Hebrew word · H2573

חֵ֫מֶת

hachemet

bottle

A skin container for liquid: a waterskin, typically the whole hide of a goat with the neck and leg openings tied off. In the Pentateuch it occurs only in Genesis 21:14, 15, 19. Habakkuk 2:15 may contain it, but the reading and meaning there are disputed.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

bottle, waterskin

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 21:15

Range of meaning

A skin container for liquid: a waterskin, typically the whole hide of a goat with the neck and leg openings tied off. In the Pentateuch it occurs only in Genesis 21:14, 15, 19. Habakkuk 2:15 may contain it, but the reading and meaning there are disputed.

Against the English

KJV 'bottle' and WEB 'container' are vague or misleading for modern readers. BSB, NIV, ESV and NASB 'skin' is accurate.

How it drifted

In 1611 'bottle' could mean a leather vessel, as in 'new wine into old bottles' (Matt 9:17 KJV). Today it suggests glass or plastic.

Used elsewhere in the period

The LXX translates it as askos, 'wineskin, leather bag', the same word used in Jesus' saying about new wine in old skins. Ancient Near Eastern art and modern Bedouin practice both show goatskin waterbags carried on the shoulder or back.

From the study of Genesis 21:14

Range of meaning

A skin container for water, made from an animal hide sewn or tied shut. It occurs clearly only in Gen 21:14, 15, 19. A possible further case at Hab 2:15 is disputed, where it may instead be ḥemah, 'wrath/poison'.

Against the English

KJV and YLT say 'bottle', which modern readers picture as glass or plastic. BSB 'skin of water' is exact. WEB 'container' is accurate but loses the picture.

How it drifted

In 1611 'bottle' could mean a leather vessel (compare 'new wine into old bottles', Matt 9:17 KJV). The glass-bottle sense is now dominant.

Used elsewhere in the period

Hebrew has other words for skin containers (nod, Josh 9:4, 13; Ps 56:8). Lexicons (BDB, HALOT) gloss ḥēmet as 'skin-bottle' and compare it with cognate words in related Semitic languages. Goatskin water bags remained standard among Near Eastern pastoralists into modern times.

Where it appears

Genesis · 3

  1. Genesis 21:14 וְחֵ֨מַת and a skin of

    Early in the morning, Abraham got up, took bread and a skin of water, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her away with the boy. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba.

    Here: 'And a skin of', a water bag made from animal hide. The word occurs only in this story. Its water running out in v. 15 is what drives the crisis.

  2. Genesis 21:15 הַחֵ֑מֶת the skin

    When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes.

    Here: A leather bag, usually a whole goatskin sewn up, used for carrying water. It is the same skin from verse 14, and Hagar will fill it again in verse 19. The word comes up only in this chapter (and possibly Habakkuk 2:15).

  3. Genesis 21:19 הַחֵ֙מֶת֙ the skin

    Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

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