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אָדֹם ʾādōm – reddish, brownish

Semantic Fields: Colours   
Author(s): John E. Hartley
First published: 2024-10-10
Citation: John E. Hartley, אָדֹם ʾādōm – reddish, brownish,
               Semantics of Ancient Hebrew Database (sahd-online.com), 2024

Introduction

Grammatical Type: adjective

Occurrences: 9x HB (3/5/1); 0x Sir; 1-4x Qum; 0x inscr. (Total: 10-13).

  • Torah: Gen 25:30 (2x); Num 19:2;
  • Nebiim: 2 Kgs 3:22; Isa 63:2; Zech 1:8 (2x); 6:2;
  • Ketubim: Song 5:10;
  • Qumran: 11Q19 (11QTemplea) X:12; 3Q14 fr15:1(?) (א֯דום); 3Q15 (Copper Scroll) IV:9(?) (האדמא); 4Q508 fr14:1(?) ([אדו֯מ֯[ה).

7. Conclusion

אָדֹם is a primary chromatic colour lexeme in EBH. It encompasses a range of colours from light brown to dark red: ‘brown’ or ‘reddish brown’ for animal hides (Num 19:2; Zech 1:8; 6:2), ‘chestnut’ or ‘bay’ for horses, ‘yellowish brown’ or ‘brown’ for cooked lentils (Gen 25:30), ‘rose/pink’ for healthy, youthful skin (Song 5:10), ‘dark red’ or ‘dark brownish red’ for dried blood (Isa 63:2), and ‘bright red’ for fresh blood (2 Kgs 3:22).

For this entry, see further John E. Hartley, The Semantics of Ancient Hebrew Colour Lexemes (2010), 112-19 (Printed publications).

Semantics of Ancient Hebrew Database