Hebrew word · H4176

מוֹרֶה

moreh

Moreh

Formally this is a participle of the root yrh in its "cause to" form: "one who points out, directs, teaches." The same form means "teacher" elsewhere (e.g., Isa 30:20; Prov 5:13), and the root gives the noun torah, "instruction." Here it is a proper name, used for this tree and also for a hill in...

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

What it means

§ Moreh = "teacher"

the oak tree at Shechem where Abram stopped when he first entered Canaan; close to the mountains of Ebal and Gerizim

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 12:6

Range of meaning

Formally this is a participle of the root yrh in its "cause to" form: "one who points out, directs, teaches." The same form means "teacher" elsewhere (e.g., Isa 30:20; Prov 5:13), and the root gives the noun torah, "instruction." Here it is a proper name, used for this tree and also for a hill in Judges 7:1.

Against the English

English versions leave it untranslated as "Moreh," so readers usually take it as a meaningless place-name.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deut 11:30 has "the oaks of Moreh." Judges 7:1 mentions a "hill of Moreh." Judges 9:37 has an "Elon Meʿonenim," "the diviners' oak," also near Shechem, which may be the same tree or a similar one. The Septuagint rendered moreh as "lofty," apparently reading it from a different root or guessing.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 12:6 מוֹרֶ֑ה Moreh

    Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the Oak of Moreh at Shechem. And at that time the Canaanites were in the land.

    Here: The tree's name. It comes from the root that means "to teach" or "to give direction," the same root as torah. So it probably means "the teacher's tree" or "the oracle tree": a place where people looked for a word from a god.

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 11:30 מֹרֶֽה׃ Moreh

    Are not these mountains across the Jordan, west of the road toward the sunset, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah opposite Gilgal near the Oak of Moreh?

Judges · 1

  1. Judges 7:1 הַמּוֹרֶ֖ה <the> Moreh

    Early in the morning Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the men with him camped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh.

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