By Mitchell First

Now is an appropriate time to discuss the root עמר, which is (hopefully!) on everyone’s mind nightly.

The root has three different meanings in Tanach:

1) At Exodus 16, the root עמר occurs a few times and refers to a specific measure. It is the amount of מן that was allowed to be collected daily by each person. See Exodus 16:16: “omer la-gulgolet—an omer for each head.” (As to how much this amounts to in modern times, see below.)

2) In eight verses elsewhere, עמר has a slightly different meaning. As background, when stalks of grain are cut, the stalks are laid in handfuls (or armfuls) by the cutter to be gathered by those who cannot stand the hard work of cutting. The handfuls are typically tied and bound into sheaves. “Omer” refers to a sheaf or sheaves: a bundle or bundles of stalks of grain.

Here are four of the verses:

Deuteronomy 24:19: “When you reap your harvest in the field and you forget an ‘omer’ in the field … ”

Job 24:10: “They go about naked without clothing and being hungry they carry ‘omer.’”

Ruth 2:7: “Please let me glean and I will gather ‘va-amarim’… ” (among the “amarim.”)

Ruth 2:15: “Let her glean even ‘bein ha-amarim’…”

See also Amos 2:13, Michah 4:12, Zechariah 12:6 and Jeremiah 9:21.

Also, at Psalm 129:7, we have a reference to a “me’amer,” one who binds the stalks into sheaves. (This verb may derive from the noun.)

3) In two places, we have our root in the hitpael. At Deuteronomy 21:14, we are commanded “lo titamer bah,” in connection with the female taken in war. Later, at Deuteronomy 24:7, we are told of the case of an Israelite who is kidnapped and then “ve-hitamer bo u-mecharo.” In this case, the kidnapper is to be punished by death.

Exactly what bad thing is being referred to in these verses is subject to much dispute. The best approach is the one followed in the Daat Mikra and by many modern scholars. It is based in part on the Targum’s use of the root תגר in both verses. The meaning is “to treat as merchandise.” In both chapters 21 and 24, our verb is mentioned near a phrase relating to מכר. (The hitpael, perhaps, gives the word an additional spin: to treat as your merchandise, i.e., something that you have complete control over and can dispose of as you wish.)

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Our main issues in the root עמר are:

1) Can we relate some of these three meanings?

2) In the holiday section at Leviticus 23 and its reference to the omer, does the עמר brought for the procedures have the “specific measure” meaning or the “bundle” meaning?

Regarding issue one, it has been suggested that the omer measure is approximately the amount of grain that one derives from a typical bundle, or typical handful/armful. Among those who suggest something like this are Bechor Shor, Abarbanel, Samuel David Luzzatto and Solomon Mandelkern. While this is very clever, it is hardly believable. There is no standard size of bundles or handfuls/armfuls. Of course, the terms are similar enough and the bundle meaning could have evolved into a specific measurement meaning. (But the bundle meaning is a matter of size, while the specific measurement is a matter of weight.)

A different approach views the “bundle” meaning as just a metathesis from an original ערם spelling. We know from many places that ערם means “pile,” a word close in meaning to “bundle.” See, e.g., Exodus 15:8: “ne’ermu mayim.”

Regarding the third meaning, if we follow the “treat as merchandise” meaning, we can easily connect it with the other עמר meanings.

Regarding issue two, the relevant verses begin at Leviticus 23:10: “When you enter the land that I am giving to you and you cut its harvest, you shall bring the omer, the first cutting, to the priest. He shall wave the omer before Hashem for acceptance for you; the priest shall wave it ‘mi-macharat ha-shabbat.’ On the day that you wave the omer, you shall offer it as a burnt offering… a lamb of the first year … ”

Then, we have verses 15-16, the counting command: “From the day on which you bring the omer of waving, ‘mi-macharat ha-shabbat,’ you shall count seven complete weeks. Until the seventh ‘mi-macharat ha-shabbat’ you must count 50 days; then you shall sacrifice a new mincha to Hashem.” (The new mincha of Shetei Ha-Lechem is described in verse 17. At verse 20, we are told that this 50th day will be a holy day with no melechet avodah.)

Rashi and most traditional Jewish sources give the omer of these verses the “specific measure” meaning. But ancient non-Jewish sources and most modern scholars give it the “sheaf” meaning. So does the 1917 Jewish Publication Society translation (at the top in the Hertz Chumash). But Daat Mikra agrees with Rashi.

I have seen the suggestion that traditional sources prefer the “specific measure” meaning at Leviticus 23 because, then, we have a connection with the מן. The purpose of the מן was to teach the Israelites in the desert that all food was from God. So too, in the land of Israel, while there was human involvement, the Israelites still needed to be reminded that, ultimately, their food was dependent on God.

It is important to mention that the practice of bringing a mandatory sacrifice of barley on the 16th day is not stated in this section. It is taken from Leviticus 2:14, a context of voluntary sacrifices that are not calendar related. Verse 14 even begins with אם. But Rashi there writes that this אם refers to our mandatory barley sacrifice and should be understood as כי. (Ibn Ezra and Samuel David Luzzatto are some who disagree here.) In interpreting 2:14 to refer to a mandatory barley offering on the 16th, Rashi is following the mishna and Talmud in Menachot.

In biblical times, the “omer” period was not at all a sad one. Rather, what we were doing was counting the days from one grain-related waving ceremony and sacrifices to a greater one—50 days later—and that 50th day was declared a holy day with no melechet avodah allowed.

According to Leviticus 23:14, all new grains could not be eaten until the ceremony of the 16th (“mi-macharat ha-shabbat”).

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What amount was an omer in its specific measure meaning? Exodus 16:36 tell us that an omer is one-tenth of an איפה. Not too helpful for us contemporary readers! But, fortunately, there is Rav Aryeh Kaplan’s “The Living Torah” to inform us that one omer is approximately two quarts. See his commentary to Leviticus 23:10. On the other hand, Daat Mikra there estimates an omer as 3.6 liters. Since a dry quart is equal to approximately 1.1 liters, Daat Mikra’s estimate is almost twice as big as Rabbi Kaplan’s! I will leave it to someone else to explain.

An “omer” is a frequent measure for a meal offering. See, e.g., Leviticus 5:11 and 6:13, and Numbers 5:15 and 28:5. But in each of these verses, the measure is given as an “asirit ha-eifah.” Also, “isaron,” even without the word “eifah,” has the same meaning.

There is a very informative post at balashon.com on 4/17/09, on most of the issues I have discussed above for anyone who wants more information.

Mitchell First can be reached at [email protected]. He tries to keep the various meanings of the root עמר in mind each time he counts.