Hebrew word · H2861

חֲתֻנָּה

chatunato

marriage

Wedding, the marriage festivity. It appears only here in the Hebrew Bible, but its family is common: ḥatan = bridegroom (and son-in-law), ḥoten = father-in-law, hitḥatten = to intermarry, to become related by marriage. The root is about joining two families by marriage.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

wedding, marriage

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 Song of Songs 3:11

Range of meaning

Wedding, the marriage festivity. It appears only here in the Hebrew Bible, but its family is common: ḥatan = bridegroom (and son-in-law), ḥoten = father-in-law, hitḥatten = to intermarry, to become related by marriage. The root is about joining two families by marriage. Akkadian has a related word for a relative by marriage.

Against the English

BSB, ESV and NIV say "wedding", which is accurate. KJV and YLT say "espousals", which a modern reader takes as "engagement". WEB's "weddings" (plural) is odd, since the Hebrew is singular.

How it drifted

KJV followed the Latin Vulgate's desponsio ("betrothal, espousal"). In 1611 "espousals" could also mean the marriage ceremony itself, but today it suggests only an engagement.

Used elsewhere in the period

The same noun becomes the ordinary word for "wedding" in later Hebrew (Mishnah onward). The Greek Septuagint renders it nymphousis, "giving in marriage, wedding". Related words: the "bridegroom coming out of his chamber" (Ps 19:5) and the prophetic phrase "the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride" (Jer 7:34; 16:9; 25:10; 33:11).

Where it appears

Song of Songs · 1

  1. Song of Songs 3:11 חֲתֻנָּת֔וֹ wedding his

    Come out, O daughters of Zion, and gaze at King Solomon, wearing the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding—the day of his heart’s rejoicing.

    Here: "His wedding": the marriage celebration itself, not an engagement. The noun appears only here in the Hebrew Bible. It comes from the same root as ḥatan, "bridegroom".

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