WEAN (גָּמַל, H1694). In ancient times a child was not fully weaned for two or three years. This is clear from the story of Hannah and Samuel (2 Sam 1:21-24) and also of the woman who saw seven of her sons killed by Antiochus Epiphanes and then urged her last son to hold fast to his Jewish faith against the threats of the king who tried to persuade him to repudiate his faith. She said to him, “I carried you nine months in my womb, and nursed you for three years, and have reared you and brought you up to this point in your life, and have taken care of you” (2 Macc 7:27). The completion of weaning was sometimes celebrated by a feast (Gen 21:8). The word is also used in a metaphorical sense (Ps 131:2; Isa 28:9).