חָבַל
cha.val
to pledge
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Hebrew word "cha.val" (H2254A) primarily means "to pledge." This action involves making a commitment or promise, often with the expectation of future action or consequence. The word is associated with the semantic domain of Covenant & Promise, indicating its importance in relationships and agreements. The word "cha.val" is used 12 times in the Bible, suggesting its significance in various contexts. Its usage implies a sense of responsibility, obligation, or accountability, as one party makes a pledge to another. This can involve a mutual agreement, a vow, or a binding commitment. The frequency and context of "cha.val" in the Bible highlight its importance in relationships, agreements, and covenants. Its meaning and usage suggest that making a pledge or promise is a serious matter, with potential consequences for fulfilling or breaking it.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
12 total occurrences across the text
For you have taken pledges from your brother for nothing, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
Job 24:3They drive away the donkey of the fatherless, and they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.
Job 24:9There are those who pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor,
Proverbs 20:16Take the garment of one who puts up collateral for a stranger; and hold him in pledge for a wayward woman.
Proverbs 27:13Take his garment when he puts up collateral for a stranger. Hold it for a wayward woman!
Ezekiel 18:16hasn’t wronged any, hasn’t taken anything to pledge, hasn’t taken by robbery, but has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment;
Amos 2:8and they lay themselves down beside every altar on clothes taken in pledge; and in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who have been fined.
Exodus 22:26If you take your neighbor’s garment as collateral, you shall restore it to him before the sun goes down,
Exodus 22:26If you take your neighbor’s garment as collateral, you shall restore it to him before the sun goes down,
Deuteronomy 24:6No man shall take the mill or the upper millstone as a pledge, for he takes a life in pledge.
Deuteronomy 24:6No man shall take the mill or the upper millstone as a pledge, for he takes a life in pledge.
Deuteronomy 24:17You shall not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, nor take a widow’s clothing in pledge;