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One of my students was filling out an application that requested the longest and shortest word in Tanach. I am assuming by the fact that this question was asked that there is a known answer and this is not some vague question that requires counting of all the words in Tanach. Thanks for your help on this.

What is the longest word in Tanach?

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    I suppose that the shortest word is the one that Cain said to his brother, Abel, in Genesis 4:8.
    – Shimon bM
    Mar 25, 2015 at 0:04
  • judaism.stackexchange.com/q/22408/759
    – Double AA ♦
    Mar 25, 2015 at 2:27
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    @ShimonbM The ה which is separated from Lashem and treated as a separate word would be the "shortest word". This is from memory so I do not remember where it is in the Torah. After that the את would be an example of the shortest word.
    – sabbahillel
    Mar 25, 2015 at 2:54
  • @sabbahillel Thanks. I didn't ask about the shortest because I saw that on this link here: judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/2116/…
    – RCW
    Mar 25, 2015 at 5:36
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    @sabbahillel the Heh is in parshas Ha'azinu "Ha-Lashem Tigmilu zos, am naval velo chacham..."
    – Isaac Kotlicky
    Dec 16, 2015 at 3:16

1 Answer 1

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Three words in Tanach are tied for the longest word, at 11 letters each: וְהָאֲחַשְׁדַּרְפְּנִים in Esther 9:3, וּכְתוֹעֲבוֹתֵיהֶן in Yechezkel 16:47, and וְכַעֲלִילוֹתֵיכֶם in Yechezkel 20:44 (source).

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  • Do cholam malei and chrik malei count as letters?
    – Daniel
    Mar 25, 2015 at 13:29
  • @Daniel why wouldn't they? they are intrinsic to the word and often are used to derive additional meaning...
    – Isaac Kotlicky
    Dec 16, 2015 at 3:25
  • Longest in Torah by letters is וּבְמִשְׁאֲרוֹתֶיךָ
    – Double AA ♦
    Jan 21, 2022 at 16:34

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