Day 57 of 75 · Parables and teaching

L-Ḥ-M

laḥma: bread

לחמא

ܠܚܡܐ

The feel

Laḥma is bread, the basic food of a household. It appears 83 times in the Gospels. A child asks for it, and Yeshua takes it, speaks the blessing, breaks it, and gives it. Where most translations say our daily bread, the Qala says the bread we need, because sunqanan means our need.

The root family

Form	Pattern	Transliteration	Script	Standard	Qala rendering
laḥma	noun, emphatic	laḥmā	לחמא ܠܚܡܐ	bread	bread (83 occurrences)
laḥma d-sunqanan	construct phrase	laḥmā d-sūnqānan	לחמא דסונקנן ܠܚܡܐ ܕܣܘܢܩܢܢ	our daily bread	the bread we need (Matthew 6:11)

Syriac has a verb spelled with these consonants, meaning to fit or suit, but it belongs to a separate family, so this lesson has only the noun.

In his voice

Matthew 6:11

Give us the bread we need for today.

laḥma d-sunqanan, "the bread we need," literally the bread of our need. One line of the Prayer is given entirely to daily food, the bread needed for this one day.

Matthew 7:9

Which of you, when your son asks for bread, would hand him a stone?

laḥma, "bread." A son asks his father for bread, and the argument about the Father's goodness starts from that request.

Matthew 26:26

While they were eating, Yeshua took bread, spoke the blessing, and broke it. He gave it to the students and said, "Take it and eat. This is my body."

shqal laḥma, "he took bread." At the last meal he takes the bread, speaks the blessing, breaks it, and gives it to the students.

Practice

Before your next meal, hold the bread or other staple in your hand for a moment and ask only for what you need today. Then say laḥma d-sunqanan, the bread we need, and eat.

Connections

K-P-N, hunger ʾ-K-L, eating M-Y-ʾ, water laḥma: bread

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