הֲדָחָה / הַדָּחָה

1. impeachment / removal from office; 2. subornation (inducing someone to commit a crime); 3. rinsing/washing (in kashrut)

Origin: Three distinct uses: (1) הַדָּחָה — removal/ousting — from root נ.ד.ח (to push away, to be cast off); (2) הַדָּחָה — subornation — metaphorical extension of the same root via Deuteronomy 13:6; (3) הֲדָחָה — rinsing in water — from root ד.ו.ח in the hif'il (causative) form, meaning 'to wash/rinse', unrelated to the first root
Root: נ.ד.ח (roots 1 and 2); ד.ו.ח (root 3)
First attestation: Rinsing: Biblical (2 Chronicles 4:6); Removal/casting: Jeremiah 27:10; Subornation (as legal term): 1936 Mandatory Criminal Code, Section 119
Coined by: ancient (rinsing sense); legal sense introduced in Mandatory criminal code, 1936 (likely translated by Yitzhak Abbadi)
biblicaltalmudichomonymypolysemylegalmodernkashrut

הֲדָחָה / הַדָּחָה (hadakha) — impeachment; subornation; rinsing

Etymology

The word הֲדָחָה / הַדָּחָה is a remarkable case study in linguistic ambiguity: the same spoken form in modern Hebrew (ha.da'xa) actually represents two completely unrelated words that accidentally merged — a case of homonymy — while one of those words also developed a second, metaphorical meaning — a case of polysemy.

Root 1 — נ.ד.ח (to push away, expel, cast aside): The adjective נִדָּח ("banished, cast off") is familiar to Hebrew speakers. The causative hif'il form הִדִּיחַ means "to remove someone from a position against their will." This usage is found in Jeremiah: "For they prophesy falsely to you...to remove you (ve-hiddakhtí) from your land" (27:10). This root also appears in the sense "to swing/wield" (an axe), as in Deuteronomy 20:19 — scholars debate whether this is the same root (polysemy) or a different root that happens to share the same letters (homonymy). In any case, the "removal" form entered modern Hebrew naturally as the standard word for impeachment, removal from office, or professional dismissal (הַדָּחָה).

Root 1, extended meaning — subornation: The same verb הִדִּיחַ appears metaphorically in Deuteronomy 13:6, where prophets who lead Israel away from God are condemned: "to cause you to stray (le-hadíkhakha) from the path that the Lord your God commanded you to walk." This phrase — "to stray someone from the path" — was understood metaphorically as "to induce someone to commit an offense." When the British Mandate government issued the Criminal Code Ordinance in 1936, the translator (most likely Yitzhak Abbadi, chief translator of the Palestine government) used הַדָּחָה as the Hebrew equivalent of the English legal term subornation (inducing perjury or other crimes). Section 119 of the ordinance prescribed five years' imprisonment for "הַדָּחָה לְעֵדוּת שֶׁקֶר" (subornation of perjury). The term became widely known in 1960 when newspaper coverage of the "Lavon Affair" (Esek Bish) revealed that a key figure had "הִדִּיחַ עֵדִים" — suborned witnesses.

Root 2 — ד.ו.ח (to wash/rinse): Completely unrelated in origin, the hif'il of ד.ו.ח means "to rinse in water." It appears in 2 Chronicles 4:6, describing the basins in Solomon's Temple: "to rinse in them (le-hadíakh) the burnt offering." This "rinsing" sense never left Hebrew because it remained embedded in Jewish law as one of the required stages in koshering meat: rinsing before salting and after. Butchers and kosher-keepers used the term continuously across every generation, so it needed no revival when Hebrew was restored as a spoken language.

Today both words are pronounced identically — ha.da'xa — making them perfect homophones. In historical Hebrew vowel notation, they were different: הֲדָחָה (the rinsing word, with a short ḥataf-pataḥ under the heh) versus הַדָּחָה (the removal/subornation word, with a full pataḥ and a dagesh in the dalet indicating doubling). But modern Hebrew has collapsed these distinctions.

Key Quotes

"כִּי שֶׁקֶר הֵם נִבְּאִים לָכֶם...וְהִדַּחְתִּי אֶתְכֶם וַאֲבַדְתֶּם" — ירמיהו כ"ז, י'

"לֹא תַשְׁחִית אֶת עֵצָהּ לִנְדֹּחַ עָלָיו גַּרְזֶן" — דברים כ', י"ט

"אֶת מַעֲשֵׂה הָעוֹלָה יָדִיחוּ בָם" — דברי הימים ב' ד', ו'

Timeline

  • Biblical period: Root נ.ד.ח used in Jeremiah for removal/exile; root ד.ו.ח used in Chronicles for ritual rinsing
  • Biblical period: Deuteronomy 13:6 uses הִדִּיחַ metaphorically for leading people astray
  • Talmudic period: Rinsing (הֲדָחָה) remains in continuous halakhic use as a stage in kashering meat
  • 1936: Mandatory Criminal Code issued; הַדָּחָה adopted as the Hebrew legal translation of "subornation" (likely by Yitzhak Abbadi)
  • 1948: Israeli criminal law inherits the 1936 ordinance
  • 1960: The Lavon Affair brings "הַדָּחַת עֵדִים" (suborning witnesses) into public awareness
  • Modern: All three meanings coexist, with the homonymous pair (removal and rinsing) now pronounced identically

Related Words

  • נִדָּח — banished, cast off (adjective from root נ.ד.ח)
  • מֵדִיחַ — one who leads astray; also: dishwasher (מֵדִיחַ כֵּלִים — dishwasher, from root ד.ו.ח)
  • הַדָּחָה — impeachment / removal from office (the political meaning, now the most common)
  • subornation — the English legal term that prompted the 1936 legal usage

related_words

הֲדָחָה / הַדָּחָה1. impeachment / removal from office; 2. subornation (inducing someone to commit a crime); 3. rinsing/washing (in kashrut)חסידהwhite stork (Ciconia ciconia)מְאֻשָּׁרhappy; approved, authorizedמְאֻשָּׁרhappy / approvedבַּעֲלִילmanifestly; openly; clearly (as in 'manifestly unlawful')שֹׁחַדbribery

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