how to say “an escape” in Hebrew

 

מָנוֹס
 

 

 
The Torah portion to be read this Shabbat by Jews around the world includes:
 
לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְלַגֵּר וְלַתּוֹשָׁב בְּתוֹכָם, תִּהְיֶינָה שֵׁשׁ הֶעָרִים הָאֵלֶּה, לְמִקְלָט לָנוּס שָׁמָּה, כָּל מַכֵּה נֶפֶשׁ בִּשְׁגָגָה.
For the Children of Israel, and for the sojourner and the resident among them, shall be these six cities, as a refuge to escape there, all who strike a soul accidentally.
(Numbers 35:15)
 
 
לָנוּס   is a higher-register synonym of the more colloquial word for to escape – לִבְרוֹחַ  . It’s an active-simple verb of the hollow variety.
 
Thus an escape in the general sense is מָנוֹס  , while a physical escape from a place is בְּרִיחָה  .

For example:
 
אֵין מָנוֹס מֵרְשוּיוֹת הַמַּס.
There is no escaping the tax authorities.
 
 
and
 
הֵם תִּכְנְנוּ בְּרִיחָה מִבֵּית הַסֹּהַר.
They planned an escape from the prison.
 

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