מָשַׁךְ (Mashakh)

MEANINGTo draw, pull, attract. In relational contexts, describes attraction and invitation --- not coercive compulsion. The Hebrew background for the Greek helkyō (John 6:44).

GRAMMARQal in relational uses. Song of Solomon 1:4 (moshkheni --- draw me) is an imperative request --- the drawn person asks to be drawn, showing the drawing is desirable, not imposed. Jeremiah 31:3 (mashakhti be-chesed --- I have drawn you with lovingkindness) combines the drawing with chesed, showing its relational warmth.

SIGNIFICANCEThe mashakh/helkyō connection is the project's most important single cross-language argument. Because mashakh in Song of Solomon 1:4 describes welcome attraction (the beloved asks to be drawn), and in Jeremiah 31:3 describes chesed-drawing, the same root in John 6:44 cannot mean irresistible coercion without violating its OT register.

KEY VERSE / SCRIPTURESSong of Solomon 1:4; Jeremiah 31:3; Isaiah 5:18 (physical sense --- dragging iniquity); Hosea 11:4 ('I drew them with cords of kindness').

CROSS-REFERENCESSong of Solomon 1:4 · Jeremiah 31:3 · ἑλκύω helkyō (John 6:44 --- Greek equivalent)