Lamed

Lamed is the twelfth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It represents the consonant sound l and is written in modern Hebrew as the character ל. Unlike some other letters, lamed has no distinct final form and appears the same in initial, medial, and final positions. In gematria, its numerical value is 30.

The name lamed derives from the ancient Semitic letter name and is commonly connected to the Hebrew verb לָמַד (lamed), meaning to learn or to teach. Historically, the shape of lamed is traced to the Phoenician letter lamed, often interpreted as a stylized goad used to drive animals. This combination of linguistic heritage and graphical evolution places lamed within the core tradition of the Hebrew script.

In usage, lamed serves as the /l/ consonant in words. It also functions as the prefix או preposition לְ meaning “to,” “for,” or “toward,” and appears frequently in infinitives and construct phrases such as ללכת (to go) or ללמוד (to learn). Its dual role as a phoneme and a productive preposition reflects its centrality in Hebrew morphology and syntax.

In typography and encoding, Lamed is a standard component of the Hebrew block in Unicode, with the code point U+05DC. It is routinely encountered in Biblical, liturgical, and modern Hebrew texts and remains a fundamental element of the alphabet.