Sinew

Sinew (once for עֹרֶק, a gnawer, i.e. pain [Job 30:17]; elsewhere גַּיד, gid) occurs especially in the phrase גַּיד הַנָּשֶׁה, gid han-nasheh, "the sinew that shrank" (Ge 32:32), i.e. the nervus ischiadicus, or thigh cord (Gesenius, Thesaur. p. 921). Josephus renders it the broad nerve (νεῦρον πλατύ, Ant. 1, 10, 2), being that which is on the thigh (עִל כִּŠ הִיָּרֵך), extending from the knee upwards, and in fact but a continuation of that along the shin (Rosenmuller, Hand. d. Anatomie, 6th ed. p. 519). Many understand by it the hamstring, or tendo Achillis; but this is no proper nerve nor muscle. Modern Jews, in general, regard this part, even of clean animals, to be inedible, although the Mosaic law contains no prohibition on the subject. For the Talmudic prescription see the Mishna (Cholin, 7). The rabbins mostly understand the sinews of the hips to be intended (see Philippson, ad loc.),