חָמַל
to spare
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Noun type
- Common
- A common noun — a general class of person, place, or thing (“king,” “city,” “water”), not a specific name.
Stem
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”).
Form
- Imperfect
- An incomplete, ongoing, or future action (“he will / would write”).
- Perfect
- A completed action or state — Hebrew marks aspect (completeness) more than strict tense (“he wrote”).
- Sequential Imperfect
- An imperfect with prefixed waw — the standard past-narrative form (waw-consecutive imperfect).
- Jussive
- A third- or second-person volitional form expressing wish or command (“let him write”).
- Sequential Perfect
- A perfect with prefixed waw continuing a preceding imperfect or command (waw-consecutive perfect).
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
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.
- Common
- Either gender — not distinguished for this form.
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
Every verse where H2550 appears in the Book of Ezekiel — 8 distinct verses. 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.
Ezekiel
- Ezekiel 5:11 אֶחְמֽוֹל Qal impf 1cs Therefore, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things, and with all your abominations, therefore will I also diminish [you]; neither shall my eye spare, and I also will have no pity.
- Ezekiel 7:4 אֶחְמ֑וֹל Qal impf 1cs My eye shall not spare you, neither will I have pity; but I will bring your ways on you, and your abominations shall be in the midst of you: and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
- Ezekiel 7:9 אֶחְמ֑וֹל Qal impf 1cs My eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will bring on you according to your ways; and your abominations shall be in the midst of you; and you shall know that I, Yahweh, do strike.
- Ezekiel 8:18 אֶחְמֹ֑ל Qal impf 1cs Therefore will I also deal in wrath; my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.
- Ezekiel 9:5 תַּחְמֹֽלוּ Qal juss 2mp To the others he said in my hearing, Go you through the city after him, and strike: don't let your eye spare, neither have you pity;
- Ezekiel 9:10 אֶחְמֹ֑ל Qal impf 1cs As for me also, my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will bring their way on their head.
- Ezekiel 16:5 לְ/חֻמְלָ֣ה prep + n c fs No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you, to have compassion on you; but you were cast out in the open field, for that your person was abhorred, in the day that you were born.
- Ezekiel 36:21 וָ/אֶחְמֹ֖ל conj + Qal wimpf 1cs But I had regard for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations, where they went.
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.
חמל (châmal) is a Hebrew verb most often rendered “to spare.” It first appears in Exodus 2:6. With 40 verses in 15 books, it is a moderately common word in the Hebrew Bible. It clusters with חמלה, מחמל and חמול under a shared root. 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 H2550 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 →
- 40
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 40 distinct verses.
- 15 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 15 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #891
- by frequency
- Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 891 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 40 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 40 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 27 verses · 68%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 11 verses · 28%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 2 verses · 5%
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†: Spare 4×, Spared 3×, Will i have pity 3×
- American Standard Version†: Spared 3×, Will i have pity 3×, Hath not pitied 2×
- Berean Standard Bible†: Mercy 5×, Pity 4×, Spare 4×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text†: Spare 11×, Pity 4×, Had compassion 3×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H2550 across 41† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 27 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 H2550 across 41† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 29 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 H2550 across 38† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 14 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 3 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H2550 across 56† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 22 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 1 sense 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.
Qal
- Pf. ח׳ 1 S 15:15 + 3 times; חָמָ֑ל 2 S 12:6; La 2:17; חָמָ֑לְתָּ La 2:21; 3:43; וְחָמַלְתִּ֫י Mal 3:17; Impf. יַחְמֹל Jb 16:13 + 6 times; יַחְמוֹל Jb 6:10 + 3 times; וַיַּחְמֹל 1 S 15:9 + 3 times; 3 fs. וַתַּחְמֹל Ex 2:6; 2 ms. תַּחְמֹל Dt 13:9 1 S 15:3; אֶחְמֹל Ez 8:18; 9:10; אֶחְמוֹל Je 13:14 + 4 times; וָאֶחְמֹל Ez 36:21; יַחְמֹ֑לוּ Is 9:18; תַּחְמְלוּ Je 50:14; 51:3; תַּחְמֹ֑לוּ Ez 9:5; Inf. cstr. חֻמְלָה Ez 16:5 (Ges§ 45. 1. b);—spare, have compassion, c. על Ex 2:6 (E), 1 S 15:3, 9, 15; 23:21; 2 S 21:7; 2 Ch 36:15, 17; Je 15:5; Ez 16:5; 36:21; Jb 20:13; Zc 11:5, 6; Mal 3:17(×2) Jo 2:18; Dt 13:9 (‖ חוס sq. על), Je 21:7 (‖ חוס sq. על + רתם), Ez 9:10 (‖ חוס sq. על according to 𝔖 𝔗 Co); sq. אֶל־ Je 51:3; Is 9:18; note poet. אַל־תַּחְ׳ אֶל־חֵץ = spare no arrow Je 50:14; sq. Inf. 2 S 12:4; abs. 2 S 12:6; Is 30:14; La 2:17, 21, also v 2 where appar. sq. acc., 3:43; Jb 6:10; 16:13; 27:22; Pr 6:34; Hb 1:17; ‖ חוס Ez 5:11; 7:4 (del. Co as doubl. of v 9), 7:9; 8:18; 9:5; Jer 13:14 (‖ אחוס and ארחם). e.g. 1 Samuel 15:15
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
vb. spare (Arabic حَمَلَ is bear, become responsible; Aramaic ܚܡܰܠ comportavit, congessit);—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Origin: a primitive root
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.
חָמַל
- (b. h.) [to be warm,] to have compassion. Men. 53ᵇ (play on המולה, Jer. XI, 16) חָמַלְתִּי עליהם I had mercy on them. e.g. Jeremiah 11:16
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 35 distinct written forms H2550 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.
| Form | Parsing | Example | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| אֶחְמ֑וֹל | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular | Ezekiel 7:4 | 2 |
| אֶחְמֹ֑ל | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular | Ezekiel 8:18 | 2 |
| חָמָֽלְתָּ | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular | Lamentations 2:21 | 2 |
| יַחְמ֑וֹל | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Job 6:10 | 2 |
| יַחְמֹ֑ל | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Isaiah 30:14 | 2 |
| יַחְמֹ֣ל | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Job 20:13 | 2 |
| אֶחְמ֥וֹל | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular | Zechariah 11:6 | 1 |
| אֶחְמ֧וֹל | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular | Jeremiah 13:14 | 1 |
| אֶחְמֽוֹל | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular | Ezekiel 5:11 | 1 |
| וְ/חָמַלְתִּ֣י | Verb, Qal, Sequential Perfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular | Malachi 3:17 | 1 |
| וַ/יַּחְמֹ֖ל | Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Joel 2:18 | 1 |
| וַ/יַּחְמֹ֗ל | Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | 2 Samuel 12:4 | 1 |
| וַ/יַּחְמֹ֣ל | Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | 2 Samuel 21:7 | 1 |
| וַ/יַּחְמֹל֩ | Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | 1 Samuel 15:9 | 1 |
| וַ/תַּחְמֹ֣ל | Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Exodus 2:6 | 1 |
| וָ/אֶחְמֹ֖ל | Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular | Ezekiel 36:21 | 1 |
| חֲמַלְתֶּ֖ם | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural | 1 Samuel 23:21 | 1 |
| חָמַ֗ל | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Lamentations 2:2 | 1 |
| חָמַ֛ל | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | 2 Chronicles 36:17 | 1 |
| חָמַ֤ל | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | 1 Samuel 15:15 | 1 |
| חָמַ֥ל | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | 2 Chronicles 36:15 | 1 |
| חָמָ֑ל | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Lamentations 2:17 | 1 |
| חָמָֽל | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | 2 Samuel 12:6 | 1 |
| יַ֝חְמ֗וֹל | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Proverbs 6:34 | 1 |
| יַחְמ֖וֹל | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Zechariah 11:5 | 1 |
| יַחְמֹ֖ל | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Jeremiah 21:7 | 1 |
| יַחְמֹ֤ל | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Jeremiah 15:5 | 1 |
| יַחְמֹֽלוּ | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural | Isaiah 9:19 | 1 |
| יַחְמֽוֹל | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Habakkuk 1:17 | 1 |
| לְ/חֻמְלָ֣ה | Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Absolute | Ezekiel 16:5 | 1 |
| תַחְמֹ֖ל | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular | 1 Samuel 15:3 | 1 |
| תַחְמֹ֥ל | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular | Deuteronomy 13:8 | 1 |
| תַּחְמְל֖וּ | Verb, Qal, Jussive, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural | Jeremiah 50:14 | 1 |
| תַּחְמְלוּ֙ | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural | Jeremiah 51:3 | 1 |
| תַּחְמֹֽלוּ | Verb, Qal, Jussive, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural | Ezekiel 9:5 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H2550, 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.
Derived from this word
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
Compare all same-root words → 1 of the same-root words is a proper name (a person or place). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 39 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 40 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
- Exodus 2:6
- Deuteronomy 13:8
- 1 Samuel 15:3
- 2 Samuel 12:4
- 2 Chronicles 36:15
- Job 6:10
- Proverbs 6:34
- Isaiah 9:19
- Jeremiah 13:14
- Lamentations 2:2
- Ezekiel 5:11
- Joel 2:18
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.
