חָלָב
châlâb · H2461 · Hebrew · 44 occurrences
Meanings
-
milk
White fluid; secreted by women and female mammals; for nourishment of their children or young; also used as food for humans; highly appreciated and considered high quality food; associated with delight, whiteness, purity, wealth, and well-being; metaphor for beauty, young age; quality, wealth, and sex
ExamplesGenesis 18:8 He took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree as they ate.
Genesis 49:12 “His eyes are dull from wine, And his teeth white from milk.
Exodus 3:8 “So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
How it’s used In 5 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive
8 occurrences in 6 groups
- אֵםmother 3
- גּוֹיnation, people 1
- עֵזgoat, goat's hair 1
- צֹאןflock, small cattle, sheep and goats 1
- יmy 1
- ךְyour 1
What is done to itIt is the object
6 occurrences in 6 groups
- יָנַקto suck 1
- לָקַחto take, to receive 1
- נָתַןto give, to put, to set 1
- עָשָׂהto do, to make 1
- שָׁבַרto break 1
- שָׁתָהto drink 1
What it is said to bePredicate
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- לָשׁוֹןtongue, language 1
After prepositionsPrepositional phrases
9 occurrences in 4 groups
- בin/on/with 8
- מִןfrom 5
- עִםwith 2
- כlike/as 2
In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive
25 occurrences in 6 groups
- זוּבto flow 20
- דַּיsufficiency 1
- חָרִיץcheese 1
- טָלֶהlamb 1
- מִיץpressure 1
- נֹאדskin-bottle 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 1 word
- שָׁפָה shâphâh · H8194 · cheese
- חָלָב (châlâb, H2461) is a general dairy term covering milk and cheese; שָׁפָה (shâphâh, H8194) is a specialized, rare term (1×) for cheese only. They share genuine semantic overlap in the cheese sense—both can denote the same dairy product, making them true near-synonyms in that domain.
In the other Testament 1 word
- γάλα gála · G1051 · milk
- Greek γάλα (gála, G1051) is the direct translation equivalent of Hebrew חָלָב (châlâb, H2461) in LXX contexts, denoting literal milk as well as milk-based products; both terms extend to figurative usage for spiritual nourishment or immaturity.
Semantic domains 2 entries
- Liquids001002005007
- The noun names milk, the liquid Abraham serves his three visitors along with curds and a prepared calf (Genesis 18:8).
- Dairy001003001003003
- The word also names dairy products more broadly, curds and cheese made from milk, and it forms half of the standing formula "a land flowing with milk and honey" describing the promised land's abundance (Exodus 3:8).
Word family 3 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H2461. chalab חָלָב noun masculine milk (Late Hebrew id. (and verb denominative); Aramaic…
חָלָב noun masculine milk (Late Hebrew id. (and verb denominative); Aramaic חַלָבָּא, , Phoenician חלב; Arabic noun fresh milk, verb milk; Assyrian alibu, milk, see DlPr 174; Ethiopic ) — ׳ח absolute Gen 18:18 35t. + Eze 34:3 (see below); construct חֲלֵב Exo 23:19 Exo 23:5t.; suffix חֲלָבִי Son 5:1, חֲלָבֵךְ Eze 25:4; — milk:
a. as common food Gen 18:8 (J; distinct from חֶמְאָה curd, q. v.), צאֹן חֲלֵב Deu 32:14 (poetry; distinct from בָּקָר חֶמְאַת); in Jdg 5:25 חָלָב is used parallel with חֶמְאָה; elsewhere חֶמְאָה seems to be produced from חָלָב: — חֶמְאָה יוֺצִיא חָלָב מִיץ Pro 30:33 a pressing (squeezing) of milk produces curd; חֶמְאָה יאֹכַל חָלָב עֲשׂוֺת מֵרֹב Isa 7:22 because of abundant yield of milk he shall eat curd; compare also הֶחָלָב חֲרִצֵי 1Sa 17:18 cuts of milk, i.e. cheeses; it was received in buckets or pails (עֲטִינָיו) Job 21:24 (see Ew De Di VB), and kept in skins (ח ׳נאֹוד) Jdg 4:19; men drank it (שׁתה) Eze 25:4 (compare השׁקה Jdg 4:19), but also ate it (אכל), if emendation הֶחָלָב Eze 34:3 (for הַחֵלֶב) is right, ᵑ9 ᵐ5 Bo Hi-Sm Co, and others; it was poured out, see simile of formation of the embryo כֶח ׳הֲלֹא תַּתִּיכֵנִי Job 10:10 hast thou not poured me out like milk? specifically (1) לְלַחְמְךָ עִזִּים חֲלֵב Pro 27:27 milk of goats for thy food (RSSemitic i. 204). (2) with אֵם mother's milk: of kid אִמּוֺ בַּחֲלֵב גְּדִי לֹאתְֿבַשֵּׁל Exo 23:19 = Exo 34:26 (JE) = Deu 14:21, compare ח ׳טְלֵה 1Sa 7:9 sucking lamb (for sacrifice); but also of human beings מֵח ׳גְּמוּלֵי Isa 28:9 weaned from milk (|| מִשָּׁדָ֫יִם עַתִּיקֵי); figurative in promise to Zion גּוֺיִם חֲלֵב וְיָנַקְתְּ Isa 60:16 and thou shalt suck the milk of nations (|| מְלָכִים וְשֹׁד תִּינָ֑קִי). (3) ׳ח with wine, as especially delicacy Son 5:1 (see De), figurative of ׳יs choicest blessings Isa 55:1. (4) often in phrase of productiveness of land of Canaan (דְּבַשׁ) וּדְבָ֫שׁ חָלָב זָבַת flowing with milk and honey Exo 3:8, Exo 3:17; Exo 13:5; Exo 33:3; Num 13:27; Num 14:8; Num 16:13-14, (all J E), Lev 20:24 (H), Deu 6:3; Deu 11:9; Deu 26:9, Deu 26:15; Deu 27:3; Deu 31:20; Jos 5:6; Jer 11:5; Jer 32:22; Eze 20:6, Eze 20:15; in Messianic time the hills ח ׳תֵּלַכְנָה Joel 4:18 (|| עָסִיס הֶהָרִים יִטְּפוּ); figurative of charms of loved one וְח ׳דְּבַשׁ לְשׁוֺנֵךְ תַּחַת Son 4:12 honey and milk are under thy tongue.
b. milk as white מֵח ׳לְבֶןשִֿׁנַּיִם Gen 49:12 white of teeth, from milk; מֵח ׳צַחוּ Lam 4:7 they were whiter than milk (|| מִשֶּׁלֶג זַכּוּ); so also probably of eyes (iris) בֶּח ׳רֹחֲצוֺת Son 5:12 bathed in milk, i.e. the white of the eye. — On milk as not used by Israel in sacrifice see RSSemitic 204.
II. חלב (√of following; perhaps compare Assyrian —alâbu, be covered, VR Cant 8:83 LyonManual, Gloss, —allibu, cover, clothe IR:18, 68 —allubtu, clothing, LyonSargontexte 14, —itlupatu, na—lapu (read b for p) SchrCOT Gloss).
Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain
Topical studies with this word 1 entry
Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; 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.
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
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