| 1229 | Context of taxation or sacrificial portions? The “exact a fifth” reading is quite specialized and appears in Leviticus 2:2, etc., always with ב (“in”) rather than את־.
See Gesenius’ treatment of the root (חמש), specifically his “No. III” sense, which he and many later commentators understand as “to array for battle, to marshal” (hence a “host” properly divided into five parts: centre, front‑guard, rear‑guard, and two wings).
A few points to note:
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Root Distinction
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חמש I (Qal) gives חמש “to fifth” (i.e. levy a 20 % tax or portion).
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חמש III (Piel) yields חמש, חמיש (part. pass.) “armed,” “arrayed for battle,” “martial”—as Gesenius notes, allied semantically to חמש (“to arm”) and the Arabic حمس ḫamsa “to be eager or manly in battle.”
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Five‑part Array
– The notion of “five‑part” military deployment appears in classical sources (e.g. Theodoret’s περσπαττόντες, “five‑divisions”). Gesenius sees this as embedded in the very name חמישׁים “the armed ones” (Ex 13:18; Josh 1:14; Judg 7:11), literally “the five‑divisions,” i.e. the fighting host marshaled for combat.
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Usage in Biblical Hebrew
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חמש את־הארץ (Num 31:13 LXX ἐνοπλισμένοι “having been armed,” Vulg. armati) speaks of Israel “arming” itself for war.
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חמשים (participle‑plural) is twice used of Israel as “the armed host” that marched out of Egypt (Ex 13:18) and into Canaan (Josh 1:14), and once in Gideon’s story (Judg 7:11) of the “well‑armed” band.
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Etymological Core
Gesenius connects all these senses—arming, levying a fifth, sharpening, anger/ardor—with a notion of “sharpness,” “acrimony,” which in Semitic diversifies into martial readiness on the one hand and the notion of a portion (a “fifth”) on the other.
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