Dictionary:שִׁלּוּחִים/0

שִׁלּוּחִים

This page is a stub.
Please contact us if you would like to assist in its development.

שִׁלּוּחִים

Part of Speech	Noun
Occurrences	3
Possible Meanings	Gift, tribute Dowry
Related Words	שלח

Possible Meanings

שלוחים appears in only three places and exegetes disagree as to its precise meaning.¹

• In Melakhim I 9:16 it describes a gift given as a dowry.²
• In Mikhah 1:14 it describes a tribute.³
• In Shemot 18:2, exegetes differ regarding whether it means a gift or dowry (like the two other cases of the noun) or a sending (either a divorce or a sending – see above regarding the verb) and over the meaning of the verse – see אחר שלוחיה.

1. Gift, tribute

• This is the position adopted by many Andalusian exegetes – R. Yonah ibn JanachSefer HaShorashim (שלח)About Ibn Janach, Ibn EzraShemot 18:2Mikhah 1:14About Ibn Ezra.

2. Dowry

• This is the position adopted by many Northern French exegetes – RashiMelakhim I 9:16About Rashi, RashbamShemot 18:2About Rashbam, R. Yosef Bekhor ShorShemot 18:2About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, R. Eliezer of BeaugencyMikhah 1:14About R. Eliezer of Beaugency.

Factors influencing the opinions:

• Textual – The usage in Melakhim I 9:16 appears to support the definition of dowry, but the verse in Mikhah 1:14 seems to support a more generalized meaning of gift.
• Societal – Dowries (including land dowries) were a common practice in Biblical times and medieval Christian Europe. However, Islamic society does not have dowries (the husband bears full financial responsibility).⁴

There are a number of possibilities regarding the relationship of the noun שלוחים to the verb שלח:

• שלוחים is a parting gift given when sending a daughter away – Northern French exegetes – R. Yosef Bekhor ShorShemot 18:2About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, R. Eliezer of BeaugencyMikhah 1:14About R. Eliezer of Beaugency.
• שלוחים is any gift which is sent to another – perhaps Ibn EzraShemot 18:2About Ibn Ezra.
• There is no connection between the noun and verb.

Semantic Evolution

Intra-Biblical

Rabbinic Hebrew

Modern Hebrew

¹ The word שליח does not appear in Biblical Hebrew; instead, מלאך is used to refer to an agent. However, when מלאך began to be used primarily to refer to a divine being, the term שליח was coined for a human agent.

² See, however, Y. Braslavy, מידע הארץ למקרא, (Tel Aviv, 1970): 222, who suggests that all three Biblical occurrences of שלוחים refer to divorce, and that in Melakhim it refers to compensation paid by Paroh to obtain his daughter's divorce from Shelomo.

³ Or perhaps a dowry in a metaphoric sense – see R. Eliezer of Beaugency's interpretation. See also footnote 46 in R. Moshe Zeidel's Da'at Mikra commentary that it may refer to a literal dowry.

⁴ This possibility was suggested by Mr. Michael Hochstein of Yerushalayim.