כָּלַם
to shame
‘to shame’ is one of 6 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Niphal verb in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Stem
- Niphal
- Usually the simple passive or reflexive of the Qal (“he was written”).
- Hiphil
- The causative active stem (“he caused / brought about”). Here: ‘put to shame = insult’
- Hophal
- The passive counterpart of the Hiphil (“he was caused to…”). Here: ‘we were not insulted’
Form
- 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).
- 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”).
- Infinitive Construct
- A bound verbal noun, frequently with prepositions (“to write / in writing”).
- Jussive
- A third- or second-person volitional form expressing wish or command (“let him write”).
- Imperative
- A direct command (“write!”).
- Sequential Imperfect
- An imperfect with prefixed waw — the standard past-narrative form (waw-consecutive imperfect).
- Participle Passive
- A verbal adjective expressing action received (“written”).
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”).
- 2nd Person
- The one addressed (“you”).
- 1st Person
- The speaker (“I / we”).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
- Common
- Either gender — not distinguished for this form.
Number
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
- Singular
- One.
Grammatical forms 23 distinct
- Verb, Niphal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural 4 times (11%)
- Verb, Niphal, Sequential Perfect, 2nd Person, Feminine, Singular 3 times (8%)
- Verb, Niphal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural 3 times (8%)
- Verb, Niphal, Perfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular 3 times (8%)
- Verb, Niphal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Absolute 2 times (5%)
- Verb, Hiphil, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 2 times (5%)
- Verb, Niphal, Infinitive Construct 2 times (5%)
- Verb, Niphal, Jussive, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural 2 times (5%)
+15 more forms (17 occurrences)
Parsed forms decoded from the imported morphology (morphhb / Westminster Leningrad Codex — WLC text public domain, morphhb tagging CC BY 4.0), counted across 38 parsed occurrences — not distinct verses.
Every verse where H3637 appears — 38 distinct verses across 14 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.
Numbers 1 verse
Judges 1 verse
Ruth 1 verse
1 Samuel 3 verses
- 1 Samuel 20:34 הִכְלִמ֖/וֹ Hiphil pf 3ms + sfx pers 3ms So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and ate no food the second day of the month; for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame.
- 1 Samuel 25:7 הֶכְלַמְנ֗וּ/ם Hiphil pf 1cp + sfx pers 3mp Now I have heard that you have shearers: your shepherds have now been with us, and we did them no hurt, neither was there anything missing to them, all the while they were in Carmel.
- 1 Samuel 25:15 הָכְלַ֨מְנוּ֙ Hophal pf 1cp But the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we anything, as long as we went with them, when we were in the fields:
2 Samuel 2 verses
- 2 Samuel 10:5 נִכְלָמִ֣ים Niphal ptcp.act mp When they told it to David, he sent to meet them; for the men were greatly ashamed. The king said, Wait at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return.
- 2 Samuel 19:3 הַ/נִּכְלָמִ֔ים prep + Niphal ptcp.pass mp The people got them by stealth that day into the city, as people who are ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.
1 Chronicles 1 verse
2 Chronicles 1 verse
Ezra 1 verse
Job 2 verses
Psalms 6 verses
- Psalms 35:4 וְ/יִכָּלְמוּ֮ conj + Niphal impf 3mp Let those who seek after my soul be disappointed and brought to dishonor. Let those who plot my ruin be turned back and confounded.
- Psalms 40:14 וְ/יִכָּלְמ֑וּ conj + Niphal impf 3mp Let them be disappointed and confounded together who seek after my soul to destroy it. Let them be turned backward and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt.
- Psalms 44:9 וַ/תַּכְלִימֵ֑/נוּ conj + Hiphil wimpf 2ms + sfx pers 1cp But now you rejected us, and brought us to dishonor, And don't go out with our armies.
- Psalms 69:6 יִכָּ֣לְמוּ Niphal juss 3mp Don't let those who wait for you be shamed through me, Lord Yahweh of Hosts. Don't let those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, God of Israel.
- Psalms 70:2 וְ/יִכָּלְמ֑וּ conj + Niphal impf 3mp Let them be disappointed and confounded who seek my soul. Let those who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace.
- Psalms 74:21 נִכְלָ֑ם Niphal ptcp.act ms Don't let the oppressed return ashamed. Let the poor and needy praise your name.
Proverbs 2 verses
Isaiah 5 verses
- Isaiah 41:11 וְ/יִכָּ֣לְמ֔וּ conj + Niphal impf 3mp Behold, all those who are incensed against you shall be disappointed and confounded: those who strive with you shall be as nothing, and shall perish.
- Isaiah 45:16 נִכְלְמ֖וּ Niphal pf 3cp They shall be disappointed, yes, confounded, all of them; they shall go into confusion together who are makers of idols.
- Isaiah 45:17 תִכָּלְמ֖וּ Niphal impf 2mp [But] Israel shall be saved by Yahweh with an everlasting salvation: you shall not be disappointed nor confounded world without end.
- Isaiah 50:7 נִכְלָ֑מְתִּי Niphal pf 1cs For the Lord Yahweh will help me; therefore I have not been confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be disappointed.
- Isaiah 54:4 תִּכָּלְמִ֖י Niphal juss 2fs Don't be afraid; for you shall not be ashamed: neither be confounded; for you shall not be disappointed: for you shall forget the shame of your youth; and the reproach of your widowhood shall you remember no more.
Jeremiah 6 verses
- Jeremiah 3:3 הִכָּלֵֽם Niphal inf.cs Therefore the showers have been withheld, and there has been no latter rain; yet you have a prostitute's forehead, you refused to be ashamed.
- Jeremiah 6:15 הַכְלִים֙ Hiphil inf.cs Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, says Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 8:12 וְ/הִכָּלֵם֙ conj + Niphal inf.cs Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among those who fall; in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, says Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 14:3 וְ/הָכְלְמ֖וּ conj + Hophal pf 3cp Their nobles send their little ones to the waters: they come to the cisterns, and find no water; they return with their vessels empty; they are disappointed and confounded, and cover their heads.
- Jeremiah 22:22 וְ/נִכְלַ֔מְתְּ conj + Niphal wpf 2fs The wind shall feed all your shepherds, and your lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shall you be ashamed and confounded for all your wickedness.
- Jeremiah 31:19 נִכְלַ֔מְתִּי Niphal pf 1cs Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I struck on my thigh: I was ashamed, yes, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.
Ezekiel 6 verses
- Ezekiel 16:27 הַ/נִּכְלָמ֖וֹת ptcl def.art + Niphal ptcp.pass fp See therefore, I have stretched out my hand over you, and have diminished your ordinary [food], and delivered you to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your lewd way.
- Ezekiel 16:54 וְ/נִכְלַ֕מְתְּ conj + Niphal wpf 2fs that you may bear your own shame, and may be ashamed because of all that you have done, in that you are a comfort to them.
- Ezekiel 16:61 וְ/נִכְלַמְתְּ֒ conj + Niphal wpf 2fs Then shall you remember your ways, and be ashamed, when you shall receive your sisters, your elder [sisters] and your younger; and I will give them to you for daughters, but not by your covenant.
- Ezekiel 36:32 וְ/הִכָּלְמ֛וּ conj + Niphal impv 2mp Nor for your sake do I [this], says the Lord Yahweh, be it known to you: be ashamed and confounded for your ways, house of Israel.
- Ezekiel 43:10 וְ/יִכָּלְמ֖וּ conj + Niphal juss 3mp You, son of man, show the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern.
- Ezekiel 43:11 נִכְלְמ֞וּ Niphal pf 3cp If they be ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the form of the house, and the fashion of it, and the exits of it, and the entrances of it, and all the forms of it, and all the ordinances of it, and all the forms of it, and all the laws of it; and write it in their sight; that they may keep the whole form of it, and all the ordinances of it, and do them.
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.
כלם (kâlam) is a Hebrew verb most often rendered “to shame.” Translators differ — “confounded” in the King James Version, then “humiliated” (Berean Standard Bible) and “be humiliated” (unfoldingWord Literal Text), as the renderings breakdown shows. It turns up in 38 verses across 14 books, a moderately common footprint. It first appears in Numbers 12:14. Read the stem: it spans 3 stems, including Niphal and Hiphil. 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 H3637 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 →
- 38
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 38 distinct verses.
- 14 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 14 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #947
- by frequency
- Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 947 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 38 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 38 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 23 verses · 61%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 14 verses · 37%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 1 verse · 3%
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: Confounded 6×, Ashamed 3×, Be ashamed 2×
- American Standard Version: Ashamed 3×, Brought to dishonor 3×, Are ashamed 2×
- Berean Standard Bible: Humiliated 8×, Be ashamed 3×, Disgraced 2×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Be humiliated 5×, Humiliated 4×, Ashamed 3×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H3637 across 38 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 23 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 H3637 across 38 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 26 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 H3637 across 38 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 23 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 H3637 across 44 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 23 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
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 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 5 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.
Niphal
- . be humiliated, ashamed, put to shame, dishonoured, confounded
Hiphil
- 1. put to shame = insult, humiliate
- 2. exhibit shame
Hophal
- 1. we were not insulted, humiliated
- 2. they were put to shame, dishonoured, confounded
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
[ כָּלַם ] vb. only Niph. Hoph. be humiliated, Hiph. humiliate
— 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.
כָּלַם
- to be restrained, to be retired.
- to be retired, (cmp. כְּזַז) to be put to shame, be rebuked. Ab. d’R. N. ch. IX (ref. to Num. XII, 14) שתִּכָּלֵם ז׳ ימים that she should live in retirement for seven days (and not appear before the king); (Sifré Num. 106 שתהא מוּכְלֶמֶת). Ber. 16ᵇ שלא נבוש ולא נִכָּלֵם מאבותינו (v. Rabb. D. S. a. l. note 4) that we may not be put to shame and not be abashed when compared with our fathers (Y. ib. IV, 7ᵈ bot. שלא נבוש מאבותינו לעו"הב). Cant. R. to I, 14 בהִכָּלְמוֹ in his shyness. e.g. Numbers 12:14
- to cause to retire, to rebuke, shame. Kidd. 31ᵃ bot. ולא הִכְלִימָהּ and he did not scold her. Ib. 31ᵇ כלום … ולא הִכְלַמְתָּהּ did she (thy mother) throw a bag of money into the sea in thy presence, and thou didst not reproach her?—Midr. Till. to Ps. IV, 3 עד מתי אתם מַכְלִימִין וכ׳ how long will you slander me and my dignity?; a. e.—Part. Hof. מוּכְלָם, f. מוּכְלֶמֶת, v. supra.
כְּלַם
- [Targ. Y. Deut. XXIX, 4 כלמו, Var. בלמו, read: בָּלַת or בְּלִיאוּ, v. בְּלֵי I.]
- as preced. Hif. Targ. I Sam. XX, 34. Ib. I, 16; a. e.—B. Kam. 86ᵃ bot. דמַכְלְמוּ ליה ומִיכְּלֵם when you rebuke the child and he shrinks back in shame; ib. 86ᵇ (not דמיכלמו).—Part. pass. מַכְלַם. Y. Yeb. XII, 12ᵈ bot. והיא מַכְלְמָה עלך and she (the young woman) will be put to shame on account of thee (the old man); ib. והוא מכלמה וכ׳ (read: מַכְלַם).
- as preced. Nif. Targ. O. Num. XII, 14. Targ. II Sam. X, 5; a. e.—B. Kam. l. c., v. supra.
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 36 distinct written forms H3637 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 H3637, 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
Compare all same-root words → They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 36 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 38 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
- Numbers 12:14
- Judges 18:7
- Ruth 2:15
- 1 Samuel 20:34
- 2 Samuel 10:5
- 1 Chronicles 19:5
- 2 Chronicles 30:15
- Ezra 9:6
- Job 11:3
- Psalms 35:4
- Proverbs 25:8
- Isaiah 41:11
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.
