Hebrew word · H737

אֲרֻחָה

'aruchah

ration

An allotted portion of food: an allowance or ration, often handed out by someone else in a fixed amount. Many lexicons connect it to the root of ʾōraḥ, 'way, road', and suggest it first meant a traveller's provisions. That origin is likely but not certain.

Appears 6 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) meal, allowance, ration

1a) food

1b) diet

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 Proverbs 15:17

Range of meaning

An allotted portion of food: an allowance or ration, often handed out by someone else in a fixed amount. It appears only four times: here, Jer 40:5 (the provisions Nebuzaradan gives Jeremiah when releasing him), and 2 Kgs 25:30 = Jer 52:34 (the regular daily allowance the king of Babylon gave to the exiled King Jehoiachin). Many lexicons connect it to the root of ʾōraḥ, 'way, road', and suggest it first meant a traveller's provisions. That origin is likely but not certain.

Against the English

KJV/WEB/ESV 'dinner' makes it a meal occasion. BSB 'dish' and NIV's 'small serving' come closer to a modest portion. YLT's 'allowance' is the most literal.

How it drifted

'Dinner' was the main meal of the day in 1611. Today it suggests an evening meal or a sit-down occasion, which the Hebrew word does not carry.

Used elsewhere in the period

2 Kgs 25:30; Jer 40:5; 52:34. The Greek translation (LXX) renders it xenismos, 'hospitality, entertainment of guests', reading the scene as a meal offered to guests.

Where it appears

2 Kings · 2

  1. 2 Kings 25:30 וַאֲרֻחָת֗וֹ אֲרֻחַ֨ת and allowance his, an allowance of

    And the king provided Jehoiachin a daily portion for the rest of his life.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 15:17 אֲרֻחַ֣ת a portion of

    Better a dish of vegetables where there is love than a fattened ox with hatred.

    Here: A measured, allotted portion of food, the kind of fixed ration handed out to a captive or traveller elsewhere in the Bible. It suggests a plain, limited serving, not a spread.

Jeremiah · 3

  1. Jeremiah 40:5 אֲרֻחָ֥ה a food allowance

    But before Jeremiah turned to go, Nebuzaradan added, “Return to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the cities of Judah, and stay with him among the people, or go anywhere else that seems right.” Then the captain of the guard gave him a ration and a gift and released him.

  2. Jeremiah 52:34 וַאֲרֻחָת֗וֹ אֲרֻחַת֩ and allowance his, an allowance of

    And the king of Babylon provided Jehoiachin a daily portion for the rest of his life, until the day of his death.

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