כֹּהֵן
(kōhēn). n. masc. priest. Someone who mediates between the divine and the human in or around a
place of worship.
Although this word is a noun, the
vocalic pattern shows that it was originally a participle. The original meaning
of the root is not certain, but it is also used to refer to a religious
official in Ugaritic (khn), Imperial
and Middle Aramaic (כהן, khn),
and Phoenician (כהן, khn).
In the OT, kōhēn refers to priests
who are descendants of Aaron and Levi, as well as to certain non-Levitical
priests such as Melchizedek (Gen 14:18–20) and Jethro (Exod 18:1) and priests
of other gods (e.g., a priest of Baal; 1 Kgs 11:18). At a later point, the
meaning of this root was restricted so that it referred only to Levitical
priests. Accordingly, Targum Onqelos (an Aramaic paraphrase of the Pentateuch)
refers to Jethro as a רבא (rabbāʾ,
“teacher”) and to Melchizedek as a משׁמישׁ
(mĕšamêš, “minister”). The Peshitta
(the Syriac version of the OT) refers to both of these as ܟܘܡܪܐ (kumrāʾ), a term used for all non-Levitical priests; kumrāʾ is cognate with the Hebrew term כֹּמֶר (kōmer; see below). (Daniel
E. Carver, “Priesthood,” in Lexham
Theological Wordbook, ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Bible Reference
Series [Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014], Logos ed. [RB: kohen does not
appear in 1 Kings 11:18, but it appears in 1 Kings 8:11])
כֹּמֶר (kōmer). n. masc. priest.
Used only of idolatrous priests.
This word is unrelated to the
main Hebrew words for priests and priesthood and is used only for idolatrous
priests (2 Kgs 23:5; Hos 10:5; Zeph 1:4). It is cognate with the Syriac ܟܘܡܪܐ (kumrāʾ), which is not restricted to idolatrous priests, since it is
used for Melchizedek. (Daniel E. Carver, “Priesthood,” in Lexham Theological Wordbook, ed. Douglas
Mangum et al., Lexham Bible Reference Series [Bellingham, Wash.: Lexham Press,
2014], Logos ed.)
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