חֲבַל
chăbal · H2255 · Aramaic · 6 occurrences
Meanings
-
to destroy, to ruin, to devastate, to break, to harm
Causative action by which someone brings destruction and suffering upon humans and inanimate objects
ExamplesEzra 6:12 “May the God who has caused His name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who attempts to change it, so as to destroy that house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued this decree; it is to be carried out with all diligence!”
Daniel 4:23 ‘And in that the king saw an angelic watcher, a holy one, descending from heaven and saying, “Chop down the tree and destroy it; yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground, but with a band of iron and bronze around it in the new grass of the field, let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him share with the animals of the field until seven periods of time pass over him,”
Daniel 6:22 “My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, since I was found innocent before Him; and also toward you, O king, I have committed no crime.”
-
to break > to bring to an end
Literally: to break an event; hence: causative action by which someone brings an event to an end
ExamplesDaniel 2:44 “And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.
Daniel 6:26 “I issue a decree that in all the realm of my kingdom people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; For He is the living God and enduring forever, And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, And His dominion will be forever.
Daniel 7:14 “And to Him was given dominion, Honor, and a kingdom, So that all the peoples, nations, and populations of all languages Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.
How it’s used In 7 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Who or what does itSubject
6 occurrences in 4 groups
- Not stated: he, she or it 3
- Not stated: you (more than one) 1
- Not stated: they 1
- Not stated (infinitive) 1
What it acts on, or what is saidObject
3 occurrences in 3 groups
- בַּיִתhouse 1
- נִיme 1
- וֹhim 1
With prepositionsPrepositional phrases
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- לto/for+ עָלַםfor ever 1
With adverbsAdverbs
4 occurrences in 1 groups
- לָאnot 4
What is done to itIt is the object
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- אֲמַרto say 1
What is said to be itIt is the predicate
2 occurrences in 1 groups
- מַלְכוּkingdom, reign 2
After prepositionsPrepositional phrases
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- לto/for 1
When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.
MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Near synonyms 3 words
- שָׁחַת shâchath · H7843 · to be ruined, to be spoiled, to be blemished
- Hebrew verb with overlapping semantic range of destruction and ruin; both verbs can express the act of destroying or bringing harm, though שָׁחַת often emphasizes corruption or spoiling.
- כָּלָה kâlâh · H3615 · to be finished, to be completed, to come to an end
- Hebrew verb for destructive completion or consuming; shares the destructive component with חֲבַל though כָּלָה emphasizes totality or exhaustion of the object.
- אָבַד ʼâbad · H6 · to be lost, to wander, to stray
- Hebrew verb for destruction and perishing; overlaps with חֲבַל in expressing destructive action, though אָבַד can be intransitive (perish) as well as transitive (destroy).
In the other Testament 3 words
- ἀπόλλυμι apóllymi · G622 · to ruin, to destroy, destruction
- Standard Greek translation-equivalent for the Hiphil/Piel destructive action expressed by Hebrew חֲבַל; commonly used in LXX to render Hebrew destruction verbs.
- λυμαίνομαι lymaínomai · G3075 · to injure severely, to maltreat, to ruin
- Greek verb for destructive action, particularly used for laying waste or causing ruin, semantically parallel to the harmful/destructive sense of חֲבַל.
- ἀδικέω adikéō · G91 · to harm, to hurt, to act unjustly
- Greek verb expressing harm or injury, capturing the 'hurt' component of חֲבַל's semantic range.
Semantic domains 5 entries
- Non-Possess002003002018
- This Non-Possess code is inherited from the shared lemma-cluster grouping with the Hebrew form (H2254a/b/c), which independently carries a “to take as pledge” sense; none of this word's own six occurrences in Ezra and Daniel involve a financial pledge, all of them meaning to destroy or harm.
- Impact002001001024
- Daniel 4:23 recounts the angelic watcher's shout, “chop down the tree and destroy it; yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground.”
- End002003003010
- Daniel 2:44 recounts that “the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed...it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms.”
- Sin002003003018
- This Sin code is likewise inherited from the shared lemma-cluster grouping's “to act wickedly” sense; this word's own occurrences describe physical or political destruction, never a moral transgression as such.
- Birth002002002003
- This Birth code is inherited from the same shared lemma-cluster grouping's unrelated “to give birth” sense; none of this word's own occurrences carry that sense.
Word family 9 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H2255. chabal [חֲבַל] verb Pa`el destroy, hurt (see Biblical Hebrew II. חבל); —…
[חֲבַל] verb Pa`el destroy, hurt (see Biblical Hebrew II. חבל); — Perfect3masculine plural suffix חַבְּלוּנִי Dan 6:23 (of lions); Imperative masculine plural suffix חַבְּלוּהִי Dan 4:20 (suffix of tree); Infinitive לְחַבָּלָה Ezr 6:12 (accusative of temple).
Hithpa. be destroyed: Imperfect3feminine singular תִּתְחַבַּל Dan 2:44; Dan 6:27; Dan 7:14 (בַּ֑ל-; all of kingdom of God).
Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain
Sources
eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0
New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org.