Saying “Thank You” in Biblical Hebrew

Today, Modern Hebrew-speakers thank one another by saying, Todah! (תּוֹדָה) However, this was not how the Israelites thanked one another.

The Hebrew word todah is found in the Jewish Scriptures. It is usually rendered as “thanksgiving”, and referred primarily to an animal that was sacrificed as a thanksgiving offering. The related verb is hodah (הוֹדָה), which is rendered as “to thank” or “to praise”. However, both todah and hodah were used to denote “praise” to God, or to a person of higher status (Gen. 49:8). The Israelites did not use todah or hodah to thank one another like in Modern Hebrew.

As far as is known, the Israelites did not thank one another like we do today. Nonetheless, they sometimes responded to kind acts by saying, “Let me find favour in your eyes.” (אֶמְצָא־חֵן בְּעֵינֶ֫יךָ) We find examples of this in the Jewish Scriptures:

Ruth 2:13 And she said, “Let me find favour in your eyes, O my lord, for you comforted me and spoke kindly to me, your maidservant, though I am not one of your maidservants.”

1 Samuel 1:18 And she said, “Let me, your maidservant, find favour in your eyes.” Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was not sad anymore.

2 Samuel 16:4 Then the king said to Ziba, “Behold, all that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours.” And Ziba said, “I bow. Let me find favour in your eyes, O my lord the king.”

The expression “to find favour in someone’s eyes” means to be pleasing to that person. Sometimes, it was used in response to kindness by employing in the jussive mood, “Let me find” (אֶמְצָא). The idea seems to be that an ideal response to kindness involves a desire to please the person who has shown kindness.