כֶּלַח (kelach) — meaning unknown; "old age" or "vigor" by context
Etymology
כֶּלַח is a near-hapax legomenon appearing twice in the Book of Job and nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible with any discernible etymology. In Job 5:26 it appears in a context suggesting "a good old age," while in Job 30:2 the phrase "עָלֵימוֹ אָבַד כָּלַח" suggests the loss of some kind of strength or vitality. Scholars, commentators, and translators have debated its meaning for centuries without resolution — no consensus exists, the root remains opaque, and no reliable cognate has been identified in other Semitic languages.
The word belongs to a distinctive category in modern Hebrew: words that have no independent meaning and exist only as frozen components of idiomatic phrases. Other members of this class include טִמְיוֹן (from Greek tamieion, treasury, surviving only in "ירד לטמיון"), תּוֹעָפוֹת (biblical hapax surviving only in "הון תועפות"), עָתֵק (from Proverbs 8:18, surviving only in "הון עתק"), and אֶשְׁכּוֹלוֹת (Mishnaic, surviving only in "איש אשכולות").
Initially the biblical phrase circulated as-is — "עלימו אבד כלח" — as a literary idiom indicating obsolescence or exhaustion. In the second half of the 19th century the modern form "אבד עליו הכלח" began displacing the older phrasing, becoming the standard Hebrew idiom for something that has become outdated, irrelevant, or past its time. The word כֶּלַח today has no meaning outside this fixed phrase.
The same column that discusses כֶּלַח also traces several companion words preserved only in fossilized idioms: שִׁדּוּד (in "שידוד מערכות," tracing back through Rashba and Nachmanides to Ibn Ezra's commentary on "El Shaddai"), סֵבֶר (in "סֶבֶר פָּנִים," from Aramaic meaning "thought" or "opinion"), and the mixed-parentage "הון תועפות" (a blend of two separate biblical phrases that merged in the early 20th century).
Key Quotes
"תָּבוֹא בְכֶלַח אֱלֵי קָבֶר כַּעֲלוֹת גָּדִישׁ בְּעִתּוֹ" — Job 5:26
"גַּם כֹּחַ יְדֵיהֶם לָמָּה לִּי עָלֵימוֹ אָבַד כָּלַח" — Job 30:2
Timeline
- Biblical period: כֶּלַח appears twice in Job; meaning unknown even to later readers
- Pre-19th century: The phrase "עלימו אבד כלח" used in literary contexts to indicate obsolescence
- Second half of 19th century: Modern form "אבד עליו הכלח" begins to displace the older version
- Early 20th century: "אבד עליו הכלח" fully established as the standard idiom
- Modern Hebrew: כֶּלַח has no independent use; entirely a frozen idiom component
Related Words
- טִמְיוֹן — survives only in "ירד לטמיון" (lost/squandered); from Greek tamieion
- תּוֹעָפוֹת — biblical hapax from Job 22:25; now only in "הון תועפות" (vast wealth)
- עָתֵק — from Proverbs 8:18; now only in "הון עתק" (great fortune)
- אֶשְׁכּוֹלוֹת — Mishnaic word (Sota 9:9); now only in "איש אשכולות" (Renaissance man)
- שִׁדּוּד — survives only in "שידוד מערכות" (upheaval/reform); traced to Ibn Ezra on "El Shaddai"
- סֵבֶר — Aramaic origin meaning "thought/opinion"; survives only in "סֶבֶר פָּנִים יָפוֹת"