View source for Dictionary:חֹתֵן – חֹתֶנֶת/0

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<h1>חֹתֵן / חֹתֶנֶת</h1>
	
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	<infobox class="Lexical">
		<title>חֹתֵן / חֹתֶנֶת</title>
		<row>
			<label>Part of Speech<!--Category--></label>
			<content>Noun</content>
		</row>
		<row>
			<label>Occurrences</label>
			<content>21 / 1</content>
		</row>
		<row>
			<label>Possible Meanings</label>
			<content>
				<ol>
					<li>[[#Wifesfather|Wife's father]]</li>
					<li>[[#Wifesbrother|Wife's brother]]</li>
					<li>[[#Wifesotherrelatives|Wife's relatives]]</li>
				</ol>
			</content>
		</row>
		<row>
			<label>Related Entries</label>
			<content><aht page="Dictionary:חָתָן">חָתָן</aht>, <aht page="Dictionary:חתן – התחתן">חתן</aht>, <a href="$">חֲתֻנָּה</a></content>
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			<label>Lexical Category</label>
			<content><a href="$">Kinship</a></content>
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<category>Possible Meanings
	<subcategory name="Wife's father">1. Wife's father / mother
		<ul>
			<li>Biblical verses – <aht source="Shofetim19-4">Shofetim 19:4,7,9</aht>.  חֹתֶנֶת appears only once in Tanakh – <aht source="Devarim27-23">Devarim 27:23</aht>.</li>
			<li>Exegetes disagree as to whether "חֹתֵן" or חֹתֶנֶת can also have any other meanings – see below.<fn><aht source="ShadalShemot18-1">Shadal</aht> limits it to the meaning of wife's father, pointing out that if the words could have other meanings (like Ibn Janach below) the prohibition of sleeping with a חותנת in <aht source="Devarim27-23">Devarim 27:23</aht> would be ambiguous.</fn></li>
			<li>Etymology – "חֹתֵן" is used in Tanakh to refer to the father of the wife with whom the <aht page="Dictionary:חָתָן">חָתָן</aht> (husband) contracts the marriage – see <aht page="Dictionary:חתן – התחתן">חתן</aht>.</li>
			<li>For the parents of the husband, see below regarding חם and חמות.</li>
		</ul>
	</subcategory>

	<subcategory name="Wife's brother">2. Wife's brother
		<ul>
			<li>Biblical verses – See Disputed Cases below for a full list of possible verses.</li>
			<li><aht source="IbnJanachxtn">Ibn Janach in his Sefer HaShorashim (חתן)</aht> maintains that the term "חֹתֵן", can mean both wife's father and wife's brother.<fn>Ibn Janach refers explicitly to the multiple meanings of the Arabic counterpart of "חֹתֵן" – see below. <aht source="IbnEzraBemidbar10-29">Ibn Ezra Bemidbar 10:29</aht>, another Andalusian exegete, may also have been influenced by the Arabic parallel.  <a href="http://www.tanach.org/shmot/yitro3.txt" rel="external">Menachem Leibtag</a> points out that if "חֹתֵן" can only mean wife's father, the phrase "<trans>choteno</trans>, the father of the young woman" in <aht source="Shofetim19-4">Shofetim 19:4,9</aht> would be redundant.  In contrast, see Shadal in the note above.</fn>  If the root <aht page="Dictionary:חתן – התחתן">חתן</aht> describes the contracting of a marital relationship between two families, it is possible that the term "חֹתֵן" might apply also to other relatives of the wife, or at least those who might also be involved in giving her over in marriage, such as her brother or grandfather.  See <aht page="Yitro – Names">Yitro's Names</aht> for further discussion and ramifications of this issue.</li>
			<li>Semitic cognates – Arabic <transliterate>hatan</transliterate> = circumcise (cf. Shemot 4:25-26, Bereshit 34), son-in-law, wife's father, wife's brother.<fn>See note above regarding possible influence on Ibn Janach and Ibn Ezra.</fn></li>
		</ul>
	</subcategory>

	<subcategory name="Wife's other relatives">3. Wife's other relatives
		<ul>
			<li>Biblical verses – See Disputed Cases below for a full list of possible verses.</li>
			<li>Additional data – </li>
		</ul>
	</subcategory>

</category>


<category>Disputed Cases
	<subcategory>חֹתֵן מֹשֶׁה
		<ul>
			<li><aht source="Shemot3-1">Shemot 3:1</aht>, <aht source="Shemot4-18">Shemot 4:18</aht>, <aht source="Shemot18-1">Shemot 18:1,2,5,6,7,8,12(2X),14,15,17,24,27</aht>, <aht source="Bemidbar10-29">Bemidbar 10:29</aht>, <aht source="Shofetim1-16">Shofetim 1:16</aht>, <aht source="Shofetim4-11">Shofetim 4:11</aht> – see above.</li>
			<li>There are various people referred to as "חֹתֵן מֹשֶׁה" and it is unclear what the relationships are between these characters and between them and Moshe.  For more, see <aht page="Yitro – Names">Yitro's Names</aht>.</li>
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<category>Relationship to Synonyms
	<subcategory>חם / חמות
		<p></p>
		<ul>
			<li>While "חֹתֵן" refers exclusively to the husband's father-in-law, the Biblical term for the wife's father-in-law is חם – see <aht source="Bereshit38-13">Bereshit 38:13,25</aht> and <aht source="ShemuelI4-19">Shemuel I 4:19,21</aht>.</li>
			<li>While "חֹתֵן" refers exclusively to the husband's mother-in-law, the Biblical term for the wife's mother-in-law is חמות – see <aht source="Rut1-14">Rut 1-3</aht> and <aht source="Mikhah7-6">Mikhah 7:6</aht>.</li>
			<li>For other relationship terms which distinguish between relatives of the husband and wife, see <aht page="Dictionary:דּוֹד"><trans>dod</trans> (דוד)</aht> and <trans>mesaref</trans> (מסרף).</li>
		</ul>
	</subcategory>

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<category>Semantic Evolution
	<subcategory>Intra-Biblical
		<p>_</p>
	</subcategory>

	<subcategory>Rabbinic Hebrew
		<p>Rabbinic Hebrew did not preserve the distinction between relatives of the husband and wife, and it uses חם and חמות to refer also to the parents of the wife – see Mishna Demai 3:6, Pesachim 3:7, Yevamot 1:1, Ketubot 1:5, Sanhedrin 9:1.</p>
	</subcategory>

	<subcategory>Modern Hebrew
		<p>In Modern Hebrew, there is no distinction between relatives of the husband and wife, and the terms חותן/חותנת and חם/חמות are used interchangeably.</p>
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