Answers about…
cheese in the Bible

Cheese was an important part of the diet of ancient Israelites. This word occurs 3 times in the Old Testament as the translation of 3 different Hebrew words.

1. gebinah

   The earliest mention in the Bible is in the book of Job.

   Hebrew: גְּבִנָה —transliteration: gebinah —meaning: curdled milk; cheese

   Did You not pour me out like milk
   And curdle me like cheese —Job 10:10

2. chalab

   Hebrew: חָלָב —transliteration: chalab —meaning: milk, cheese

   You shall also bring these 10 cuts of cheese to the commander of their thousand, and look into the welfare of your brothers, and bring back a token from them. —1 Samuel 17:18

3. shaphah

   Hebrew: שָׁפָה —transliteration: shaphah —meaning: cheese (as strained/clarified from the whey)

   Now it happened that when David had come to Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, Machir the son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim, brought beds, basins, pottery, wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils, roasted seeds, honey, curds, sheep, and cheese< of the herd/em>, for David and for the people who were with him, to eat; for they said, “The people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness.” —2 Samuel 17:27-29

   The Vulgate version reads “fat calves.”