חוֹל
sand
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Construct-state word in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
Noun type
- Common
- A common noun — a general class of person, place, or thing (“king,” “city,” “water”), not a specific name.
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
2 verses where H2344 appears in the Construct state in the Book of Genesis. Filtered view — show all forms. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Genesis
- Genesis 32:12 כְּ/ח֣וֹל prep + n c ms cs You said, 'I will surely do you good, and make your seed as the sand of the sea, which can't be numbered because there are so many.'"
- Genesis 41:49 כְּ/ח֥וֹל prep + n c ms cs Joseph laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he stopped counting, for it was without number.
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
The Hebrew noun חול centers on the idea of “sand.” The King James Version usually renders it “sand,” while modern versions prefer “like the sand” (unfoldingWord Literal Text) — see the renderings breakdown. Spanning 23 verses in 15 books, it ranks among the uncommon words of the Hebrew Bible. Debuting at Genesis 22:17, it then recurs through the corpus. Sharing its root, it stands alongside חול, חיל and חיל. For the data behind this summary, explore the sense tree and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H2344 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 23
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 23 distinct verses.
- 15 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 15 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #1,368
- by frequency
- Top 2500 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 1,368 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 23 occurrences in the concordance →
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 23 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 13 verses · 57%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 5 verses · 22%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 5 verses · 22%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
- King James Version: Sand 16×, Than the sand 2×
- American Standard Version: Sand 17×
- Berean Standard Bible: Sand 13×, Like the sand 7×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Like the sand 8×, Sand 4×, And 2×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H2344 across 23 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 5 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H2344 across 23 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 6 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H2344 across 23 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 3 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H2344 across 24 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 8 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Senses in the full BDB
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 3 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
- a. usually sand of seashore, sim. of numberlessness, vastness, so of Abraham’s seed Gn 22:17 (J; cf. 15:5); Jacob’s 32:13 (E); of a host Jos 11:4 (JE), Ju 7:12 1 S 13:5 2 S 17:11; a people 1 K 4:20 Ho 2:1 Is 10:22; 48:19 (‖ וְצֶאֱצָאֵי מֵעֶיךָ בִּמְעֹתָ֑יו), Je 33:22 Hb 1:9; of corn gathered by Joseph Gn 41:49; of days of Job Jb 29:18 (on interpr. = phœnix, vid. Di); of birds עוף כנף (i.e. quails) ψ 78:27 (‖ כֶּעָפָר); of vast extent of Sol.’s wisdom 1 K 5:9. e.g. Genesis 22:17
- b. in comp., more than the sand Je 15:8 (widows of Judah); thoughts of God ψ 139:18. e.g. Jeremiah 15:8
- c. of weight (in balances), metaph. of Job’s vexation (כַּעַשׂ) Jb 6:3 heavier than the sand, cf. וְנֵטֶל הַחוֹל Pr 27:3 (‖ כֹּבֶד אֶבֶן), said of כַּעַס אֱוִיל.—Combinations are: כח׳ אשׁר על שׂפת הים Gn 22:17 Jos 11:4 1 S 13:5 1 K 5:9; כח׳ הַיָּם Gn 32:13; 41:49 Is 10:22 Ho 2:1 (+ אשׁר לא יִמַּד ולא יִסָּפֵר); ח׳ הַיָּם Je 33:22; כח׳ שֶׁעַל־שׂפת הים לרב Ju 7:12; כח׳ אשׁר־על־הים לרב 2 S 17:11 1 K 4:20; (ם)חול יַמִּים Jb 6:3 ψ 78:27 Je 15:8. e.g. Job 6:3
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
n.m. Ho 2:1 sand (perhaps as turning or whirling; otherwise explained by Sta, vid. sub חֲוִילָה; NH id., Aramaic חָלָא, ܚܳܠܴܐ )—ח׳ abs. Gn 22:17 + 15 times; cstr. Gn 32:13 + 6times;—sand Ex 2:12 (E); set as bound for sea Je 5:22; שְׂפֻנֵי טמוני ח׳ Dt 33:19 hidden treasures of sand, poet. for glass (regarded as mysteriously produced out of sand, v. Di and reff.);
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from חול (chûwl) (H2342) — to writhe.
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
חוּל
- [to turn around, circle,]
- 1. to dance. Part. חָל, חוֹל; perf. חָל. Taan. IV, 8 יוצאות וחוֹלוֹת וכ׳ used to go out and dance in the vineyards; Lam. R. introd. וחָלוֹת (ר׳ זעירא) (ed. Wil. וחולות). Koh. R. to I, 11 חָלִין לפניו dance before Him, v. חוֹלָה. Gen. R. s. 74 חָלִים; Cant. R. to VII, 1; a. e.
- 2. (cmp. חַג) to come in turn, to occur. Meg. I, 1 חל להיות וכ׳ if the fourteenth fell on a Monday. R. Hash. IV, 1; a. v. fr.
- 3. (with על) to hover around one’s head, to rest upon one as a duty; to take effect (as a law). Shebu. 25ᵃ הנדרים חָלִים על וכ׳ vows are binding even if referring to a religious obligation. Ib. שבועות חָלוֹת וכ׳ oaths are binding &c.; Ned. 15ᵃ. Ib. 17ᵃ אין חָלָה וכ׳ one vow of nazaritism does not take effect &c.; Ḥull. 101ᵃ איסור חל וכ׳, v. אִיסּוּר. Y. Sabb. VII, 9ᵃ top; a. v. fr.
- [to be made to circle,] to be commenced, established. Ber. 31ᵃ הוּחֲלָה it (prayer at fixed times) was instituted.
חוּל ²
- 1. to dance. Part. חָיֵיל. Targ. Y. Ex. XV, 20 חיילין (read חַיְילָן).
- 2. to take effect. Yoma 14ᵃ חַיְילָא עליה וכ׳ the observation of mourning rests upon him. Ned. 17ᵃ ח׳ נזירות וכ׳, v. preced. Shebu. 24ᵇ ח׳ אתאנים takes effect with reference to figs. Ḥull. 103ᵃ אתי … ח׳ comes and takes effect in addition to &c. Ib. … ובמיתי מֵיחַל (מֵיחוּל) וכ׳ and they differ as to whether or not the prohibition of … comes to take effect &c.; a. fr.
- 3. to hover over one’s head, be impending. Targ. Jer. VII, 20; a. e.
- to turn in a circle, dance. Targ. Ps. XLII, 5 (h. text אדדם).
חוּל II
- (v. חָלָה) to be smooth, quiet, v. infra.
- to be quieted. Ber. 30ᵇ כדי שתִּתְחוֹלֵל דעתו עליו (Ms. M., Yalk. Ex. 392, Deut. 813 שתָּחוּל) until his mind is quieted (collected for prayer).
חוּל ³
- , to be smooth, lax; to be forgiving, renounce; to be sweet. Targ. O. Gen. IV, 26 חָליּ וכ׳ men became lax in worshipping.—Keth. 86ᵃ top תיזיל ותֵיחוּל וכ׳ Alf. (ed. ותיחלה, Asheri ותימחל) let her go and renounce her mother’s widowhood in favor of her father.—Gitt. 47ᵃ דלֵיחוֹל אַדְּמֵיה that he (the gladiator) may be in a forgiving mood for his life (which he is forced to risk); [oth. opin. דלֵיחוֹל אִדְמֵיה that his blood may be sweet, Ar. s. v. אדמא].
- to sweeten (by adding good wine), to improve. B. Mets. 60ᵃ דילמא טפי ומְחַיְּילֵיה וכ׳ lest he may add unmixed wine and improve it, and then sell it (for pure wine).
- (אַחֲלֵי, fr. חלי) to be liberal, to forgive. Ber. 12ᵇ אֲחִילוּ ליה מן וכ׳ they in heaven forgave him. Sabb. 30ᵃ דא׳ להו עון וכ׳ He pardoned them for the violation of the Day of Atonement; M. Kat. 9ᵃ. Keth. l. c. אֲחִילְתָּהּ she renounced it, v. supra.—B. Mets. 73ᵃ אֲחוּלֵי … מַחֲלֵי וכ׳ Ms. R. (ed. אוזולי … מוזלי, v. זוּל I ch.) they were liberal towards you. B. Bath. 144ᵃ אחולי אַחֲלָה she resigned her claim. [M. Kat. 17ᵃ מיתחיל = מִתְחֲלִיל, v. חֲלַל.] V. מְחַל.
חוֹל I
- sand, sand-region, esp. the sand used for glass-making. Sabb. VIII, 5 ח׳ הדק fine sand (marl used for manure); ח׳ הגס coarse sand (for cementing). Meg. 6ᵃ, v. זְכוּכִית. [Sabb. 90ᵃ בורית זה ח׳, v. אֳהָל.]—Pl. חוֹלוֹת sandy region, sea-shore, desert. Sabb. 31ᵃ בין הח׳ on an oasis surrounded with sand-land. Meg. 6ᵃ Cæsarea שהיא יושבת בין הח׳ which was situated between the sea-places, v. חוֹלַת.—Lev. R. s. 5 ח׳ אנטוכיא, v. חוֹלַת.—Y. B. Kam. I, 2ᶜ top בחופר בח׳ if one digs a pit in sandy ground. Sifré Deut. 39 בית הח׳, v. חוֹלָסִית.
חוֹל II
- Ḥol, name of a fabulous bird (Phoenix). Gen. R. s. 19 (ref. to Job XXIX, 18); Midr. Sam. ch. XII; Yalk. Job 917. Cmp. אַיְורַשְׁנָא. e.g. Job 29:18
חוֹל III
- [outside of the sanctuary, foreign,] profane, common, opp. קוֹדֶשׁ; week-day, opp. שַׁבָּת, מוֹעֵד. Pes. 104ᵃ; Ḥull. 26ᵇ בין קודש לח׳ between what is sacred and what is secular. Shebu. 35ᵇ כל שמות … חוץ מזה שהוא ח׳ all names of lordship (Adonay) … are sacred, except the following which is secular (referring to persons).—חוֹלוֹ של מועד, or חול המועד the half-festive days intervening between the first and the last days of Passover or of Succoth. Meg. 22ᵇ; a. fr.—Maas. Sh. III, 8 פתוחות לח׳ having an entrance on secular ground; ib. תוכן ח׳ their inside is secular ground. B. Mets. 84ᵇ כלי … ישתמש בו ח׳ shall the vessel once used for sacred things, be used for secular purposes (shall R. Eleazar’s widow marry Rabbi)?; a. v. fr.—Pl. חוּלִּין profane things, animals &c. not consecrated, ordinary objects. Ḥull. 2ᵇ, a. e. ח׳ שנעשו על וכ׳ ordinary food (not T’rumah) prepared with the precautions required for the levitical cleanness of consecrated food.—Pes. 22ᵃ, a. fr. ח׳ שנשחטו בעזרה animals not consecrated for sacrifices which were slaughtered in the Temple court. Ib., a. fr. ח׳ … דאורייתא the law forbidding the use of ordinary animals slaughtered &c., is not Biblical. Gitt. 62ᵃ עיסת חוּלָּיו his ordinary dough; זיתי חוליו (not ים …), v. טָהֳרָה. Ḥag. I, 3 באות מן הח׳ are procured from secular funds, opp. to proceeds from second tithes; a. fr.—Ber. 32ᵃ (play on ויחל, Ex. XXXII, 11) ח׳ הוא לך וכ׳ it is too foreign to thy nature to do such a thing; Yalk. Gen. 83, v. חָלִילָה.—Ḥullin (= שְׁחִיטַת ח׳), name of a treatise of the Mishnah, Tosefta and Talmud Babli, of the Order of Kodashim, containing the laws concerning ordinary meat. e.g. Exodus 32:11
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 16 distinct written forms H2344 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H2344, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derives from
Shares the same root
- חיל chîyl H2427 anguish
- חיל chayil H2428 strength
- חלה châlâh H2470 to be sick
- מחול mâchôwl H4234 dance
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
- חוילה Chăvîylâh H2341 Havilah
- חול Chûwl H2343 Hul
- חלחול Chalchûwl H2478 Halhul
- חלון Chôlôwn H2473 Holon
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 10 — not the complete family. 4 of the same-root words are proper names (people or places). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 18 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 23 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
- Genesis 22:17
- Exodus 2:12
- Deuteronomy 33:19
- Joshua 11:4
- Judges 7:12
- 1 Samuel 13:5
- 2 Samuel 17:11
- Job 6:3
- Proverbs 27:3
- Isaiah 10:22
- Jeremiah 5:22
- Habakkuk 1:9
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
