חָלַל chalal

Hebrew word for “to profane/begin” · Strong’s H2490 · used 143 times in 133 verses

Explore it in the Word Atlas

Meaning

: profane; 1) to profane, defile, pollute, desecrate, begin;

Senses in the lexicon

• to profane/begin: profane (75)
• to profane/begin: begin (55)
• to bore (7)
• to profane/begin: fruit (4)
• to play flute (2)

How it is translated

Glosses given for chalal in context, with how often each is used:

• began 30
• will profane 17
• profaned 13
• have profaned 8
• profane 8
• profaning 6
• will begin 6
• have begun 4
• has profaned 3
• will violate 3
• had profaned 3
• had begun 3

Where it is used

Also in 16 more books.

Chapters where it is used most

Ezekiel 20 (8), Leviticus 21 (6), Leviticus 22 (4), Ezekiel 28 (4), Ezekiel 36 (4), Leviticus 19 (3), Deuteronomy 2 (3), Judges 20 (3), 2 Chronicles 31 (3), Psalms 89 (3)

Forms

• החל 22
• חללו 8
• החלו 7
• חלל 6
• ויחל 6
• חללת 4
• יחללו 4
• יחל 4
• וחללו 4
• ויחלו 4

Words used with it

Words that share verses with chalal more often than their overall frequency would suggest:

• קֹדֶשׁ qodesh “holiness” 19
• מִקְדָּשׁ miqdash “sanctuary” 13
• שֵׁם shem “name” 21
• שַׁבָּת shabbat “Sabbath” 12
• אֲנִי ani “I” 15
• גּוֹי goy “nation” 12
• תָּוֶךְ tavekh “midst” 9
• עַיִן ayin “eye” 11
• קָדַשׁ qadash “to consecrate” 7
• כָּלָה kalah “to end” 7
• אֲדֹנָי adonai “Lord” 8
• מַעַן maan “because” 7

Key verses

The verses using chalal that are most connected by cross-references (King James Version):

• Leviticus 18:21 — And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
• Numbers 16:46 — And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an…
• Numbers 30:2 — If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out…
• 2 Chronicles 34:3 — For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge…
• Isaiah 47:6 — I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very…
• Isaiah 51:9 — Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded…
• Lamentations 2:2 — The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he…
• Ezekiel 20:13 — But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even…
• Ezekiel 20:21 — Notwithstanding the children rebelled against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live…
• Ezekiel 24:21 — Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and…
• Ezekiel 44:7 — In that ye have brought into my sanctuary strangers, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to pollute it, even my house,…
• Malachi 2:10 — Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?

See all 133 verses in the Word Atlas

Hebrew and Greek text, tagging, glosses and lexicon definitions: STEPBible.org, Tyndale House Cambridge (TAHOT, TAGNT, TBESH, TBESG; CC BY 4.0), adapted. Counts follow King James verse numbering; a word counts each time it is written.