Hebrew word · H2138

זָכוּר

zekhurekha

male

'Male(s),' collective. It is a rare by-form of zakhar ('male'), found almost only in this legal formula (Exod 23:17; 34:23; Deut 16:16; 20:13).

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated November 08, 2026

What it means

male

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: 'Male(s),' collective. It is a rare by-form of zakhar ('male'), found almost only in this legal formula (Exod 23:17; 34:23; Deut 16:16; 20:13).
Against the English: KJV/ESV/NASB 'males' is literal. BSB/NIV 'men' reads naturally but can suggest only adults. NLT-style wording that turns the clause into 'all the men of Israel must celebrate' moves the focus from presence at the face of God to keeping a holiday.
Used elsewhere in the period: Later Jewish law (Mishnah Ḥagigah 1:1) worked out who was obligated: women, minors, slaves and some others were exempt from the pilgrimage duty, while free adult males were bound. That is a later interpretation, though it builds on this wording.

Range of meaning: A collective noun meaning 'males, the male population'. It is a rare form of the common zakhar ('male'), found only in Exod 23:17; 34:23; Deut 16:16; 20:13.
Against the English: KJV's 'men children' (older English for 'male persons') now sounds like 'boys'. NIV/NLT 'men' implies adult men only. 'Males' is the most exact rendering.
How it drifted: Older English 'menchildren' or 'men children' simply meant 'males'. Modern 'children' has narrowed it to minors.
Used elsewhere in the period: Deut 20:13 uses it for the whole male population of a captured town. Later Jewish law limited the pilgrimage duty to adult males fit to walk up to the temple. It exempted women, minors, slaves, the deaf, the mentally incapable, the lame, the blind, the sick and the aged (m. Hagigah 1:1). Josephus describes the pilgrimage as gathering the nation from the ends of the land (Antiquities 4.203–204).

Exodus · 2

Exodus 23:17 זְכ֣וּרְךָ֔ male your

Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD.
Exodus 34:23 זְכ֣וּרְךָ֔ male your

Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.

Here: A rare collective form, literally 'your maleness', i.e. the whole male population of the household or nation. 'Your' is singular: Israel is addressed as one person, or each householder is addressed directly.

Deuteronomy · 2

Deuteronomy 16:16 זְכוּרְךָ֜ male your

Three times a year all your men are to appear before the LORD your God in the place He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed.

Here: 'Your males,' a rare collective form also found in the parallel laws (Exod 23:17; 34:23; Deut 20:13). It names who is legally obligated, the male heads and members of the household. It does not say who may attend, since verses 11 and 14 bring sons, daughters, servants, Levites, immigrants, orphans and widows to the feasts.
Deuteronomy 20:13 זְכוּרָ֖הּ male its

When the LORD your God has delivered it into your hand, you must put every male to the sword.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.