יָרֵךְ
ya.rekh (H3409)
thigh
AI Word Study
# The Hebrew Word for Thigh (יָרֵךְ) The Hebrew term *yarekh* refers to the thigh—the upper portion of the human leg. With 34 occurrences throughout the biblical text, this anatomical term appears frequently enough to suggest it held particular significance in ancient Hebrew communication and religious practice. The word denotes a specific, recognizable body part that would have been immediately understood by speakers of the language. The frequency of usage indicates that the thigh appeared in contexts important enough to warrant repeated mention across biblical literature. This suggests the term was not merely incidental anatomical vocabulary but rather served functional purposes in describing human experience, whether in narrative, legal, or ritual contexts. Without access to the specific biblical passages where it appears, we can note only that its consistent presence across the text demonstrates it was a standard, established word in the Hebrew lexicon rather than rare or specialized terminology. The survival of this word across 34 biblical occurrences underscores how ancient Hebrew writers found the thigh sufficiently important to reference regularly. Whether these references relate to physical description, gesture, or symbolic meaning would require examination of the actual biblical contexts, but the sheer number of occurrences confirms that *yarekh* was a fundamental term in how biblical authors described and discussed the human body.
AI synthesis uses only provided lexicon data -- never training knowledge.
Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his house, who ruled over all that he had, “Please put your hand under my thigh.
The servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.
When he saw that he didn’t prevail against him, the man touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was strained as he wrestled.
The sun rose on him as he passed over Peniel, and he limped because of his thigh.
Therefore the children of Israel don’t eat the sinew of the hip, which is on the hollow of the thigh, to this day, because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip.
All the souls who came with Jacob into Egypt, who were his direct offspring, in addition to Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were sixty-six.
The time came near that Israel must die, and he called his son Joseph, and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please don’t bury me in Egypt,
All the souls who came out of Jacob’s body were seventy souls, and Joseph was in Egypt already.
“You shall make a lamp stand of pure gold. The lamp stand shall be made of hammered work. Its base, its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its flowers shall be of one piece with it.
You shall make them linen pants to cover their naked flesh. They shall reach from the waist even to the thighs.
He said to them, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘Every man put his sword on his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and every man kill his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.’ ”
He made the lamp stand of pure gold. He made the lamp stand of beaten work. Its base, its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its flowers were of one piece with it.
He put the table in the Tent of Meeting, on the north side of the tabernacle, outside of the veil.
He put the lamp stand in the Tent of Meeting, opposite the table, on the south side of the tabernacle.
He shall kill it on the north side of the altar before Yahweh. Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar.
The families of the sons of Kohath shall encamp on the south side of the tabernacle.
The prince of the fathers’ house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. They shall encamp on the north side of the tabernacle.
then the priest shall cause the woman to swear with the oath of cursing, and the priest shall tell the woman, “May Yahweh make you a curse and an oath among your people, when Yahweh allows your thigh to fall away, and your body to swell;
and this water that brings a curse will go into your bowels, and make your body swell, and your thigh fall away.” The woman shall say, “Amen, Amen.”
When he has made her drink the water, then it shall happen, if she is defiled and has committed a trespass against her husband, that the water that causes the curse will enter into her and become bitter, and her body will swell, and her thigh will fall away; and the woman will be a curse among her people.
This was the workmanship of the lamp stand, beaten work of gold. From its base to its flowers, it was beaten work. He made the lamp stand according to the pattern which Yahweh had shown Moses.
Ehud made himself a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length; and he wore it under his clothing on his right thigh.
Ehud put out his left hand, and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his body.
Gideon had seventy sons conceived from his body, for he had many wives.
He struck them hip and thigh with a great slaughter; and he went down and lived in the cave in Etam’s rock.
The bronze altar, which was before Yahweh, he brought from the front of the house, from between his altar and Yahweh’s house, and put it on the north side of his altar.
Strap your sword on your thigh, mighty one: your splendor and your majesty.
They all handle the sword, and are expert in war. Every man has his sword on his thigh, because of fear in the night.
How beautiful are your feet in sandals, prince’s daughter! Your rounded thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a skillful workman.
Surely after that I was turned. I repented. After that I was instructed. I struck my thigh. I was ashamed, yes, even confounded, because I bore the reproach of my youth.’
Cry and wail, son of man; for it is on my people. It is on all the princes of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with my people. Therefore beat your thigh.
Gather its pieces into it, even every good piece: the thigh and the shoulder. Fill it with the choice bones.