חָלָה
cha.lah
be weak: weak
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Hebrew word "cha.lah" (H2470A) translates to "be weak." It falls under the semantic domain of Body & Health, indicating its primary association with physical or bodily weakness. This word is used 10 times in the Bible, which suggests a certain level of importance in the Hebrew texts. The meaning of "cha.lah" is straightforward, conveying a sense of physical or bodily frailty. It does not imply emotional or spiritual weakness, but rather a physical condition of being weakened or enfeebled. This could be due to illness, injury, or other physical factors. The word's usage in the Bible suggests that it is often used to describe a temporary or situational condition, rather than a permanent state. The significance of "cha.lah" lies in its practical implications for everyday life. In a culture where physical strength and health were highly valued, being weak or frail would have been a significant concern. The use of this word in the Bible highlights the importance of physical well-being and the need for care and support in times of weakness.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
10 total occurrences across the text
They all will answer and ask you, “Have you also become as weak as we are? Have you become like us?”
Isaiah 57:10You were wearied with the length of your ways; yet you didn’t say, ‘It is in vain.’ You found a reviving of your strength; therefore you weren’t faint.
Jeremiah 12:13They have sown wheat, and have reaped thorns. They have exhausted themselves, and profit nothing. You will be ashamed of your fruits, because of Yahweh’s fierce anger.”
Ezekiel 34:4You haven’t strengthened the diseased. You haven’t healed that which was sick. You haven’t bound up that which was broken. You haven’t brought back that which was driven away. You haven’t sought that which was lost, but you have ruled over them with force and with rigor.
Ezekiel 34:16“I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong. I will feed them in justice.” ’
Ezekiel 34:21Because you thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the diseased with your horns, until you have scattered them abroad;
Judges 16:7Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven green cords that were never dried, then shall I become weak, and be as another man.”
Judges 16:11He said to her, “If they only bind me with new ropes with which no work has been done, then shall I become weak, and be as another man.”
Judges 16:13Delilah said to Samson, “Until now, you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me with what you might be bound.” He said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the fabric on the loom.”
Judges 16:17He told her all his heart and said to her, “No razor has ever come on my head; for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will go from me and I will become weak, and be like any other man.”