Hebrew word · H2570

חֹ֫מֶשׁ

hachomesh

belly

The belly or abdomen: the soft area below the ribs where a thrust goes in easily and is usually fatal. It is a rare word, found only four times, all in 2 Samuel: 2:23 (Abner kills Asahel), 3:27 (Joab kills Abner), 4:6 (Ishbosheth is murdered), 20:10 (Joab kills Amasa). Its origin is uncertain.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

belly, abdomen, fifth ribs

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 2 Samuel 2:23

Range of meaning

The belly or abdomen: the soft area below the ribs where a thrust goes in easily and is usually fatal. It is a rare word, found only four times, all in 2 Samuel: 2:23 (Abner kills Asahel), 3:27 (Joab kills Abner), 4:6 (Ishbosheth is murdered), 20:10 (Joab kills Amasa). Its origin is uncertain. It is spelled like ḥomesh, "a fifth" (e.g. Gen 47:26), but the major lexicons (BDB, HALOT) treat this as a separate word meaning "belly".

Against the English

KJV "under the fifth [rib]" and YLT "unto the fifth [rib]" ("rib" is in brackets because it is added). BSB, NIV and ESV have "stomach"; NASB has "belly"; WEB has "body".

How it drifted

Jewish interpreters linked ḥomesh to ḥamesh, "five", and explained it as "the fifth rib", where the liver and gall hang (Rashi says this). English translators of the 16th and 17th centuries, who leaned heavily on medieval Jewish commentary, carried it into the KJV. It is a guess based on spelling, not on how the word is used.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ancient translations agree on a body area, not a rib. The Greek Septuagint is usually printed with "the loin/lower back" (psoa), and the Latin Vulgate has "in the groin" (in inguine). All four Hebrew uses are of a thrust from the front or side into the abdomen. In 20:10, Amasa's bowels spill to the ground, which fits a wound to the belly, not a rib.

From the study of 2 Samuel 3:27

Range of meaning

The belly or abdomen, the soft area below the ribs. It occurs only in 2 Samuel, always as the target of a fatal blow: 2:23 (Abner kills Asahel), 3:27 (Joab kills Abner), 4:6 (Ish-bosheth's murderers), 20:10 (Joab kills Amasa). A separate word, spelled the same way, means 'a fifth part'.

Against the English

KJV and YLT have 'the fifth [rib]', with 'rib' added in brackets. Modern versions have 'stomach', 'belly' or 'body'.

How it drifted

Medieval Jewish interpreters (e.g. Rashi) connected the word to ḥāmēsh, 'five', and explained it as 'the fifth rib, where the gall bladder and liver hang'. The KJV followed that tradition. Modern lexicons (BDB, HALOT) treat it as a separate noun meaning 'belly'. The ancient translations support this: the Greek has 'loins' and the Latin has 'groin', not 'fifth rib'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Used only in 2 Samuel. The Septuagint renders it with psoa ('loins, lower back muscles'), and the Vulgate (the early Latin translation) gives in inguine ('in the groin'). Neither shows any idea of a numbered rib.

Where it appears

2 Samuel · 4

  1. 2 Samuel 2:23 הַחֹ֗מֶשׁ the belly

    But Asahel refused to turn away. So Abner thrust the butt of his spear into his stomach, and it came out his back, and he fell dead on the spot. And every man paused when he came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died.

    Here: "The belly." The soft abdomen below the ribs. The word appears only in 2 Samuel, and every time it marks a killing (2:23; 3:27; 4:6; 20:10). Here it starts the chain: Joab will later kill Abner with a blow to the same spot "for the blood of Asahel his brother" (3:27).

  2. 2 Samuel 3:27 הַחֹ֔מֶשׁ the belly

    When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pulled him aside into the gateway, as if to speak to him privately, and there Joab stabbed him in the stomach. So Abner died on account of the blood of Joab’s brother Asahel.

    Here: 'The belly': the same spot where Abner had struck Asahel (2:23). The blow mirrors the original killing, a life for a life in the same place. The KJV's 'fifth rib' comes from linking the word to the Hebrew for 'five'.

  3. 2 Samuel 4:6 הַחֹ֑מֶשׁ the belly

    They entered the interior of the house as if to get some wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and his brother Baanah slipped away.

  4. 2 Samuel 20:10 הַחֹ֜מֶשׁ the belly

    Amasa was not on guard against the dagger in Joab’s hand, and Joab stabbed him in the stomach and spilled out his intestines on the ground. And Joab did not need to strike him again, for Amasa was dead. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bichri.

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