Mamzer

A mamzer (Hebrew: ממזר‎) is a person born from certain forbidden relationships, or the descendant of such a person, in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish religious law. A mamzer in modern Jewish culture is someone who is either born of adultery by a married Jewish woman and a Jewish man who is not her husband, or born of incest (as defined by the Bible), or someone who has a mamzer as a parent. Mamzer status is not synonymous with illegitimacy, since it does not include children whose mothers were unmarried.

Definition

Etymology

The word mamzer is a masculine noun form derived from the root m-z-r having a meaning of spoilt/corrupt. The Talmud explains the term homiletically as consisting of the words mum (defect) and zar (strange/alien) a euphemism for an illicit union in the person's lineage (Kiddushin 3:12, Yebamot 76b)
From the Strong's Concordance: "mamzer (mam‑zare'); from an unused root meaning 'to alienate'; a mongrel, i.e., born of a Jewish father and a heathen mother".

Hebrew Bible usage