Hebrew word · H4991

מַתַּת

matat

gift

Gift, present: something given freely (1 Kgs 13:7, a king's gift; Ezek 46:5, 11, 'as his hand can give'; Prov 25:14, a boasted gift never given). From natan, 'to give'.

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

gift, reward

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 Ecclesiastes 5:19

Range of meaning

Gift, present: something given freely (1 Kgs 13:7, a king's gift; Ezek 46:5, 11, 'as his hand can give'; Prov 25:14, a boasted gift never given). From natan, 'to give'.

Against the English

All the major versions use 'gift'. KJV 'the gift', YLT/BSB 'a gift'. The English is accurate.

Used elsewhere in the period

The exact phrase mattat 'elohim hi', 'it is a gift of God', appears also in Eccl 3:13: 'that everyone should eat and drink and see good in all his toil, it is a gift of God.'

From the study of Proverbs 25:14

Range of meaning

A gift, a present, something given. It comes from natan, 'to give'. It refers to an actual transfer of goods or favor, not to a talent or ability.

Against the English

English 'gift' can mean a natural talent ('she has a gift for music') or, in church use, a 'spiritual gift'. Hebrew matat does not carry those senses. It is a present someone hands over.

How it drifted

English 'gift' gained the sense 'natural endowment, talent' (from the idea of something given by God or nature). In Christian speech it was further shaped by Paul's charismata in 1 Corinthians 12. Neither sense belongs to matat here.

Used elsewhere in the period

1 Kings 13:7 (the king offers the man of God a matat, a gift or reward). Ezekiel 46:5, 11 (the offering 'as much as he is able to give'). Ecclesiastes 3:13 and 5:19 (enjoying one's work is 'the gift of God'). Related words: mattan, Proverbs 18:16 and 21:14, gifts that open doors and soothe anger.

From the study of Ecclesiastes 3:13

Range of meaning

Gift or present, from the verb natan, 'to give'. It occurs only six times: 1 Kings 13:7 (a king's reward offered to the man of God); Proverbs 25:14 (boasting of a gift never given); Ecclesiastes 3:13 and 5:19 [Heb. 18] (mattat Elohim); Ezekiel 46:5, 11 (an offering 'as much as his hand can give').

Against the English

All the major versions say 'gift'. ESV adds 'to man' and NLT uses the plural 'gifts'. The English is accurate. The weight lies in what is called a gift: eating, drinking and enjoying, things a modern reader might count as a right or something earned.

Used elsewhere in the period

The same verb root runs through Qohelet's theology of what God 'gives': God gives humans their task or business (1:13; 3:10), their days (5:18; 8:15; 9:9), wealth and the power to enjoy it (5:19). The counter-case is 6:2: God gives a man wealth but does not empower him to eat of it, and a stranger enjoys it instead.

Where it appears

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 13:7 מַתָּֽת׃ a gift

    Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.”

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 25:14 בְּמַתַּת־ in a gift of

    Like clouds and wind without rain is the man who boasts of gifts never given.

    Here: A gift, something handed over (from natan, 'to give'). The preposition marks what his boasting is about: a gift.

Ecclesiastes · 2

  1. Ecclesiastes 3:13 מַתַּ֥ת [is] a gift of

    and also that every man should eat and drink and find satisfaction in all his labor—this is the gift of God.

    Here: 'A gift of.' This is a rare word, found only six times in the Bible. It names something handed over, not earned or produced. The enjoyment described above is received; it is not achieved.

  2. Ecclesiastes 5:19 מַתַּ֥ת [is] a gift of

    Furthermore, God has given riches and wealth to every man, and He has enabled him to enjoy them, to accept his lot, and to rejoice in his labor. This is a gift from God.

    Here: 'A gift of', from the same root as natan, 'give'. A present freely handed over, not a wage earned by toil.

Ezekiel · 2

  1. Ezekiel 46:5 מַתַּ֣ת [will be] [the] gift of

    The grain offering with the ram shall be one ephah, and the grain offering with the lambs shall be as much as he is able, along with a hin of oil per ephah.

  2. Ezekiel 46:11 מַתַּ֣ת [the] gift of

    At the festivals and appointed feasts, the grain offering shall be an ephah with a bull, an ephah with a ram, and as much as one is able to give with the lambs, along with a hin of oil per ephah.

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