Hebrew word · H8667
תְּשׂ֫וּמֶת
vitsumet
security
Literally 'a placing of the hand'. It occurs only here, so its meaning is inferred: (1) a pledge or security handed over for a debt, (2) a loan or money entrusted, or (3) a business partnership or investment, money 'put in the hand' of a partner to trade with.
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
pledge, security, deposit
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 Leviticus 6:2
- Range of meaning
Literally 'a placing of the hand'. It occurs only here, so its meaning is inferred: (1) a pledge or security handed over for a debt, (2) a loan or money entrusted, or (3) a business partnership or investment, money 'put in the hand' of a partner to trade with.
- Against the English
KJV/YLT 'fellowship' sounds like spiritual or social companionship, which is not meant. WEB 'bargain' leans toward a commercial deal. BSB/ESV/NASB 'security' takes the pledge view.
- How it drifted
KJV 'fellowship' follows the Greek Septuagint koinōnia, 'partnership, a shared business'. In 1611 English that could mean a business partnership, but today 'fellowship' in a Bible almost always means church community.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The Septuagint has peri koinōnias ('concerning a partnership'). Rabbinic interpretation (Sifra; Rashi) takes it as money put in someone's hand as a loan or for a partnership venture.
Where it appears
Leviticus · 1
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Leviticus 6:2 בִתְשׂ֤וּמֶת <in> deposited property of
“If someone sins and acts unfaithfully against the LORD by deceiving his neighbor in regard to a deposit or security entrusted to him or stolen, or if he extorts his neighbor
Here: 'Concerning a placing of…': from the verb 'to put, place'. The word occurs only here, so its exact sense is debated (see Debates).
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.