In one of the most dramatic acts of zeal recorded in the Bible, Aaron’s grandson Phineas responds to a very public sin committed by Kozbi and Zimri by rising up, taking a romach – commonly translated as “spear” – and skewering the two sinners on the spot (Numbers 25:7). In this essay, we take a closer look at the Hebrew word used for Phineas’ weapon of choice and compare it with other Hebrew words like chanit and kidon that seem to refer to the same or very similar weapons.
Romach
The word romach appears only this once in the Pentateuch, but it does appear another 14 times in the rest of the Bible. The classical lexicographers like Menachem Ibn Saruk (920-970), Yonah Ibn Janach (990-1055), and Radak (1160-1235) all trace the word romach to the triliteral root reish-mem-chet, which is only used in reference to that weapon.
Later lexicographers give alternate explanations of the word romach, positing that it derives from a compound root. For example, Rabbi Moshe Tedeschi Ashkenazi (1821-1898) writes in his work on Hebrew synonyms, Otzar Nirdafim, that the word romach is related to the biliteral root mem-chet (“erase” or “annihilate”), which references the destructive nature of the weapon. Similarly, Ohalei Yehuda explains the word romach as a portmanteau of the roots reish-(vav)-mem (“high” or “exalted”) and mem-chet – just a single stab from a romach proves fatal to any human, whether an exalted individual or lowly person. Indeed, Kozbi was Midianite princess and Zimri was the prince of the Tribe of Shimon, yet both were swiftly felled by Phineas’ mighty romach.
Alternatively, Ohalei Yehuda suggests that the word romach derives from the biliteral roots reish-mem and chet-yud (“life”) because the romach can effectively “lift” out someone’s “life.”
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (to Exodus 15:1 and Numbers 25:7) follows the triliteralist approach that traces the word romach to the root reish-mem-chet, but he sees that root as bearing phonetic affinity to the word ramah (“throwing” or “shooting”) via the interchangeability of chet and hey. In his view, it seems, the word romach refers to a weapon generally wielded by “throwing” rather than “stabbing.”
Chanit
The word chanit appears a total of 47 times in the Bible, but none of those instances are in the Pentateuch. While triliteralists Ibn Janach and Radak, in their respective Sefer HaShorashim, trace the word chanit to the triliteral root chet-nun-hey (“camping,” “resting,” or “store”), the biliteral Menachem Ibn Saruk does not even list this word in his lexicon on Biblical Hebrew.
That said, Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim (1740-1814), being a biliteralist, traces the word chanit to the biliteral root chet-nun (“camping”). He explains that words like machaneh (“camp”) derive from this root in the sense that a united party traveling from one place to another has collectively stopped and made camp at a specific location. A military encampment is likewise called a machaneh because it consists of multiple individuals working together to capture enemy territory or defend the motherland.
In line with this, Rabbi Pappenheim explains the word chanit as a weapon commonly found in military encampments and used for military purposes. Rabbi Pappenheim also sees the word anachnu ( the first person plural) as derived from this root: the way he parses that word, the ana element cognates with the Hebrew words ani/anochi (the first person singular) and the chnu element derives from chet-nun because when a group of people refer to themselves in the first person, it is as though they are saying, “we who are camping together.”
Rabbi Pappenheim also sees the word chen (“charm” or “favor”) as derived from this biliteral root, explaining that when one has charmfully found favor in the eyes of another, the other is willing to “accept” him and graciously grant him headspace to figuratively “camp out” in his thoughts. The words techinah and tachanun (“supplication”) refer to petitions to be granted chen.
There are three more ways of understanding the etymology of chanit: Rabbi Tedeschi Ashkenazi writes that the word chanit derives from the root chet-nun-hey (“camping”) and refers to the fact that this weapon would often be stabbed into the ground where it would be “camped.” Shoresh Yesha also connects chanit to that root, but he explains that the chanit is a weapon that military camps are scared of. Finally, Ohalei Yehuda sees the word chanit as related to the word chadah (“sharp”), probably due to the interchangeability of the letters nun and dalet.
Kidon
The word kidon never appears in the Pentateuch but it appears nine times in the Bible: in the books of Joshua (8:18, 8:26), Samuel (I Samuel 17:6, 17:45), Jeremiah (6:23, 50:42), and Job (39:23, 41:21). Targum (to Joshua 8:18) actually translates kidon as romcha — an Aramaicization of the word romach, thus implying that the two weapons are very similar and the words for them can even be somewhat interchanged.
The classical lexicographers trace kidon to the three-letter root kaf-yud-dalet. Another word derived from that same root is kiyd (Job 21:20), which means “misfortune” or “suffering.” This leads Ibn Janach to suggest that the word kidon as a weapon refers to that tool’s knack for bringing suffering and misfortune upon one’s enemies.
Maimonides (to Keilim 11:8) explains that a kidon is a small romach, noting that it is the type of weapon that kings and aristocrats typically carried with them at all times. Perhaps Maimonides understood the word kidon as related to the word yad (“hand”), with the initial kaf meaning “similar.” After all, if this weapon was with a nobleman wherever he went it could be described as “akin to a hand,” which likewise follows a person wherever he may go.
The esteemed philologist Rabbi Dr. Ernest Klein (no relation) suggests that the word kidon is probably etymologically-related to the Arabic kadda and the Ethiopic kedda (which are verbs for “thrusting”). In a somewhat similar way, Rabbi Yehoshua (Jeremy) Steinberg of the Veromemanu Foundation proposes that kidon is a metathesized derivative of the root dalet-kaf (“smashed”), which recalls another of referring to how a kidon might smite one’s enemies.
Rabbi Tanchum HaYerushalmi (a 13th century exegete who lived in the Holy Land) writes in his work HaMadrich HaMaspik explains that although the word kidon usually refers to a small romach that is thrown at one’s enemies, like some sort of arrow or dart, there is a reference in the Bible to King David’s archnemesis Goliath wearing “a copper kidon between his shoulders” (I Samuel 17:6). This passage implies that kidon can also refer to a helmet worn on a person’s head. Accordingly, it would seem that perhaps kidon can be understood as a general term that refers to all sorts of paraphernalia used by an infantryman,be it weaponry or armor.
Nonetheless, Radak (there) explains that even in the context of Goliath the kidon is an offensive weapon and not a defensive armor. In doing so, he writes that it refers to some sort of weapon that resembles a romach that soldiers would hide between their shoulders. Interestingly, when the word kidon appears elsewhere in the Bible, Radak (to Jeremiah 50:42) seems unsure about whether it refers to the weapon type or the armor type.
Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim traces the word kidon to the billiteral root kaf-dalet, which he defines as “a vessel with ear-like handles that protrude sideways.” The most basic derivative of this root is the word kad (“jug”), which is indeed a receptacle that perfectly fits that exact description. In a borrowed sense, the word kidon also derives from that core root, as it refers to a sort of romach that has spikes protruding from its sides in a way that resembles the handles on a jug. A third word that Rabbi Pappenheim connects back to this root is neched (“nephew”), which refers to a side offshoot of one’s family tree, as opposed to a line of direct linear descent.
In Modern Hebrew, the word kidon takes on three new meanings: “javelin” (i.e., a long spear that people throw in Olympiad sports), “bayonet” (that is, a sort of spear that is sometimes appended to the end of a rifle), and “grip” or “handlebar” (on a bicycle). The first two meanings of kidon in the Modern Hebrew sense can be clearly seen as outgrowths of the Biblical word, because the javelin and bayonet are ultimately types of spears. But the last meaning is a bit more difficult to trace back to the word’s original intent.
Dr. Raphael Sappan (1927-1995), who was an expert in the development of Modern Hebrew slang, writes in his additions to Even-Shoshan’s Modern Hebrew dictionary that this last usage is derived from the phonetic similarity of the Hebrew kidon with the French word guidone, which refers to a “grip” or “handlebar.”
Rabbi Shmuel Krauss (1866-1948) writes that romach, chanit, and kidon are all synonyms that refer to the same sort of weapon. He even adds that the rabbis used a fourth synonym for this weapon: alunki. For example, the Amoraic sage Shmuel said “one who was smitten with a Persian alunki, will not live” (Gittin 70a). Rabbi Krauss explains that alunki is derived from the Greek word λόγχη (lónkhē), which happens to be the etymon from which the English word lance evolved. In the Persian version of this weapon, the points of these spears were tipped with poison, so one who is hit by such a weapon is unlikely to survive.
