H2860 — חָתָן (châthân)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H2860
Original: חָתָן
Transliteration: châthân
Pronunciation: khaw-thawn'
Part of Speech: Masculine noun
Root: H2859 חָתַן (châthan) — primitive root: to give (a daughter) away in marriage; to contract affinity by marriage
Occurrences: 19 unique verses (23 tokens) across 10 books
First Occurrence: Gen 19:12 — "And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters..."
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From H2859; a relative by marriage (especially through the bride); figuratively, a circumcised child (as a species of religious espousal):—bridegroom, husband, son in law.

The word covers the full semantic field of a man joined into a family through the bride: the suitor on his wedding day ("bridegroom"), the husband of one's daughter ("son in law"), and in one unusual figurative use, a circumcised child ("bloody husband"). Context distinguishes the sense.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
bridegroom (various forms)	9	47.4%
son in law (various forms)	9	47.4%
husband ("bloody husband")	2	10.5%

Merged counts: "of the bridegroom" (4), "as a bridegroom" (2), "the bridegroom" (2), "A [bloody] husband" (1) → bridegroom sense = 9 verses. "son in law" (4), "the son in law" (3), "his son in law" (1), "his sons in law" (1) → son-in-law sense = 9 verses. The two senses are almost perfectly balanced.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Joel	1	1.4
Nehemiah	2	0.5
Judges	2	0.3
Jeremiah	4	0.3
1 Samuel	2	0.2
Exodus	2	0.2
Isaiah	2	0.2
Genesis	2	0.1
2 Kings	1	0.1
Psalms	1	0.0

Notable patterns: concentrated in the Prophets (Isa, Jer, Joel = 7 verses, 37%) where "voice of the bridegroom" functions as a stock phrase for covenant joy or its withdrawal. Narrative usage (Gen, Exo, Jdg, Sam, Kgs, Neh) is always in the "son-in-law" sense, tracking genealogy and alliance. Absent from the Pentateuch's legal corpus (Lev, Num, Deu) and from Wisdom literature apart from Psa 19:5.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Son-in-law (relative by marriage)¶

The man who has married into a family through their daughter; often highlights alliance, loyalty, or genealogical note. - Gen 19:12 — "Hast thou here any besides? son in law (châthân), and thy sons, and thy daughters..." - Jdg 15:6 — "Samson, the son in law (châthân) of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife" - 1 Sam 18:18 — "that I should be son in law (châthân) to the king" - Neh 6:18 — "he was the son in law (châthân) of Shechaniah the son of Arah"

2. Bridegroom on his wedding day¶

The man in the act or fresh state of marrying; often paired with the bride (kallâh H3618) and with sounds of celebration. - Psa 19:5 — "Which is as a bridegroom (châthân) coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race" - Isa 62:5 — "as the bridegroom (châthân) rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee" - Jer 7:34 — "the voice of the bridegroom (châthân), and the voice of the bride" - Joel 2:16 — "let the bridegroom (châthân) go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet"

3. Bridegroom as figure of divine / covenantal joy¶

The bridegroom's gladness becomes a metaphor for YHWH's delight in His people or — in reverse — for the loss of joy under judgment. - Isa 61:10 — "as a bridegroom (châthân) decketh himself with ornaments" - Jer 16:9 — "I will cause to cease... the voice of the bridegroom (châthân), and the voice of the bride" - Jer 25:10 — "I will take from them... the voice of the bridegroom (châthân), and the voice of the bride" - Jer 33:11 — "The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom (châthân)"

4. Figurative — "bloody husband" (circumcision scene)¶

Zipporah's enigmatic exclamation applies châthân to the circumcised child or to Moses in the context of blood-rite kinship; the lexicon notes this as a "species of religious espousal." - Exo 4:25 — "cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband (châthân) art thou to me" - Exo 4:26 — "A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
אָמַר ʼâmar (say)	H559	10x (53%)	speech frame — "said unto the son in law" / dialogue with the relative
כַּלָּה kallâh (bride)	H3618	7x (37%)	"bridegroom and bride" — fixed pair in prophetic joy formulas
בֵּן bên (son)	H1121	5x (26%)	genealogical notice of the son-in-law's father or lineage
יְהֹוָה Yᵉhôvâh	H3068	5x (26%)	divine speech announcing the silencing or return of bridegroom-joy
קוֹל qôwl (voice)	H6963	4x (21%)	"voice of the bridegroom" — the Jeremiah formula
שִׂמְחָה simchâh (joy)	H8057	4x (21%)	bridegroom paired with celebration terms in the joy-cluster
שָׂשׂוֹן sâsôwn (gladness)	H8342	4x (21%)	part of the Jeremiah four-fold joy formula (mirth/gladness/bridegroom/bride)
לָקַח lâqach (take)	H3947	4x (21%)	taking a daughter → becoming a châthân
יָצָא yâtsâʼ (go out)	H3318	4x (21%)	bridegroom "going forth" from his chamber
שׂוּשׂ sûws (rejoice)	H7797	3x (16%)	bridegroom's rejoicing as image of YHWH's delight

Word Family / Cognates¶

H2859 חָתַן (châthan) — root verb: to give a daughter in marriage, contract affinity (33x)
H2858 חֹתֶנֶת (chôthenet) — marriage (1x, Song 3:11)
H2859a (derived senses) — father-in-law, mother-in-law participles from the same root

Synonyms¶

H3618 כַּלָּה (kallâh) — returned by search_relationships.py as the closest paired marriage term to châthân.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for H2860.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
אִישׁ ʼîysh	H376	"husband"	General term for man/husband; H2860 specifies newly-married or affinity kinsman
בַּעַל baʻal	H1167	"husband"	Emphasizes ownership/mastery; H2860 emphasizes joining/affinity through bride
חָתַן châthan	H2859	"son in law"	Root verb vs. noun — the action of becoming/giving in marriage vs. the person

Through LXX, H2860 is the dominant Hebrew source for νυμφίος; few other Hebrew words carry the "bridegroom" sense, so LXX overlap is minimal and H2860 ↔ G3566 forms a strong cross-testament bridge.

Semantic Domains¶

UBS / Relationship Domains¶

[001002007012] Relatives — search_relationships.py places châthân in the kinship-by-marriage field, alongside family terms such as A2/H1 אַב / אָב, A252/H251/H253/H254 אַח / אָח, and other relative vocabulary.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occ	PMI	Notes
νυμφίος nymphíos	G3566	9	10.30	Primary equivalent — "bridegroom"
νύμφη nýmphē	G3565	7	8.15	"bride" — co-present with châthân verses in paired formulas
εὐφροσύνη euphrosýnē	G2167	4	5.64	"gladness" — from Jeremiah joy-formula verses
εὐφραίνω euphraínō	G2165	3	4.39	"to rejoice" — same joy-formula context
φωνή phōnḗ	G5456	4	3.51	"voice (of the bridegroom)" — phrase carrier
τόπος tópos	G5117	3	3.19	"place" — geographic setting of joy-formula
θυγάτηρ thygátēr	G2364	3	3.09	"daughter" — son-in-law contexts
λαμβάνω lambánō	G2983	4	2.35	"take" — marrying/taking contexts

Primary bridge: H2860 → G3566 νυμφίος. The PMI score (10.30) indicates a near-exclusive translational pairing.