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•LEAH weary, the eldest daughter of Laban, and sister of Rachel (Genesis 29:16). Jacob took her to wife through a deceit of her father (Genesis 29:23). She was “tender-eyed” (17). She bore to Jacob six sons (32-35), also one daughter, Dinah (30:21). She accompanied Jacob into Canaan, and died there before the time of the going down into Egypt (Genesis 31), and was buried in the cave of Machpelah (49:31).
•LEANNOTH for answering; i.e., in singing, occurs in the title to Psalm 88. The title “Mahalath (q.v.) Leannoth” may be rendered “concerning sickness, to be sung” i.e., perhaps, to be sung in sickness.
•LEASING (Psalm 4:2; 5:6) an Old English word meaning lies, or lying, as the Hebrew word kazabh is generally rendered.
•LEATHER a girdle of, worn by Elijah (2 Kings 1:8) and John the Baptist (Matthew 3:4). Leather was employed both for clothing (Numbers 31:20; Hebrews 11:37) and for writing upon. The trade of a tanner is mentioned (Acts 9:43; 10:6, 32). It was probably learned in Egypt.
•LEAVEN (1.) Hebrews seor (Exodus 12:15, 19; 13:7; Leviticus 2:11), the remnant of dough from the preceding baking which had fermented and become acid.
(2.) Hebrews hamets, properly “ferment.” In Numbers 6:3, “vinegar of wine” is more correctly “fermented wine.” In Exodus 13:7, the proper rendering would be, “Unfermented things [Hebrews matstsoth] shall be consumed during the seven days; and there shall not be seen with thee fermented things [hamets], and there shall not be seen with thee leavened mass [seor] in all thy borders.” The chemical definition of ferment or yeast is “a substance in a state of putrefaction, the atoms of which are in a continual motion.”
The use of leaven was strictly forbidden in all offerings made to the Lord by fire (Leviticus 2:11; 7:12; 8:2; Numbers 6:15). Its secretly penetrating