3900. lechem
Lexical Summary
lechem: feast

Original Word: לְחֶם
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: lchem
Pronunciation: LEH-khem
Phonetic Spelling: (lekh-em')
NASB: feast
Word Origin: [(Aramaic) corresponding to H3899 (לֶחֶם - bread)]

1. feast

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
feast

(Aramaic) corresponding to lechem -- feast.

see HEBREW lechem

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
(Aramaic) corresponding to lechem
Definition
a feast
NASB Translation
feast (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
לְחֵם (K§ 54, 3. 7) noun masculine feast (ᵑ7 Syriac bread, so Biblical Hebrew, q. v. v II.לחם); — absolute ׳עֲבַד ל Daniel 5:1 made a feast.

Topical Lexicon
Meaning and Scope

The word לְחֶם (H3900) denotes a formal banquet or feast rather than ordinary bread or daily fare. It points to a public occasion of lavish hospitality where food and drink are lavished on esteemed guests, highlighting both the honor of the host and the collective mood of celebration.

Historical Context

In the Ancient Near East, royal banquets functioned as political theatre. Kings demonstrated power, secured loyalty, and paraded wealth before high officials. Babylon in the sixth century B.C. was famed for such spectacles, and its rulers used opulent feasts to display supposed invulnerability even as the empire’s foundations were eroding.

Daniel 5:1—The Sole Biblical Occurrence

“King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them” (Daniel 5:1). Here לְחֶם frames the scene of the final night of the Neo-Babylonian kingdom. While the outer walls stood formidable, inside the palace self-indulgence dulled spiritual perception. The banquet’s hubris—drinking from vessels seized from the Jerusalem temple—provoked the writing on the wall (Daniel 5:2–4, 23-24). Thus לְחֶם becomes an emblem of human pride confronted by divine sovereignty.

Theological Themes

1. Divine Judgment amid Excess: Scripture repeatedly couples reckless feasting with impending doom (Isaiah 22:13–14; Luke 12:19-20). Belshazzar’s לְחֶם dramatizes the pattern: celebrants mock the holy, yet judgment is already at the door.
2. Stewardship vs. Self-indulgence: Feasts sanctioned by God (Exodus 12; Deuteronomy 16) reinforce covenant memory. Belshazzar’s feast perverts that purpose, turning sacred vessels into props for idolatry.
3. God’s Sovereign Timing: While the king toasts his own greatness, God’s clock strikes the final hour (Daniel 5:25-30). The table of revelry becomes the stage for irreversible decree.

Related Biblical Motifs

• Royal Banquets for Glory: Ahasuerus in Esther 1 hosts a feast “for all the people… for seven days,” foreshadowing national peril.
• Covenant Meals: From Sinai (Exodus 24:9-11) to the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:26-29), holy feasts celebrate God’s acts and invite sober reflection.
• Eschatological Contrast: Scripture ends with the “marriage supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:9). Unlike Belshazzar’s night of judgment, that feast is marked by purity, worship, and everlasting joy.

Practical and Ministry Implications

• Discern the Moment: Leaders must read God’s “writing on the wall” in their own generation, resisting cultural complacency.
• Guard the Sacred: Items—or practices—dedicated to worship must never be co-opted for self-promotion.
• Hospitality with Holiness: Christian fellowship around meals should mirror covenant purpose, teaching moderation, gratitude, and remembrance of Christ.
• Preach the Urgency of Repentance: Daniel’s fearless proclamation (Daniel 5:17-23) models pastoral duty to confront sin even in prestigious settings.

Typological Significance

Belshazzar’s banquet prefigures the contrast between worldly glory and the Kingdom of God. The final Babylon of Revelation similarly boasts and feasts before sudden collapse (Revelation 18:7-10). Daniel 5 therefore serves as a living parable, and לְחֶם, though occurring only once, captures the decisive moment when human arrogance meets divine verdict.

Summary

לְחֶם (H3900) is far more than an Aramaic term for “feast.” Its solitary appearance encapsulates the tension between earthly pomp and God’s unassailable rule. For believers it issues a sober call: celebrate under the Lord’s authority, revere what is holy, and watch expectantly for the true banquet prepared for the faithful.

Forms and Transliterations
לְחֶ֣ם לחם lə·ḥem leChem ləḥem
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Englishman's Concordance
Daniel 5:1
HEB: מַלְכָּ֗א עֲבַד֙ לְחֶ֣ם רַ֔ב לְרַבְרְבָנ֖וֹהִי
NAS: a great feast for a thousand
KJV: a great feast to a thousand
INT: the king held feast A great of his nobles

1 Occurrence

Strong's Hebrew 3900
1 Occurrence


lə·ḥem — 1 Occ.

3899
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