Milk

From BibleEncyclopedia.Net

milk (חלב, ḥālābh; γάλα, gála; Latin lac (2 Esdras 2:19; 2 Esdras 28:10)):

(1) Hebrew halabh, “new milk”, milk in its fresh state (Judges 4:19). It is frequently mentioned in connection with honey (Exodus 3:8; Exodus 13:5; Joshua 5:6; Isaiah 7:15, Isaiah 7:22; Jeremiah 11:5). Sheep (Deuteronomy 32:14) and goats (Proverbs 27:27) and camels (Genesis 32:15), as well as cows, are made to give their milk for the use of man. Milk is used figuratively as a sign of abundance (Genesis 49:12; Ezekiel 25:4; Joel 3:18). It is also a symbol of the rudiments of doctrine (1 Corinthians 3:2; Hebrews 5:12, Hebrews 5:13), and of the unadulterated word of God (1 Peter 2:2).

(2) Heb. hem'ah, always rendered “butter” in the King James Version. It means “butter,” but also more frequently “cream,” or perhaps, as some think, “curdled milk,” such as that which Abraham set before the angels (Genesis 18:8), and which Jael gave to Sisera (Judges 5:25). In this state milk was used by travelers (2 Samuel 17:29). If kept long enough, it acquired a slightly intoxicating or soporific power.

This Hebrew word is also sometimes used for milk in general (Deuteronomy 32:14]; Job 20:17).

The fluid secreted by the mammary glands of female mammals for the nourishment of their young. The word is used in the Bible of that of human beings (Isaiah 28:9) as well as of that of the lower animals (Exodus 23:19). As a food it ranked next in importance to bread (Ecclesiasticus 39:26). Palestine is frequently described as a land “flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8, Exodus 3:17; Numbers 13:27; Deuteronomy 6:3; Joshua 5:6; Jeremiah 11:5; Ezekiel 20:6, Ezekiel 20:15). Milk was among the first things set before the weary traveler (Genesis 18:8). In fact, it was considered a luxury (Judges 5:25; Song Of Songs 5:1). The people used the milk of kine and also that of sheep (Deuteronomy 32:14), and especially that of goats (Proverbs 27:27). It was received in pails (‛ăṭīnīm, Job 21:24), and kept in leather bottles (nō'dh, Judges 4:19), where it turned sour quickly in the warm climate of Palestine before being poured out thickly like a melting substance (nāthakh; compare Job 10:10). Cheese of various kinds was made from it (gebhīnāh and ḥărīcē he-ḥālābh, literally, “cuts of milk”); or the curds (ḥem'āh) were eaten with bread, and possibly also made into butter by churning (Pr overbs 30:33). See Food, II. It is possible that milk was used for seething other substances; at least the Israelites were strictly forbidden to seethe a kid in its mother's milk (Exodus 23:19; Exodus 34:26; Deuteronomy 14:21), and by a very general interpretation of these passages Jews have come to abstain from the use of mixtures of meat and milk of all kinds.