The Give and Take of Scripture

Reaching a Deal in the Bible

In the Bible we often find stories of two opposing parties settling their scores through talks. For example, Abraham negotiated the price of his wife’s burial plot with Ephron (Gen. 23). Abraham famously negotiated with God in an effort to spare the people of Sodom (Genesis 18). Similarly, atop Mount Sinai Moses negotiated with God to convince him not to destroy the people of Israel, following the sin of the Golden Calf (Exod. 32). 

Mixing, Giving, Taking

The biblical word for “negotiate” is hitarev התערב from the root ARVערב meaning “to mix”. When you make a deal, you are entering into a “mixture” with the other side, exchanging promises and becoming allies. Centuries later, the rabbis of the Talmud invented a new term for negotiation: massa u-mattan משא ומתן, literally “take and give”. This expresses the idea that to come to a mutually acceptable resolution, both sides need to forfeit something.
 

Take part in the amazing story of Hebrew

Although this compound term is not found in the Bible, the two individual words massa (“weight”) and mattan (“gift”) certainly are. Today it is used in Israel to refer to business transactions. Like the Jewish people, this term is grounded in the foundation of Scripture, but has blossomed to adapt to the modern world. Enroll in our live online Biblical Hebrew courses to take part in the amazing story of the Hebrew language.