---
title: חֹתֵן — give · The Tanakh dictionary
description: חֹתֵן (lemma:חֹתֵן), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 22 times: give. BDB 1906: n.verb. wife’s father. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# חֹתֵן

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«חֹתֵן» in the Tanakh dictionary: **give** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

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**Used:** 22 times · **Key:** lemma:חֹתֵן · **BDB:** חֹתֵן

### Glosses

father-in-law (11); the.father-in-law (10); mother-in-law (1)

### Meaning (OSHB)

give [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1495/lemma_3a_5d7_5b9_5ea_5b5_5df/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

n.verb. wife’s father [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1495/lemma_3a_5d7_5b9_5ea_5b5_5df/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** n.verb. m. wife’s father (Arabic خَاتِنٌ a circumciser, hence father-in-law, with ref. to circumcision performed on young men just before marriage; خَتَنٌ relation on wife’s side; v. WeProl. 1886, 355 Anm. 1; Skizzen iii, 154 StaZAW 1886, 143 Anm. NöZMG 1886, 187; otherwise DlPr 91 LagBN 116)—cstr. חֹתֵן Ex 18:1 + 9 times, חֹתֶנְךָ Ex 18:6, חֹתְנוֹ Ex 3:1 + 9 times;—usually of Moses’ wife’s father Ex 3:1; 4:18; 18:1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12(×2), 14, 15, 17, 24, 27 (all E), Nu 10:29 (J), Ju 1:16; 4:11; of a Levite Ju 19:4, 7, 9. f. wife’s mother, only sf. חֹתַנְתּוֹ Dt 27:23.

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 21 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses (4 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 0 words shared with the BDB entry, 0 with the glosses (3 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «חֹתֵן» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1495/lemma_3a_5d7_5b9_5ea_5b5_5df/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Deuteronomy 27:23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/DEU.27.23/)

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אָר֕וּר שֹׁכֵ֖ב עִם־חֹֽתַנְתּ֑וֹ וְאָמַ֥ר כָּל־הָעָ֖ם אָמֵֽן׃ס

*Word for word:* \[is\].cursed \[one.who\].lies with mother-in-law his and it.will.say all the people amen

*JPS 1917:* Cursed be he that lieth with his mother-in-law. And all the people shall say: Amen.

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[Exodus 18:2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/EXO.18.2/)

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וַיִּקַּ֗ח יִתְרוֹ֙ חֹתֵ֣ן מֹשֶׁ֔ה אֶת־צִפֹּרָ֖ה אֵ֣שֶׁת מֹשֶׁ֑ה אַחַ֖ר שִׁלּוּחֶֽיהָ׃

*Word for word:* and he.had.taken Jethro the.father-in-law of.Moses (et) Zipporah the.wife of.Moses after dismissal(s) her

*JPS 1917:* And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her away,

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