לקח

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.

לֶקַח • (lékakh) m

1. lesson, moral
   • 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

   ‏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...

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

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

לָקַח • (lakákh) (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)
   • 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)
   • 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)
   • 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
   • 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.

• 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).

• לקח חלק‎ (lakákh khélek)
• קַח וָלֵךְ‎ (kakh valékh)

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

• חלק‎, חקל‎, קלח‎