Baḥur

("young man," lit. "chosen one"). Hebrew term possessing various connotations in the Bible, but later applied to a Talmud student, especially one who is unmarried. Although occasionally denoting "chosen warriors" (Jer. 48:15; I Chr. 19:10), it more frequently designates a young man in the prime of life (e.g., Judg. 14:10; Isa. 9:16) or a youth of marriageable age (e.g., Isa. 23:4, 62:5; Jer. 31:12, 51:22). By early rabbinic times, baḥur had acquired the generalized sense of "a single man," whether as a desirable marriage partner (Ta'an. 4:8) or as a presumably older man taking a widow for his bride (Ket. 7a-b). From the Middle Ages onward, baḥur specifically denoted a youthful Talmud student in his early stage of "learning" at a Yeshivah (rabbinical academy). Having graduated from the traditional ḥeder, he was now a baḥur yeshivah (or yeshivah bokher in Yiddish), whereas older, newly married students became known as avrekhim. The biblical expression tiferet baḥurim ("the glory of young men"; Prov. 20:29) was extended to mean youths who were the pride and joy of their community.

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