עֶ֫צֶם

From the study of Genesis 2:23

Range of meaning

ʿEṣem: bone, skeleton, and by extension the self or substance of something (bəʿeṣem hayyôm hazzeh, “on this very day,” Gen 7:13). Bāśār: flesh, body, a living creature, humanity in its frailty, and one's own relatives. As a pair, “my bone and my flesh” is a fixed Hebrew phrase meaning “my own kin.”

Against the English

English translations keep the words literally, which is right, but modern readers often hear only a bodily or romantic picture. To an Israelite ear the phrase first meant “family, my own people.”

How it drifted

In English, “bone” and “flesh” are anatomy words, and the phrase reaches most people through wedding liturgy, which makes it sound sentimental. The Hebrew social idiom is lost.

Used elsewhere in the period

Laban to Jacob: “Surely you are my bone and my flesh” (Gen 29:14). Abimelech to the Shechemites: “remember that I am your bone and your flesh” (Judg 9:2). The tribes to David at Hebron: “we are your bone and flesh” (2 Sam 5:1; 1 Chr 11:1). David to Judah's elders: “you are my bone and my flesh” (2 Sam 19:12–13). In several of these the phrase grounds loyalty and obligation, not only blood relation.

From the study of Proverbs 3:8

Range of meaning

Bone, skeleton; by extension the self or substance of a thing ('this very day' is literally 'the bone of this day', Genesis 7:13). Bones are where both physical strength and deep emotion are felt.

Against the English

All versions have 'bones', which is accurate. English readers may hear only anatomy, while Hebrew 'bones' often means the person's inmost being.

Used elsewhere in the period

Psalm 6:2 ('my bones are troubled'), Psalm 35:10 ('all my bones shall say, LORD, who is like you?'), Jeremiah 20:9 ('fire shut up in my bones'), Proverbs 15:30 ('good news fattens the bones'), Proverbs 14:30 ('envy is rottenness of the bones'), Isaiah 66:14 ('your bones shall flourish like grass'), Ezekiel 37 (dry bones as a people without hope).

From the study of Ezekiel 37:1

Range of meaning

A bone, of humans or animals. By extension, the body's frame as the seat of strength, health and deep emotion (Ps 6:2; 22:14; 32:3), and 'self, very substance' ('on this very day', beʿetsem hayyom hazzeh, Gen 7:13; Ezek 40:1). 'Bone of my bones' expresses kinship (Gen 2:23).

Against the English

'Bones' is accurate. What the English reader misses is the cluster of meanings around bones: shame, defilement, and a people's sense of its own vitality.

Used elsewhere in the period

Unburied bones are a covenant curse (Deut 28:26; Jer 8:1–2). Assyrian treaty curses likewise threaten corpses left for birds and dogs. Touching a human bone made a person unclean for seven days (Num 19:16, 18), and priests had to avoid the dead (Lev 21:1–4). Ezekiel had earlier announced, 'I will scatter your bones around your altars' (6:5). 'Our bones are dried up' (37:11) echoes the proverbial 'a crushed spirit dries up the bones' (Prov 17:22). 2 Kings 13:21 tells of a dead man revived by touching Elisha's bones.