לקח

Hebrew

Root
ל־ק־ח (l-q-ḥ)

Etymology

Related to Arabic لَحِقَ (laḥiqa, “to stick together”) through metathesis. For usage as "honeycake," a phono-semantic matching of Yiddish לעקעך (lekekh, “honeycake”, literally “lick-cake”), influenced by the Biblical association of teaching with honey.

Pronunciation

• Audio

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Noun

לֶקַח • (lékakh) m

1. lesson, moral
   • Tanach, Proverbs 4:2, with translation of the New American Standard Bible:

     כִּי לֶקַח טוֹב נָתַתִּי לָכֶם תּוֹרָתִי אַל־תַּעֲזֹבוּ׃

     ki léqaḥ tov natáti lakhém; toratí al ta'azóvu

     For I give you good teaching; Do not abandon my instruction.

2. honeycake

   Synonym: עוּגַת דְּבַשׁ (ʿugat dvash, literally “cake of honey”)

   בַּמָּקוֹר, עוּגַת לֶקַח אֵינָהּ עוּגַת סְפוֹג. הִיא עוּגַת דְּבַשׁ, פֵּרוֹת יְבֵשִׁים וְתַבְלִינִים שֶׁל יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז...

   ba-maqór, ʿugat léqaḥ einah ʿugat s'fog. hi ʿugat d'vash, perot y'veshim v-tavlinim shel y'hudey Ashkenaz..

   Originally, a leqaḥ cake is not a sponge cake. It is a cake made of honey, dried fruit, and spices, of Ashkenazi Jews...

Declension

Declension of לֶקַח

Number	Isolated forms		With possessive pronouns
	State	Form	Person	singular		plural
				m.	f.	m.	f.
singular	indefinite	לֶקַח	first	לִקְחִי		לִקְחֵנוּ
	definite	הַלֶּקַח	second	לִקְחֲךָ	לִקְחֵךְ	לִקְחֲכֶם	לִקְחֲכֶן
	construct	לֶקַח־	third	לִקְחוֹ	לִקְחָהּ	לִקְחָם	לִקְחָן
plural	indefinite	לְקָחִים	first	לקחיי / לְקָחַי		לְקָחֵינוּ
	definite	הַלְּקָחִים	second	לְקָחֶיךָ	לקחייך / לְקָחַיִךְ	לִקְחֵיכֶם	לִקְחֵיכֶן
	construct	לִקְחֵי־	third	לְקָחָיו	לְקָחֶיהָ	לִקְחֵיהֶם	לִקְחֵיהֶן

Further reading

• H3948 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible

Verb

לָקַח • (lakákh) third-singular masculine past (pa'al construction, infinitive לָקַחַת, present לוֹקֵחַ, future ייקח / יִקַּח, imperative קַח, passive counterpart לוקח / לֻקַּח or נִלְקַח)

1. to take (grasp with the hands)
   • Tanach, Genesis 22:6, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     וַיִּקַּח אַבְרָהָם אֶת־עֲצֵי הָעֹלָה וַיָּשֶׂם עַל־יִצְחָק בְּנוֹ וַיִּקַּח בְּיָדוֹ אֶת־הָאֵשׁ וְאֶת־הַמַּאֲכֶלֶת וַיֵּלְכוּ שְׁנֵיהֶם יַחְדָּו׃

     Vayiqaḥ Avraham et ʿatsei ha-ʿolah vayásem ʿal Yitsḥaq b'no vayiqáḥ b-yado et ha-esh v-et ha-ma'akhélet vayelkhu sh'neihem yaḥdav.

     And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife; and they went both of them together.

2. to take (carry somewhere, remove)
   • Tanach, Job 1:21, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     יְהוָה נָתַן וַיהוָה לָקָח יְהִי שֵׁם יְהוָה מְבֹרָךְ׃

     Adonái natan v-Adonai laqáḥ, y'hi shem Adonai m'vorakh

     The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.

3. to take (get possession of)
   • Tanach, Genesis 33:11, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     קַח־נָא אֶת־בִּרְכָתִי אֲשֶׁר הֻבָאת לָךְ

     Qaḥ na et birkhati asher huvat lakh

     Take, I pray thee, my gift that is brought to thee

4. to take (last or expend an amount of time)

   הנסיעה לוקחת שעה. ― han'si'á lokákhat sha'á. ― The trip takes an hour.

   לא ייקח לנו הרבה זמן לגמור עם זה. ― ló yikákh lánu harbé z'mán ligmór ím zé. ― It won't take us much time to finish with this.

5. to take (ingest or inject a drug)
6. to take (enroll in a course of study)
7. to take (capture a photograph)
8. (archaic) to take as a wife
   • Tanach, Exodus 2:1, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     וַיֵּלֶךְ אִישׁ מִבֵּית לֵוִי וַיִּקַּח אֶת־בַּת־לֵוִי׃

     Vayélekh ish mi-beit Levi vayiqaḥ et bat Levi

     And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi.

Usage notes

• Unlike English take, לקח is not typically used as a light verb; for example, “to take a shower” is simply התקלח (hitkaléakh) or התרחץ (hitrakhétz).

Conjugation

Conjugation of לָקַח (see also Appendix:Hebrew verbs) 

non-finite forms		to-infinitive: לָקַחַת action noun: לְקִיחָה passive participle: —
finite forms		singular		plural
		m.	f.	m.	f.
past	first	לָקַחְתִּי		לָקַחְנוּ
	second	לָקַחְתָּ	לָקַחְתְּ	לְקַחְתֶּם1	לְקַחְתֶּן1
	third	לָקַח	לָקְחָה	לָקְחוּ
present		לוֹקֵחַ	לוֹקַחַת	לוֹקְחִים	לוֹקְחוֹת
future	first	אֶקַּח		ניקח / נִקַּח
	second	תיקח / תִּקַּח	תיקחי / תִּקְּחִי	תיקחו / תִּקְּחוּ	תיקחנה / תִּקַּחְנָה2
	third	ייקח / יִקַּח	תיקח / תִּקַּח	ייקחו / יִקְּחוּ	תיקחנה / תִּקַּחְנָה2
imperative		לְקַח	לִקְחִי	לִקְחוּ	לְקַחְנָה2
notes		Pronounced לָקַחְתֶּם and לָקַחְתֶּן in informal Modern Hebrew. Rare in Modern Hebrew.

Derived terms

• לָקַח בְּחֶשְׁבּוֹן (lakákh b'kheshbón)
• לקח חלק (lakákh khélek)
• קַח וָלֵךְ (kakh valékh)

References

• H3947 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible

Anagrams

• חלק, חקל, קלח