Fasting in Biblical Hebrew?

[kwrandolph]

Did Biblical Hebrew have a term for “to fast” as in not eating for a specified term?

I already hear back, “Silly Karl, of course they did. That term is צום.”

But was it?

In the (in)famous story of the murder of Naboth, 1 Kings 21, we find what sounds like him sitting at the head table of a feast. Yet this is called a צום.

Secondly, in some of the mentions of a צום not eating and drinking are specifically mentioned, as if they are a separate issue to the צום.

So did צום have more the idea of commemoration or worship service rather than fast, and Biblical Hebrew lacked a specific term for fast?

Karl W. Randolph.

Ps. in the story of Naboth, we see the actions of Labaia of the Armarna letters—full of bluster and pushing the envelop, but when caught, lays low and acts as a good loyal subject …… for a while.

[Ken M. Penner]

Some instances such as 2 Samuel 12:16–23 and Esther 4:16 indicate not eating.
Others, such as Joel 1:14; 2:15; Jeremiah 36:9; 2 Chron 20:3 indicate a public ritual or ceremony for seeking God.
Neither food nor its absence is indicated in the story of Naboth (1 Kings 21:9, 12), but certainly it is a public event.
The simplest explanation seems to me that both are true, that צוםrefers to a public time of denying oneself food for religious reasons, sometimes as a group and sometimes as an individual.

[Isaac Fried]

When thinking about צום COM, think also about צמא CAMA, 'thirst'.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

[kwrandolph]

Some instances such as 2 Samuel 12:16–23 and Esther 4:16 indicate not eating.

These are the examples I noticed where the fasting is listed separately from the worship, indicating that the צום and fasting are separate actions, though may be practiced at the same time.

Others, such as Joel 1:14; 2:15; Jeremiah 36:9; 2 Chron 20:3 indicate a public ritual or ceremony for seeking God.

True.

Neither food nor its absence is indicated in the story of Naboth (1 Kings 21:9, 12), but certainly it is a public event.

Though not directly said, the implication is that this was done at a feast. Those who accused Naboth were also settled down, sitting, nearby. Implication—he’s at the head table.

The simplest explanation seems to me that both are true, that צום refers to a public time of denying oneself food for religious reasons, sometimes as a group and sometimes as an individual.

Then you have the example of Zechariah 8:19 where the צום is connected with good times.

Most of the occurrences of צום give no indication of fasting, i.e. denying oneself food for religious reasons. All of them seem to refer to a time of worship.

I suspect the connection of צום with fasting is medieval.

Karl W. Randolph.

[Isaac Fried]

When thinking about צום COM, think also about דום DOM, 'still, motionless, listless''.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

[Mark Lightman]

When thinking about צום COM, think also about דום DOM, 'still, motionless, listless''.

Wilhelm Gesenius also draws a connection between these two words, though he does so on the basis of a putative onomatopoeticism of the מ, indicating in both words the closing of the mouth. Gesenius often appeals to these fanciful onomatopoeticisms. Isaac, on the other hand, never appeals to onomatopoeticism. Nor does he resort to the equally vague "metathesis," whereby any Hebrew root can get its letters arbitrarily switched around to produce any connection the etymologist wants to make. He has, that is, rather stricter rules than Gesenius, and he applies them more uniformly. This is one reason that I find Isaac more scientific and convincing than most other Hebrew etymologists.

[Ken M. Penner]

I suspect the connection of צום with fasting is medieval.

I can speak to this suspicion, at least. The LXX already translates צום consistently as νηστεύω, which meant going without food already in Homer's time.
Two implications: (1) the Greek translators were not in doubt about what צוםmeant; (2) already it was understood to mean going without food in the centuries before Christ.

[Isaac Fried]

When thinking about צום CUM, think also about צנום CANUM, 'thin, wither, dry, desiccate, parch, shrivel', as the
שבע שבלים צנמות דקות שדפות קדים
of Gen. 41:23. NIV: "seven other heads sprouted—withered and thin and scorched by the east wind"

In today's usage צנים CNIYM is 'toast, rusk'.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

[Mark Lightman]

The LXX already translates צום consistently as νηστεύω, which meant going without food already in Homer's time.

Hi, Karl and Ken.

For what it is worth, Robert Lindsey, translating in the other direction, supports this צום/νηστεύω link:

Mk 8:3a: καὶ ἐὰν ἀπολὐσω αὐτοὺς νήστεις εἰς οἶκον αὐτῶν, ἐκλυθήσονται ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ...

ואם אשׁלח אותם לביתם צמים יתעלפו בדרך

while Salkinson-Ginsburg, for what it is worth, does not:

וכי אשׁלחם רעבים לבתיהם יתעלפו בדרך

[Isaac Fried]

Interesting. Yet, צום COM connotes to me 'inertia, confinement, lassitude, sluggishness, apathy, lethargy', while רעב (akin to רעף) RA'AB connotes to me 'riot, hunger, crave, ravenous, rapacious, voracious'.

In Gen. 12:10 we read
ויהי רעב בארץ וירד אברם מצרימה לגור שם
KJV: "And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land."
It became unsafe to continue and live there.

In Isaiah 8:21 we read
ועבר בה נקשה ורעב והיה כי ירעב והתקצף וקלל במלכו ובאלהיו
KJV: "And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God"

Isaac Fried, Boston University