מנהרה

Biblical hapax legomenon of ultimately uncertain meaning, however context and etymology suggest it as speaking of glens found in between mountains, which are common in Judea and Samaria: Judges 6:2 lists it in connection with other parts of a mountainous landscape such as caves and peaks, while the shared root נָהָר (nahár, “river”) hints at it containing some stream. It was borrowed into Modern Hebrew with the meaning "tunnel", which is the result of instead interpreting the biblical passage as not referring to the inaccessible terrain, but rather to protective measures taken by the Israelites against the invading nomadic tribes.

• (Tiberian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /min.hɔːˈrɔː/ [min.hɔːˈʀɔː]
• (Yemenite Hebrew) IPA^(key): /min.hɔˈrɔ/ [min.hɔːˈrɔː]
• (Sephardi Hebrew) IPA^(key): /min.haˈra/
• (Ashkenazi Hebrew) IPA^(key): /min.hɔˈrɔ/
• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /min.haˈra/

מִנְהָרָה • (minhará) f (plural indefinite מִנְהָרוֹת, singular construct מִנְהֶרֶת־, plural construct מִנְהֲרוֹת־) [pattern: מִקְטָלָה]

1. (Biblical Hebrew, hapax legomenon) A deep valley between mountains containing a stream; a glen.
   • Tanach, Judges 6:2:

     וַתָּעׇז יַד־מִדְיָן עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵל מִפְּנֵי מִדְיָן עָשׂוּ לָהֶם  בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת־הַמִּנְהָרוֹת אֲשֶׁר בֶּהָרִים וְאֶת־הַמְּעָרוֹת וְאֶת־הַמְּצָדוֹת׃

     The hand of the Midian prevailed over Israel; because of Midian the children of Israel made for themselves the glens that are in the mountains, and the caves and the summits [The Israelites retreated into more mountainous terrain and made use of its inaccessibility].

2. (Modern Israeli Hebrew) A tunnel: an underground or underwater passage.

• H4492 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Klein, Ernest (1987) “מִנְהָרָה”, in A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English‎^[1], Jerusalem: Carta, →ISBN, page 356a
• “מנהרה” in the Hebrew Terms Database of the Academy of Hebrew Language

• מנהרה on the Hebrew Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^he