מֹהַר
𐤌𐤄𐤓
môhar
H4119 noun
SILEX Entry
Definition
A marriage gift or bride-price paid by the prospective husband or his family to the family of the bride as part of the marital agreement; the term consistently denotes the transfer of valuables (frequently silver or other forms of wealth) serving as legal consideration for the marriage contract. Semantic range includes the material gift or payment itself and (rarely) the act of delivering this gift.
Semantic Range
bride-price, marriage gift, marriage payment, endowment, the act of paying a bride-price
Root / Etymology
From the root מָהַר (m-h-r), which in verb form means 'to acquire by payment, to give a present, to endow.' The noun מֹהַר is directly derived from this root and refers to the tangible property or payment given as a bride-price. The basic sense of the root is 'to provide something promptly or with readiness,' but in this noun form, the meaning is specifically technical and legal: the obligatory payment in a marriage arrangement.
Historical & Contextual Notes
In ancient Israelite society, the מֹהַר was a key component of marriage customs, signifying the formalization of a marital alliance and conferring legal rights and obligations upon both families. The practice is attested throughout the patriarchal and monarchic periods (e.g., Genesis 34:12, Exodus 22:17, 1 Samuel 18:25), where it not only represented economic value but also social recognition of the marriage agreement. The מֹהַר is to be distinguished from the נְדֻנְיָה (nedunyah, 'dowry' as property a bride brings to her marriage), as מֹהַר is given to the bride's family by the groom or his kin, whereas dowry refers to assets from the bride’s side. English translations often render מֹהַר as 'dowry,' but this is somewhat misleading; the term 'bride-price' more accurately reflects its function in Israelite context. The custom of מֹהַר faded with legal and social changes in the post-exilic and later periods, and the term largely disappears from later Hebrew usage. Importantly, 'dowry' in the English sense reverses the direction of the transaction and does not capture the legal-cultural meaning attached to מֹהַר in biblical society.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
from מָהַר; a price (for a wife); dowry.
Bantu Hebrew
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+ Add Bantu Hebrew WordRoot Family
מהר (m-h-r) — to endow, to bestow, to acquire by payment or present
| Strong's | Lemma | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|
| H4106 | מָהִיר | quick, ready |
| H4116 | מָהַר | as making haste |
| H4117 | מָהַר | to hasten |
| H4118 | מַהֵר | Hurry! |
| H4120 | מְהֵרָה | haste |
Word Forms
3 distinct forms
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H4119-01 |
בְּ/מֹ֔הַר | bemohar | HR/Ncmsa |
in dowry | with bride-price | 1 |
H4119-02 |
כְּ/מֹ֖הַר | kemohar | HR/Ncmsc |
according to the bride-price | as bride-price of | 1 |
H4119-03 |
מֹ֣הַר | mohar | HNcmsa |
bride price | bride-price | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
3 total occurrences
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H4119-03 |
Genesis 34:12 | מֹ֣הַר | mohar | HNcmsa |
bride price | bride-price |
H4119-02 |
Exodus 22:16 | כְּ/מֹ֖הַר | kemohar | HR/Ncmsc |
according to the bride-price | as bride-price of |
H4119-01 |
1 Samuel 18:25 | בְּ/מֹ֔הַר | bemohar | HR/Ncmsa |
in dowry | with bride-price |