Hebrew word · H2567

חָמַשׁ

vechimesh

to take the fifth part

A verb built from the number five (chamesh). The usual reading is 'to take a fifth part, to levy a fifth'. The form here is intensive, and this verb with this meaning appears nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible. For that reason some ancient readers took the verb as 'organize, make ready'.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to arrange in multiples of five, take one fifth

1a) (Piel) to take one fifth, tax a fifth of

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

In depth

From the study of Genesis 41:34

Range of meaning

A verb built from the number five (chamesh). The usual reading is 'to take a fifth part, to levy a fifth'. The form here is intensive, and this verb with this meaning appears nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible. A related word, chamushim, describes Israel leaving Egypt 'equipped' or 'in battle order' (Exodus 13:18). For that reason some ancient readers took the verb as 'organize, make ready'.

Against the English

English cannot turn 'fifth' into a verb, so every version spreads it out: 'take a fifth', 'take up the fifth part', 'exact a fifth', 'collect one-fifth'. 'Exact' and 'collect' make clear it is a compulsory levy. 'Take up the fifth part of the land' (KJV) can sound as if land is being taken.

Used elsewhere in the period

The narrative explains itself in Genesis 47:24–26. Joseph turns 'the fifth' (chamishit) into a standing statute 'to this day', so the meaning 'fifth' is secure inside Genesis. The Septuagint uses a Greek verb that also means 'take a fifth'. The Aramaic Targum Onkelos renders it 'and let him make ready/urge on' the land, and the medieval commentator Rashi follows the Targum and links it to chamushim. In Leviticus the same number appears in the 'added fifth' paid as restitution (e.g., Lev 5:16).

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 41:34 וְחִמֵּשׁ֙ and he will take a fifth of

    Let Pharaoh take action and appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance.

    Here: A verb made from the number 'five', literally 'and he shall fifth' the land. It means levying one part in five of the yield. This verb occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible.

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