Mukhan: The Rise and Fall of a Halakic Term

Abstract:The term מוכן ‘prepared’ plays a central role in Tannaitic Sabbath law. This article reviews the development of this term from linguistic, exegetical, and normative points of view. In Mishnaic Hebrew, מוכן and its negative form אינו מן המוכן are archaic forms derived through nominalization from Exod 16:5. This linguistic legacy, shared with the Damascus Document, went through a process of reconceptualization in Tannaitic law. While the term remained fixed, its normative consequences were further developed and מוכן became a pivotal concept in the Tannaitic laws of consumption and handling. Although it would seem that the rise and decline of the term מוכן could be explained through the conceptual transformations of the Tannaitic and Amoraic eras, I argue that the conceptual and linguistic changes do not coincide and suggest alternative explanations for the emergence and eventual marginalization of .מוכן