לָהַם

From the study of Proverbs 18:8

Range of meaning

This is a reflexive verb form of a root found only in this verse and its twin, 26:22. Most modern lexicons (BDB, HALOT) connect it with Arabic lahima, "to swallow greedily, gulp". The word then means "things swallowed greedily": tidbits, delicacies, morsels you gobble. Older Jewish interpreters linked it with other roots. One is hālam, "to strike", which gives "like wounds". Another view, reflected in the Vulgate, reads it as "seeming innocent or simple".

Against the English

KJV has "as wounds" and YLT "as self-inflicted wounds", both following the older Jewish "strike" interpretation. BSB, NIV, ESV, NASB and WEB have "choice", "delicious" or "dainty morsels", following the "swallow" derivation.

How it drifted

This is not drift over time. It is a disagreement about a rare word. The KJV translators took up a medieval Jewish interpretation, and their own margin offered an alternative. Later comparative work with Arabic and the verse's own imagery of food "going down" moved modern translations to "morsels".

Used elsewhere in the period

The word occurs only at Prov 18:8 and 26:22. The Greek translation (LXX) of 26:22 has words that are "soft" and that "strike" into the inner parts, combining both ideas. The Latin Vulgate has "quasi simplicia", "as if simple/harmless". The Arabic cognate lahima, "to gulp", is the main evidence for the modern reading.