen 41:48, Gen 41:48

m s construct

אָכְלְכֶם

Gen 47:24

m s construct

אָכְלֶךָ

Lev 25:37