חָלָה
to be sick
‘to be sick’ is one of 4 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Qal verb in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Stem
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”). Here: ‘be or become weak’
- Piel
- An intensive or resultative active stem. Here: ‘mollify’
- Niphal
- Usually the simple passive or reflexive of the Qal (“he was written”). Here: ‘make oneself sick’
- Hophal
- The passive counterpart of the Hiphil (“he was caused to…”). Here: ‘be made sick = wounded’
- Hithpael
- The reflexive or reciprocal stem (the subject acts on itself).
- Pual
- The passive counterpart of the Piel. Here: ‘be made weak’
- Hiphil
- The causative active stem (“he caused / brought about”). Here: ‘make’
Form
- Perfect
- A completed action or state — Hebrew marks aspect (completeness) more than strict tense (“he wrote”).
- Participle Active
- A verbal adjective expressing ongoing or characteristic action (“writing / one who writes”).
- Sequential Imperfect
- An imperfect with prefixed waw — the standard past-narrative form (waw-consecutive imperfect).
- Infinitive Construct
- A bound verbal noun, frequently with prepositions (“to write / in writing”).
- Participle Passive
- A verbal adjective expressing action received (“written”).
- Imperfect
- An incomplete, ongoing, or future action (“he will / would write”).
- Sequential Perfect
- A perfect with prefixed waw continuing a preceding imperfect or command (waw-consecutive perfect).
- Imperative
- A direct command (“write!”).
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).
Person
- 3rd Person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
- 1st Person
- The speaker (“I / we”).
- 2nd Person
- The one addressed (“you”).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
- Common
- Either gender — not distinguished for this form.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
Grammatical forms 31 distinct
- Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 10 times (13%)
- Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 9 times (12%)
- Verb, Qal, Perfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular 6 times (8%)
- Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Feminine, Singular, Absolute 5 times (7%)
- Verb, Piel, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 4 times (5%)
- Verb, Niphal, Participle Active, Feminine, Singular, Absolute 4 times (5%)
- Verb, Hophal, Perfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular 3 times (4%)
- Verb, Piel, Infinitive Construct 3 times (4%)
+23 more forms (31 occurrences)
Parsed forms decoded from the imported morphology (morphhb / Westminster Leningrad Codex — WLC text public domain, morphhb tagging CC BY 4.0), counted across 75 parsed occurrences — not distinct verses.
Every verse where H2470 appears — 73 distinct verses across 25 books. 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 1 verse
Exodus 1 verse
Deuteronomy 1 verse
Judges 3 verses
- Judges 16:7 וְ/חָלִ֥יתִי conj + Qal pf 1cs Samson said to her, If they bind me with seven green cords that were never dried, then shall I become weak, and be as another man.
- Judges 16:11 וְ/חָלִ֥יתִי conj + Qal pf 1cs He said to her, If they only bind me with new ropes with which no work has been done, then shall I become weak, and be as another man.
- Judges 16:17 וְ/חָלִ֥יתִי conj + Qal pf 1cs He told her all his heart, and said to her, "No razor has ever come on my head; for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will go from me, and I will become weak, and be like any other man."
1 Samuel 4 verses
- 1 Samuel 13:12 חִלִּ֑יתִי Piel pf 1cs therefore said I, Now will the Philistines come down on me to Gilgal, and I haven't entreated the favor of Yahweh: I forced myself therefore, and offered the burnt offering.
- 1 Samuel 19:14 חֹלֶ֥ה Qal ptcp.act ms When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick.
- 1 Samuel 22:8 חֹלֶ֥ה Qal ptcp.act ms that all of you have conspired against me, and there is none who discloses to me when my son makes a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you who is sorry for me, or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?
- 1 Samuel 30:13 חָלִ֖יתִי Qal pf 1cs David said to him, To whom belong you? and whence are you? He said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days ago I fell sick.
2 Samuel 3 verses
- 2 Samuel 13:2 לְ/הִתְחַלּ֗וֹת prep + Hithpael inf.cs Amnon was so vexed that he fell sick because of his sister Tamar; for she was a virgin; and it seemed hard to Amnon to do anything to her.
- 2 Samuel 13:5 וְ/הִתְחָ֑ל conj + Hithpael impv 2ms Jonadab said to him, Lay you down on your bed, and feign yourself sick: and when your father comes to see you, tell him, Please let my sister Tamar come and give me bread to eat, and dress the food in my sight, that I may see it, and eat it from her hand.
- 2 Samuel 13:6 וַ/יִּתְחָ֑ל conj + Hithpael wimpf 3ms So Amnon lay down, and feigned himself sick: and when the king was come to see him, Amnon said to the king, Please let her sister Tamar come, and make me a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat from her hand.
1 Kings 6 verses
- 1 Kings 13:6 חַל וַ/יְחַ֤ל Piel impv 2ms conj + Piel wimpf 3ms The king answered the man of God, Entreat now the favor of Yahweh your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. The man of God entreated Yahweh, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.
- 1 Kings 14:1 חָלָ֖ה Qal pf 3ms At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.
- 1 Kings 14:5 חֹלֶ֣ה Qal ptcp.act ms Yahweh said to Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam comes to inquire of you concerning her son; for he is sick: thus and thus shall you tell her; for it will be, when she comes in, that she will feign herself to be another woman.
- 1 Kings 15:23 חָלָ֖ה Qal pf 3ms Now the rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities which he built, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? But in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet.
- 1 Kings 17:17 חָלָ֕ה Qal pf 3ms It happened after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.
- 1 Kings 22:34 הָחֳלֵֽיתִי Hophal pf 1cs A certain man drew his bow at a venture, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of the armor: therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, Turn your hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am severely wounded.
2 Kings 7 verses
- 2 Kings 1:2 וַ/יָּ֑חַל conj + Qal wimpf 3ms Ahaziah fell down through the lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said to them, Go, inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover of this sickness.
- 2 Kings 8:7 חֹלֶ֑ה Qal ptcp.act ms Elisha came to Damascus; and Benhadad the king of Syria was sick; and it was told him, saying, The man of God is come here.
- 2 Kings 8:29 חֹלֶ֥ה Qal ptcp.act ms King Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.
- 2 Kings 13:4 וַ/יְחַ֥ל conj + Piel wimpf 3ms Jehoahaz begged Yahweh, and Yahweh listened to him; for he saw the oppression of Israel, how that the king of Syria oppressed them.
- 2 Kings 13:14 חָלָ֣ה Qal pf 3ms Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness of which he died: and Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over him, and said, My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen of it!
- 2 Kings 20:1 חָלָ֥ה Qal pf 3ms In those days was Hezekiah sick to death. Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, Thus says Yahweh, Set your house in order: for you shall die, and not live.
- 2 Kings 20:12 חָלָ֖ה Qal pf 3ms At that time Berodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah; for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
2 Chronicles 5 verses
- 2 Chronicles 18:33 הָחֳלֵֽיתִי Hophal pf 1cs A certain man drew his bow at a venture, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of the armor. Therefore he said to the driver of the chariot, Turn your hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am sore wounded.
- 2 Chronicles 22:6 חֹלֶ֥ה Qal ptcp.act ms He returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which they had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. Azariah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.
- 2 Chronicles 32:24 חָלָ֥ה Qal pf 3ms In those days Hezekiah was sick even to death: and he prayed to Yahweh; and he spoke to him, and gave him a sign.
- 2 Chronicles 33:12 חִלָּ֕ה Piel pf 3ms When he was in distress, he begged Yahweh his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.
- 2 Chronicles 35:23 הָחֳלֵ֖יתִי Hophal pf 1cs The archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded.
Nehemiah 1 verse
Job 1 verse
Psalms 4 verses
- Psalms 35:13 בַּ/חֲלוֹתָ֡/ם prep + Qal inf.cs + sfx pers 3mp But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth. I afflicted my soul with fasting. My prayer returned into my own bosom.
- Psalms 45:12 יְחַלּ֗וּ Piel impf 3mp The daughter of Tyre comes with a gift. The rich among the people entreat your favor.
- Psalms 77:10 חַלּ֣וֹתִ/י Qal inf.cs + sfx pers 1cs Then I thought, "I will appeal to this: The years of the right hand of the Most High."
- Psalms 119:58 חִלִּ֣יתִי Piel pf 1cs I sought your favor with my whole heart. Be merciful to me according to your word.
Proverbs 3 verses
- Proverbs 13:12 מַחֲלָה Hiphil ptcp.act fs Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when longing is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.
- Proverbs 19:6 יְחַלּ֣וּ Piel impf 3mp Many will entreat the favor of a ruler, And everyone is a friend to a man who gives gifts.
- Proverbs 23:35 חָלִיתִי֮ Qal pf 1cs "They hit me, and I was not hurt; They beat me, and I don't feel it! When will I wake up? I can do it again. I can find another."
Ecclesiastes 2 verses
- Ecclesiastes 5:13 חוֹלָ֔ה Qal ptcp.act fs There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm.
- Ecclesiastes 5:16 חוֹלָ֔ה Qal ptcp.act fs This also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go. And what profit does he have who labors for the wind?
Song of Solomon 2 verses
- Song of Solomon 2:5 חוֹלַ֥ת Qal ptcp.act fs cs Strengthen me with raisins, Refresh me with apples; For I am faint with love.
- Song of Solomon 5:8 שֶׁ/חוֹלַ֥ת ptcl rel + Qal ptcp.act fs cs I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, If you find my beloved, That you tell him that I am faint with love. Friends
Isaiah 8 verses
- Isaiah 14:10 חֻלֵּ֥יתָ Pual pf 2ms All they shall answer and tell you, Are you also become weak as we? are you become like us?
- Isaiah 17:11 נַחֲלָ֖ה Niphal ptcp.act fs In the day of your planting you hedge it in, and in the morning you make your seed to blossom; but the harvest flees away in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
- Isaiah 33:24 חָלִ֑יתִי Qal pf 1cs The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people who dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.
- Isaiah 38:1 חָלָ֥ה Qal pf 3ms In those days was Hezekiah sick to death. Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, Thus says Yahweh, Set your house in order; for you shall die, and not live.
- Isaiah 38:9 בַּ/חֲלֹת֕/וֹ prep + Qal inf.cs + sfx pers 3ms The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness.
- Isaiah 39:1 חָלָ֖ה Qal pf 3ms At that time Merodach Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah; for he heard that he had been sick, and was recovered.
- Isaiah 53:10 הֶֽחֱלִ֔י Hiphil pf 3ms Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him; he has put him to grief: when you shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see [his] seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Yahweh shall prosper in his hand.
- Isaiah 57:10 חָלִֽית Qal pf 2fs You were wearied with the length of your way; yet you didn't say, It is in vain: you found a reviving of your strength; therefore you weren't faint.
Jeremiah 6 verses
- Jeremiah 4:31 כְּ/חוֹלָ֜ה prep + Qal ptcp.act fs For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, the anguish as of her who brings forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, who gasps for breath, who spreads her hands, [saying], Woe is me now! for my soul faints before the murderers.
- Jeremiah 10:19 נַחְלָ֖ה Niphal ptcp.act fs Woe is me because of my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is [my] grief, and I must bear it.
- Jeremiah 12:13 נֶחְל֖וּ Niphal pf 3cp They have sown wheat, and have reaped thorns; they have put themselves to pain, and profit nothing: and you shall be ashamed of your fruits, because of the fierce anger of Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 14:17 נַחְלָ֥ה Niphal ptcp.act fs You shall say this word to them, Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous wound.
- Jeremiah 26:19 וַ/יְחַל֙ conj + Piel wimpf 3ms Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Didn't he fear Yahweh, and entreat the favor of Yahweh, and Yahweh repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus should we commit great evil against our own souls.
- Jeremiah 30:12 נַחְלָ֖ה Niphal ptcp.act fs For thus says Yahweh, Your hurt is incurable, and your wound grievous.
Ezekiel 3 verses
- Ezekiel 34:4 הַ/נַּחְלוֹת֩ הַ/חוֹלָ֣ה ptcl def.art + Niphal ptcp.pass fp ptcl def.art + Qal ptcp.act fs You haven't strengthened the diseased, neither have you healed that which was sick, neither have you bound up that which was broken, neither have you brought back that which was driven away, neither have you sought that which was lost; but with force and with rigor have you ruled over them.
- Ezekiel 34:16 הַ/חוֹלָ֖ה ptcl def.art + Qal ptcp.act fs I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but the fat and the strong I will destroy; I will feed them in justice.
- Ezekiel 34:21 הַ/נַּחְל֑וֹת ptcl def.art + Niphal ptcp.pass fp Because you thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the diseased with your horns, until you have scattered them abroad;
Daniel 2 verses
- Daniel 8:27 וְ/נֶֽחֱלֵ֨יתִי֙ conj + Niphal pf 1cs I, Daniel, fainted, and was sick certain days; then I rose up, and did the king's business: and I wondered at the vision, but none understood it.
- Daniel 9:13 חִלִּ֜ינוּ Piel pf 1cp As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come on us: yet have we not entreated the favor of Yahweh our God, that we should turn from our iniquities, and have discernment in your truth.
Hosea 1 verse
Amos 1 verse
Micah 1 verse
Nahum 1 verse
Zechariah 3 verses
- Zechariah 7:2 לְ/חַלּ֖וֹת prep + Piel inf.cs The people of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem Melech, and their men, to entreat Yahweh's favor,
- Zechariah 8:21 לְ/חַלּוֹת֙ prep + Piel inf.cs and the inhabitants of one shall go to another, saying, 'Let us go speedily to entreat the favor of Yahweh, and to seek Yahweh of Hosts. I will go also.'
- Zechariah 8:22 וּ/לְ/חַלּ֖וֹת conj + prep + Piel inf.cs Yes, many peoples and strong nations will come to seek Yahweh of Hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favor of Yahweh."
Malachi 3 verses
- Malachi 1:8 וְ/חֹלֶ֖ה conj + Qal ptcp.act ms When you offer the blind for sacrifice, isn't that evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, isn't that evil? Present it now to your governor! Will he be pleased with you? Or will he accept your person?" says Yahweh of Hosts.
- Malachi 1:9 חַלּוּ Piel impv 2mp "Now, please entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With this, will he accept any of you?" says Yahweh of Hosts.
- Malachi 1:13 הַ֣/חוֹלֶ֔ה ptcl def.art + Qal ptcp.act ms You say also, 'Behold, what a weariness it is!' and you have sniffed at it," says Yahweh of Hosts; "and you have brought that which was taken by violence, the lame, and the sick; thus you bring the offering. Should I accept this at your hand?" says Yahweh.
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.
“to be sick” is the headline sense of the Hebrew verb חלה (châlâh). Translators differ — “was sick” in the King James Version, then “ill” (Berean Standard Bible), as the renderings breakdown shows. It turns up in 73 verses across 25 books, a moderately common footprint. First canonically at Genesis 48:1, it enters the text early. Read the stem: it spans 7 stems, including Qal and Niphal. See the sense tree, 73-verse concordance, and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H2470 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 →
- 73
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 73 distinct verses.
- 25 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 25 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #532
- by frequency
- Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 532 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 73 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 73 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 50 verses · 68%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 20 verses · 27%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 3 verses · 4%
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).
BDB lists this Strong’s number as 2 distinct words (homographs). Each count above pools all of them and is not split by sense — see the Senses section below. A low-frequency rendering may belong to a different one of those words, not the primary meaning.
- King James Version†: Was sick 6×, Sick 5×, Besought 4×
- American Standard Version†: Was sick 6×, Entreat 5×, Sick 5×
- Berean Standard Bible†: Ill 5×, Sick 4×, Grievous 3×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text†: Sick 6×, Entreated 5×, Was sick 5×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H2470 across 75† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 39 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 H2470 across 75† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 33 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 H2470 across 75† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 37 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 H2470 across 92† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 53 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
19 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB
Hebrew verbs can shift meaning by stem (binyan): Qal is the basic action, Niphal is often passive or reflexive, Piel often intensifies or makes it factitive, and Hiphil is typically causative. The senses below are grouped under the stem BDB assigns to each. This entry also uses Pual (the passive of Piel), Hithpael (reflexive or reciprocal), and Hophal (the passive of Hiphil).
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 19 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.
חלה I be weak, sick (NH id.
Qal
- Pf. ח׳ 1 K 14:1 + 8 times; 2 fs. חָלִית Is 57:10; 1 s. חָלִיתִי 1 S 30:13 + 2 times; וְחָלִי֫תִי consec. Ju 16:7, 11, 17, חָלוּ֫ Je 5:3 (so read, v. infr.); Impf. וַיָּ֑חַל 2 K 1:2; Inf. sf. חֲלֹתוֹ Is 38:9; חֲלוֹתִי ψ 77:11 cf. sub Pi.; חֲלוֹתָם ψ 35:13; Pt. חֹלֶה Gn 48:1 + 6 times + 1 S 22:8 (v. infr.); חוֹלֶה Ne 2:2 Mal 1:13; f. חוֹלָה Ec 5:12 + 3 times (for Je 4:31 v. I. חוּל), cstr. חוֹלַת Ct 2:5; 5:8;— e.g. 1 Kings 14:1
- 1. be or become weak, Samson Ju 16:7, 11, 17; feel weak Is 57:10 (Che) Ez 34:4, 16. e.g. Judges 16:7
- 2. become sick, ill Gn 48:1 (E) 1 S 19:14; 30:13 1 K 14:1, 5; 15:23 (of Asa, = חלא 2 Ch 16:2) 17:17 2 K 1:2; 8:7; 13:14 (c. acc. cogn.) 20:12 = Is 39:1, Is 33:24; 38:9 Pr 23:35 ψ 35:13 Ne 2:2, cf. ψ 77:11 חֲלוֹתִי for חַלּוֹתִי Che after Bi; lame and sick—i.e. imperfect for sacrifice—of animals Mal 1:8, 13; sick from effect of wounds 2 K 8:29 = 2 Ch 22:6, cf. Pr 23:35, מַכָּה with חֳלִי Dt 28:59, 61 Je 6:7; 10:19; hyperbol. sick from love חוֹלַת אַהֲבָה אני Ct 2:5; 5:8; be sick unto dying חלה לָמוּת 2 K 20:1 = Is 38:1, ח׳עד־למות (late) 2 Ch 32:24; Je 5:3 read prob. לֹא חָלוּ֫ (for MT חָ֫לוּ, v. I. חול) of the people, unmoved by י׳’s chastisements; thou hast smitten them, but they are not sick (cf. Niph. Am 6:6); of sickness of the mind in MT 1 S 22:8 sq. עַל (but read rather חֹמֵל 𝔊 Gr Klo Dr); pt. as adj. severe, sore רָעָה חוֹלָה Ec 5:12, 15;—on Je 4:31 v. I. חול. e.g. Genesis 48:1
Niphal
- Pf. 1 s. נֶחֱלֵיתִי Dn 8:27; 3 pl. נֶחְלוּ Am 6:6 Je 12:13; Pt. f. נַחֲלָה Is 17:11 + 4 times; pl. נַחְלוֹת Ez 34:4 (del. Co) v 21;— e.g. Daniel 8:27
- 1. make oneself sick, fig. for strain oneself Je 12:13 (but Gr נִלְאוּ). e.g. Jeremiah 12:13
- 2. be made sick Dn 8:27; לֹא נֶח׳ of indifference, apathy Am 6:6 sq. על (cf. Qal Je 5:3); pt. diseased, as subst. c. art. Ez 34:4 (del. Co) v 21; = severe, sore (pred. of מַכָּה) Na 3:19 Je 10:19; 14:17; 30:12; also (מַכָּה om.) Is 17:11. e.g. Daniel 8:27
Piel
- Pf. חִלָּה make sick, c. acc. cogn. + בְּ of land Dt 29:21; Inf. cstr. חַלּוֹתִי הִיא ψ 77:11 read prob. חֲלוֹתִי, Inf. Qal, my sickness, so Bi Che (others der. from חלל my wounding, v. De).—For other forms of Pi. v. II. חלה. e.g. Deuteronomy 29:21
Pual
- Pf. be made weak, 2 ms. חֻלֵּיתָ Is 14:10. e.g. Isaiah 14:10
Hithpael
- Impf. וַיִּתְחָ֑ל 2 S 13:6; Imv. הִתְחָ֑ל 2 S 13:5; Inf. הִתְחַלּוֹת 2 S 13:2;—make oneself sick, of Ammon’s morbid passion for his sister 2 S 13:2, sq. בַּעֲבוּר; of his pretended sickness of body 2 S 13:5, 6. e.g. 2 Samuel 13:6
Hiphil
- Pf. 3 ms. הֶחֱלִי Is 53:10; 1 s. הֶהֱלֵתִי Mi 6:13; pl. הֶחֱלוּ Ho 7:5 (on text v. infr.); Pt. מַחֲלָה Pr 13:12;— e.g. Isaiah 53:10
- 1. make (sick, i.e.) sore thy smiting הַכּוֹתֶ֑ךָ Mi 6:13 (cf. Na 3:19, Niph.); obj. (implic.) a person, וי׳ חָפֵץ דַּכְּאוֹ הֶחֱלִי Is 53:10 it pleased י׳ to bruise him, making him sick = to bruise him sorely, v. further Di. e.g. Micah 6:13
- 2. make sick, obj. לֵב (of hope deferred) Pr 13:12. e.g. Proverbs 13:12
- 3. shew (signs of) sickness, become sick, only הֶח׳ שׂרים חֲמַת מִיָּ֑יִן Ho 7:5 princes are become sick with fever of wine (Now Che VB; > Vrss Hi-St who read הֵחֵלּוּ they begin the day with wine-fever). e.g. Hosea 7:5
Hophal
- Pf. be made sick = wounded הָֽחֳלֵיתִי 1 K 22:34 = 2 Ch 18:33, 2 Ch 35:23. e.g. 1 Kings 22:34
חלה II
Piel
- Pf. חִלָּה 2 Ch 33:12, חִלִּיתִי 1 S 13:12 ψ 119:58, וְחִלּוּ consec. Jb 11:19, חִלִּינוּ Dn 9:13; Impf. וַיְחַל Ex 32:11 + 3 times, יְחַלּוּ ψ 45:13 Pr 19:6; Imv. חַל־נָא 1 K 13:6, חַלּוּ־נָא Mal 1:9; Inf. cstr. לְחַלּוֹת Zc 7:2 + 2 times;— e.g. 2 Chronicles 33:12
- 1. ח׳ את־פני־י׳:
- a. mollify, pacify, appease י׳, i.e. induce him to shew favour in place of wrath and chastisement Ex 32:11 (JE), 1 K 13:6 (+ הִתְפַּלֵּל), v 6 2 K 13:4 Je 26:19 (+ וַיִּנָּ֫חֶם), 2 Ch 33:12 (‖ וַיִּכָּנַע מאד מִלִּפְנֵי), Dn 9:13; also ח׳ פני־אֵל Mal 1:9 (sq. וִיחָנֵּ֑נוּ that he may be gracious to us). e.g. Exodus 32:11
- b. entreat the favour of י׳, i.e. aim at success, prosperity, etc., through his favour, 1 S 13:12 (in anticipation of war), Zc 8:21, 22 (‖ לְבַקֵּשׁ אֶת־י׳; of cities and nations assembling at Jerusalem for worship), Zc 7:2 (‖ לְבַקֵּשׁ אֶת־י׳) of worship at Jerusalem; quite gen., as habit of God-fearing man, ψ 119:58 (+ בְּכָל־לֵב). e.g. 1 Samuel 13:12
- 2. entreat favour of men (in sense of 1 b)—רַבִּים יְח׳ פני־נָדִיב Pr 19:6 many entreat a prince’s favour (‖ וְכָל־הָרֵעַ לְאִישׁ מַתָּן); יח׳ פָּנַיִךְ ψ 45:13 of favour of king’s bride; וְח׳ פָּנֶיךָ רַבִּים Jb 11:19 favour of Job when absolved and restored. e.g. Proverbs 19:6
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
I. vb. be weak, sick (NH id.; Aramaic חֲלָא suffer (rare); Assyrian ḫalû, sickness, grief, DlPr 181)—
II. vb. only Pi. sq. פְּנֵי, פָּנֶיךָ, פָּנַיִךְ = mollify, appease, entreat the favour of, lit. make the face of any one sweet or pleasant (cf. Arabic حَلَا, حَلِىَ be sweet, pleasant, Aramaic ܚܠܻܝ, חֲלִי, id., adj. חָלֵי sweet);—
— 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.
חָלָה
- , v. חלי
חַלָּה
- 1. [rolled, rounded] cake.—Pl. חַלּוֹת. Ukts. III, 5 ח׳ חריע (Tosef. Maas. Sh. I, 13 חַלַּת (collect. noun), a. e., v. חֲרִיעַ.—Men. III, 6 שתי ח׳ the two loaves (offered on the Feast of Weeks, Lev. XXIII, 17).—B. Bath. V, 3; Ukts. III, 11 ח׳ דבש honey-combs; a. fr. e.g. Leviticus 23:17
- 2. (with ref. to Num. XV, 20, sq.) Ḥallah, the priest’s share of the dough. Sabb. II, 6, v. זָהִיר. Ḥall. I, 1 חייבין בח׳ are subject to the law of Ḥallah.—Ib. II, 7 שעור הח׳ the quantity to be set aside for the priest. Ib. 8 מעיסה שלא הורמה חַלָּתָהּ Ms. M. (v. Rabb. D. S. a. l. note) from a dough from which the priest’s share has not yet been taken; a. fr.—Pl. as ab. Pesik. Shimu, p. 118ᵃ שתי ח׳ two portions (one for being burnt, and one for the priest); Y. Erub. III, end, 21ᶜ; Cant. R. to I 6; a. e.—Trnsf. ḥallah, the sanctification of creation, man. Gen. R. s. 14, beg.; Yalk. Prov. 962, a. e. (ref. to Prov. XXIX, 4, ואיש תרומות) that is Adam שהיה גמר חַלָּתוֹ וכ׳ who was the final sanctification of the world; Gen. R. s. 17, end.—Ḥallah, name of a treatise of the Mishnah, Tosefta a. Talm. Y., of the Order of Z’raïm. e.g. Numbers 15:20
חלי
- 1. to be lax, to be sick, faint away, grieve. Ex. R. s. 43 (expl. ויחל, Ex. XXXII, 11 ח׳ משה Moses was sick (grieved). Kidd. 71ᵇ, a. e. מדי חוֹלָה Media is sick, v. גּוֹסֵס.—Ber. 28ᵇ כשח׳ וכ׳ when R. … fell sick; a. fr.—V. חוֹלֶה. e.g. Exodus 32:11
- 2. to be smooth (to the taste), sweet.
- 1. to soften, sweeten; to soothe, assuage (by prayer, gifts &c.). Ex. R. l. c. מהו וַיְחַל שהכניס וכ׳ what does vayḥal (Ex. l. c.) mean? He offered &c. (ref. to Ps. XLV, 13). Ib. מהו ויחל עשה את המר וכ׳ he made sweet what was bitter. Ib. חַלֵּי מרירתן וכ׳ sweeten thou the bitterness (sin) of Israel &c.—Ib. מי שיְחַלֶּה וכ׳ one to sweeten the bitterness &c. (by prayer). Yalk. Ex. 392 אביי אמר עד שחִילֵּהוּ להקב"ה בתפילתו (v. infra) Ab. explained vayḥal, until he assuaged (the anger of) the Lord &c. Deut. R. s. 3 הרי בניך מרים חַלֵּה אותן thy children are bitter, sweeten them. Ib. היאך יהא א"ל הוי חל אתה רחמים, read: היאך אהא אומר א"ל הוי אומר חַלֵּה את המרים what shall I say? Said He, Say, sweeten &c.; Yalk. Ex. 392. Lam. R. to I, 2 לא חִלִּינוּ פניך we did not assuage thee by repentance; Ex. R. s. 45 חלִּינוּ מלפני הקב"ה we prayed &c.; a. fr. e.g. Psalms 45:13
- 1. to assuage, soften. Ber. 32ᵃ אביי אמר עד שהֶחֱלֵהוּ להקב"ה בתפלה Ms. M. (v. D. S. a. l.) until he assuaged &c., v. supra. [Ib. שה׳ עליהם וכ׳, read: שהֵחֵל, v. חָלַל.]
- 2. to make sick, wear out. Ib. עמד משה … עד שהחלהו (Ms. M. עד שחלה) Moses stood in prayer … until He wore Him out (by his persistency, v. Rashi a. l. a. Rabb. D. S. a. l. note 3).—3) (v. חָלַל a. חִלְחֵל) to permeate, affect. B. Mets. 107ᵇ bile is called maḥlah (v. מַחְלָה) שהיא מַחְלָה וכ׳ (Ms. F. שמְחַלֶּלֶת) for it goes through the entire body [perh. מְחַלָּה, fr. חָלַל].
- to be made sick. Ber. l. c. עמד … עד שה׳ ed. Sonc. a. oth. (v. supra) until He was worn out.
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 59 distinct written forms H2470 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that stem’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 H2470, 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
Derived from this word
- חלא châlâʼ H2456 to be sick
- חלי chălîy H2481 ornament
- חלי chŏlîy H2483 sickness
- חלל châlal H2490 to profane
- מחלה machăleh H4245 disease
- מחלי machluy H4251 sickness
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
- מחלה Machlâh H4244 Mahlah
- מחלון Machlôwn H4248 Mahlon
- מחלי Machlîy H4249 Mahli
- מחלת machălath H4257 Mahalath
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 19 — not the complete family. 7 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 71 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 73 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 48:1
- Exodus 32:11
- Deuteronomy 29:22
- Judges 16:7
- 1 Samuel 13:12
- 2 Samuel 13:2
- 1 Kings 13:6
- 2 Kings 1:2
- 2 Chronicles 18:33
- Job 11:19
- Psalms 35:13
- Proverbs 13:12
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.
