חָמַל
châmal · H2550 · Hebrew · 40 occurrences
Meanings
-
to be concerned for, to have pity on, to show mercy, to spare
Process by which humans or deities experience an emotion of affection for a particular object or state of event; resulting in unwillingness to see that object come to harm or that event to be obstructed
ExamplesExodus 2:6 When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the boy was crying. And she had pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”
1 Samuel 15:3 ‘Now go and strike Amalek and completely destroy everything that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”
1 Samuel 15:9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the more valuable animals, the lambs, and everything that was good, and were unwilling to destroy them completely; but everything despicable and weak, that they completely destroyed.
-
to be unwilling, to be reluctant
State in which humans are unwilling and reluctant to do something which may be harmful their own position, as if having mercy on themselves
Examples2 Samuel 12:4 “Now a visitor came to the wealthy man, And he could not bring himself to take any animal from his own flock or his own herd, To prepare for the traveler who had come to him; So he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”
-
to relent
State in which an event is relatively low in intensity as if being merciful
ExamplesJob 27:22 “For it will hurl at him without mercy; He will certainly try to flee from its power.
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
Who or what does itSubject
40 occurrences in 12 groups
- Not stated: he, she or it 16
- Not stated: I 8
- Not stated: you (more than one) 4
- Not stated: you (one person) 4
- Other words · 8 groups that occur once or twice (9) 9
What it acts on, or what is saidObject
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- נָוֶהpasture, habitation 1
With prepositionsPrepositional phrases
19 occurrences in 22 groups
- Other words · 22 groups that occur once or twice (24) 24
With adverbsAdverbs
27 occurrences in 4 groups
- לֹאnot 24
- אַלnot, do not 3
- עוֹדstill, again, yet 1
- תָּמִידalways 1
After prepositionsPrepositional phrases
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- כlike/as 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
- חָשַׂךְ châsak · H2820 · to withhold, to hold back, to be reluctant
- Both words share the sense "spare"; חָמַל (châmal, H2550) focuses on emotional restraint and compassion ("have pity, spare"), while חָשַׂךְ (châsak, H2820) emphasizes physical or active withholding ("hold back, withhold, spare"); they are differentiated in context but overlap in the sense of refraining from harm or action.
Contrasting words 1 word
- הָרַג hârag · H2026 · to slaughter, to kill, to murder
- An opposing action to חָמַל, denoting killing or slaying as opposed to sparing or showing compassion.
In the other Testament 2 words
- φείδομαι pheídomai · G5339 · to spare, to prevent trouble happening to someone, to avoid
- Greek φείδομαι renders Hebrew חָמַל in contexts of withholding harm or showing restraint/mercy; both denote the act of sparing someone or something from deserved consequences, with φείδομαι emphasizing the subjective restraint and חָמַל the compassionate motivation underlying the decision to spare.
- ἐλεέω eleéō · G1653 · to show mercy, to be merciful toward, to have mercy on
- Greek ἐλεέω renders Hebrew חָמַל in contexts of showing mercy or compassion, particularly divine compassion, establishing a clear translation equivalence across both Testaments for the core concept of pitying or sparing.
Semantic domains 4 entries
- Love002001002018
- The word denotes a compassionate disposition toward another, as in Exodus 2:6's description of Pharaoh's daughter having pity on the infant Moses.
- Merciful002001002019
- The word denotes sparing someone out of pity or mercy, as in 1 Samuel 15:9's account of Saul and the people sparing Agag and the best of the animals.
- Unwilling002001002031
- The word can denote a reluctance to carry out destruction, as in the account of Saul's forces being unwilling to completely destroy what had been devoted to destruction.
- Lax002001003012
- The word can denote a failure to fully carry out a command, as in the incomplete destruction Saul's forces carried out against Amalek despite the command to spare nothing.
Word family 3 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H2550. chamal חָמַל verb spare (Arabic ; is bear, become responsible; Aramaic…
חָמַל verb spare (Arabic ; is bear, become responsible; Aramaic comportavit, congessit); —
Qal Perfect ׳ח 1Sa 15:15 1Sa 15:3t.; חָמָ֑ל 2Sa 12:6; Lam 2:17; חָמָ֑לְתָּ Lam 2:21; Lam 3:43; וְחָמַלְתִּ֫י Mal 3:17; Imperfect יַחְמֹל Job 16:13 Job 16:6t.; יַחְמוֺל Job 6:10 Job 6:3t.; וַיַּחְמֹל 1Sa 15:9 1Sa 15:3t.; 3 feminine singular וַתַּחְמֹל Exo 2:6; Exo 2:2masculine singular תַּחְמֹל Deu 13:9; 1Sa 15:3; אֶחְמֹל Eze 8:18; Eze 9:10; אֶחְמוֺל Jer 13:14 Jer 13:4t.; וָאֶחְמֹל Eze 36:21; יַחְמֹ֑לוּ Isa 9:18; תַּחְמְלוּ Jer 50:14; Jer 51:3; תַּחְמֹ֑לוּ Eze 9:5; Infinitive construct חֻמְלָה Eze 16:5 (Ges§ 45, 1. b); — spare, have compassion, with על Exo 2:6 (E), 1Sa 15:3, 1Sa 15:9, 1Sa 15:15; 1Sa 23:21; 2Sa 21:7; 2Ch 36:15, 2Ch 36:17; Jer 15:5; Eze 16:5; Eze 36:21; Job 20:13; Zec 11:5-6, Mal 3:17 (twice in verse); Joe 2:18; Deu 13:9 (|| חוס followed by על), Jer 21:7 (|| חוס followed by על + רחם), Eze 9:10 (|| חוס followed by עלaccording to ᵑ7 ᵑ6 Co); followed by אֶלֿ Jer 51:3; Isa 9:18; note poetic ׳אַלתַּֿחְ אֶלחֵֿץ = spare no arrow Jer 50:14; followed by Infinitive 2Sa 12:4; absolute 2Sa 12:6; Isa 30:14; Lam 2:17, Lam 2:21, also Lam 2:2 where apparently followed by accusative, Lam 3:43; Job 6:10; Job 16:13; Job 27:22; Pro 6:34; Hab 1:17; || חוס Eze 5:11; Eze 7:4 (strike out Co as doubl. of Eze 7:9), Eze 7:9; Eze 8:18; Eze 9:5; Jer 13:14 (|| אחוס and ארחם).
Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain
Topical studies with this word 3 entries
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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