חוּל

Genesis 8:10 וַיָּ֣חֶל and he waited

Noah waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark.

Deuteronomy 2:25 וְחָל֖וּ and they will be in anguish

This very day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon all the nations under heaven. They will hear the reports of you and tremble in anguish because of you.”

Here: To writhe or twist in pain, the word for a woman in labor. It sounds like ʾāḥēl ('I will begin') earlier in the verse. God 'begins' (ʾāḥēl) and the nations 'writhe' (ḥālû).

Deuteronomy 32:18 מְחֹלְלֶֽךָ׃ [who] gave birth to you

You ignored the Rock who brought you forth; you forgot the God who gave you birth.

Here: 'The one who went through labor pains with you.' This verb form describes a woman writhing as she brings a child into the world (compare Isa 51:2, 'Sarah who bore you in labor'). It works almost as a title: 'your birth-giver.' It is a vivid image of a mother's pain and of the bond that pain creates.

Judges 3:25 וַיָּחִ֣ילוּ and they writhed

So they waited until they became worried and saw that he had still not opened the doors of the upper room. Then they took the key and opened the doors—and there was their lord lying dead on the floor.

Judges 21:21 לָח֣וּל to dance

and watch. When you see the daughters of Shiloh come out to perform their dances, each of you is to come out of the vineyards, catch for himself a wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.

Judges 21:23 הַמְּחֹלְל֖וֹת the dancers

The Benjamites did as instructed and carried away the number of women they needed from the dancers they caught. They went back to their own inheritance, rebuilt their cities, and settled in them.

1 Samuel 31:3 וַיָּ֥חֶל and he was in severe pain

When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers overtook him and wounded him critically.

2 Samuel 3:29 יָחֻ֙לוּ֙ let them whirl

May it whirl over the head of Joab and over the entire house of his father, and may the house of Joab never be without one having a discharge or skin disease, or one who leans on a staff or falls by the sword or lacks food.”

1 Chronicles 10:3 וַיָּ֖חֶל and he was in severe pain

When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers overtook him and wounded him.

1 Chronicles 16:30 חִ֤ילוּ tremble

tremble before Him, all the earth. The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.

Esther 4:4 וַתִּתְחַלְחַ֥ל and she agonized

When Esther’s maidens and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, the queen was overcome with distress. She sent clothes for Mordecai to wear instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them.

Job 15:7 חוֹלָֽלְתָּ׃ were you brought forth?

Were you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills?

Job 15:20 מִתְחוֹלֵ֑ל [is] writhing in pain

A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless.

Here: A reflexive, ongoing form: "he keeps writhing" or "twisting himself." The root is used for the pains of a woman in labour and for a whirling storm. The picture is constant inner convulsion, not a single blow.

Job 20:21 יָחִ֥יל it will endure

Nothing is left for him to consume; thus his prosperity will not endure.

Here: 'Will hold firm / last'. The same verb is used of the wicked man's ways that 'stay firm' in Psalm 10:5. Here it says his good fortune will not stand. The KJV took it from a similar root meaning 'wait for'.

Job 26:5 יְחוֹלָ֑לוּ they are made to tremble

The dead tremble—those beneath the waters and those who dwell in them.

Job 35:14 וּתְח֥וֹלֵֽל so you may wait

How much less, then, when you say that you do not see Him, that your case is before Him and you must wait for Him,

Here: "And you wait." The root's basic picture is writhing, as in labour pains. In this intensive form it means waiting in anguish and suspense, not calm confidence. Depending on how the verse is read, it describes Job's agony or tells him to wait.

Job 39:1 חֹלֵ֖ל [the] giving birth of

“Do you know when mountain goats give birth? Have you watched the doe bear her fawn?

Psalm 10:5 יָ֘חִ֤ילוּ they endure

He is secure in his ways at all times; Your lofty judgments are far from him; he sneers at all his foes.

Here: 'They hold firm / they keep thriving.' The imperfect tense pictures something that goes on and on: his ways never seem to give way. Older versions linked the verb to a similar root meaning 'writhe in pain,' which gave the KJV 'grievous.'

Psalm 29:8 יָחִ֣יל יָחִ֥יל it causes to tremble, he causes to tremble

The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; the LORD shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh.

Psalm 29:9 יְחוֹלֵ֣ל it causes labor pains to

The voice of the LORD twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in His temple all cry, “Glory!”

Psalm 37:7 וְהִתְח֪וֹלֵ֫ל and wait longingly

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men prosper in their ways, when they carry out wicked schemes.

Here: 'And wait (longingly)'. This is a rare reflexive form of a root whose wider uses include twisting, writhing in labour pain and trembling. Elsewhere the same root also means 'wait' (Gen 8:10; Judg 3:25). The picture is tense, focused waiting. Calm patience is not the main idea.

Psalm 51:5 חוֹלָ֑לְתִּי I was brought forth

Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.

Here: "I was brought forth through birth pains." The root means to writhe or twist, as a woman does in labour. The form is passive and describes the moment of birth. The exact same form is used of Wisdom being "brought forth" before creation in Proverbs 8:24–25.

Psalm 55:4 יָחִ֣יל it trembles

My heart pounds within me, and the terrors of death assail me.

Here: "Writhes, convulses". This verb is the usual one for a woman's labor pains. The imperfect form shows the writhing as ongoing: it keeps on happening, not a single jolt.

Psalm 77:16 יָחִ֑ילוּ they writhed in agony

The waters saw You, O God; the waters saw You and swirled; even the depths were shaken.

Here: The waters twist and convulse. This verb is used for a woman in labour and for the panic of enemy nations. The sea is pictured heaving in terror, not just moving.

Psalm 90:2 וַתְּח֣וֹלֵֽל and you brought forth

Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.

Here: As the standard Hebrew text is vowelled, 'and you brought forth (with labour pains)'. The root means to twist or writhe, and in this form it describes a mother in labour. God is pictured giving birth to the earth. The same consonants can also be read 'and the earth was brought forth', or 'and the earth writhed' (see textual notes).

Psalm 96:9 חִ֥ילוּ tremble

Worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness; tremble before Him, all the earth.

Here: A plural command: 'Writhe! Shake!' The same verb is used for a woman in labor and for the earth quaking when God appears. It is a bodily shuddering, stronger than polite respect.

Psalm 97:4 וַתָּחֵ֣ל and it trembled

His lightning illuminates the world; the earth sees and trembles.

Here: "And she writhed." This is the word for the convulsions of a woman in labor and for the shaking of land and sea before God. It describes a whole body heaving, which is stronger than a nervous shiver.

Psalm 114:7 ח֣וּלִי tremble

Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob,

Here: A feminine singular command addressed to the earth, which is a feminine noun in Hebrew. The verb pictures a body that twists and convulses, used of a woman in childbirth and of whirling movement. It is stronger and more physical than English 'tremble'.

Proverbs 8:24 חוֹלָ֑לְתִּי I was brought forth

When there were no watery depths, I was brought forth, when no springs were overflowing with water.

Here: A passive form of the verb for the writhing of a woman in labor: 'I was born, brought forth in labor'. A birth picture, not a manufacturing one; the same form appears in Psalm 51:5 ('I was brought forth in iniquity').

Proverbs 8:25 חוֹלָֽלְתִּי׃ I was brought forth

Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I was brought forth,

Here: "I was birthed," from a root meaning to writhe or twist, as in labor pains. It is birth language, not workshop language. It repeats the last word of v. 24 and is the same form David uses in Psalm 51:5 ("I was brought forth in iniquity").

Proverbs 25:23 תְּח֣וֹלֵֽל it brings forth

As the north wind brings forth rain, so a backbiting tongue brings angry looks.

Isaiah 13:8 יְחִיל֑וּן they will be in anguish !

Terror, pain, and anguish will seize them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look at one another, their faces flushed with fear.

Here: 'They will writhe.' The root means twisting or whirling movement and is a standard verb for labor. These are people, many of them soldiers (v. 7), twisting in pain like a woman in childbirth.

Isaiah 23:4 חַ֣לְתִּי I have been in labor

Be ashamed, O Sidon, the stronghold of the sea, for the sea has spoken: “I have not been in labor or given birth. I have not raised young men or brought up young women.”

Isaiah 23:5 יָחִ֖ילוּ people will be in anguish

When the report reaches Egypt, they will writhe in agony over the news of Tyre.

Isaiah 26:17 תָּחִ֥יל she is in labor

As a woman with child about to give birth writhes and cries out in pain, so were we in Your presence, O LORD.

Isaiah 26:18 חַ֔לְנוּ we were in labor

We were with child; we writhed in pain; but we gave birth to wind. We have given no salvation to the earth, nor brought any life into the world.

Isaiah 45:10 תְּחִילִֽין׃ ס are you in labor with !

Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What have you begotten?’ or to his mother, ‘What have you brought forth?’”

Isaiah 51:2 תְּחוֹלֶלְכֶ֑ם [who] she gave birth to you

Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave you birth. When I called him, he was but one; then I blessed him and multiplied him.

Here: 'She who labored you out': the verb means to writhe and twist in the pains of birth. The form is open-ended in time, so it can be heard as 'bore you' or 'is bringing you forth', as though Sarah's labor is still producing this people.

Isaiah 54:1 חָ֔לָה she has been in labor

“Shout for joy, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth in song and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD.

Here: 'She has not writhed in labor.' The word pictures the twisting pains of childbirth. She has never even begun the process that brings children.

Isaiah 66:7 תָּחִ֖יל she was in labor

“Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before she was in pain, she delivered a boy.

Isaiah 66:8 הֲי֤וּחַל חָ֛לָה ¿ will it be brought forth, she was in labor

Who has heard of such as this? Who has seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be delivered in an instant? Yet as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children.

Jeremiah 5:3 חָ֔לוּ they writhed

O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.

Here: 'They did not writhe.' This is the word for twisting in pain, often a woman in labour. The people took the blow without flinching. Either they felt nothing or they would not let it hurt them into a change.

Jeremiah 5:22 תָחִ֔ילוּ do you tremble

Do you not fear Me?” declares the LORD. “Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an enduring barrier it cannot cross? The waves surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot cross it.

Here: "You writhe": the twisting of a body in pain or terror, the same verb used for a woman in labor. Its sound is chosen to echo ḥol, "sand", a few words later.

Jeremiah 23:19 מִתְחוֹלֵ֑ל יָחֽוּל׃ whirling, it will whirl about

Behold, the storm of the LORD has gone out with fury, a whirlwind swirling down upon the heads of the wicked.

Here: A form of the verb chul meaning 'whirl, spin, writhe' (the same root is used of dancing and of labor pains). The form describes the wind turning in on itself, a swirling, twisting storm.

Jeremiah 30:23 יָחֽוּל׃ it will whirl about

Behold, the storm of the LORD has gone out with fury, a whirlwind swirling down upon the heads of the wicked.

Jeremiah 51:29 וַתָּחֹ֑ל and it writhed

The earth quakes and writhes because the LORD’s intentions against Babylon stand: to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.

Here: The land twists the way a woman twists in labour. This is a bodily convulsion, not a mood. Together with 'quaked' it pictures the ground as a body in spasm.

Lamentations 4:6 חָ֥לוּ they twisted

The punishment of the daughter of my people is greater than that of Sodom, which was overthrown in an instant without a hand turned to help her.

Ezekiel 30:16 ח֤וּל תָּחוּל֙ surely <writhe in agony>, it will writhe in agony

I will set fire to Egypt, Pelusium will writhe in anguish, Thebes will be split open, and Memphis will face daily distress.

Hosea 11:6 וְחָלָ֥ה and it will whirl

A sword will flash through their cities; it will destroy the bars of their gates and consume them in their own plans.

Joel 2:6 יָחִ֣ילוּ they are in anguish

Nations writhe in horror before them; every face turns pale.

Here: The body twisting and shaking with pain or terror. The verb is used again and again for a woman in labor. The verb form shows the action as going on: the peoples are convulsing as the army comes.

Micah 1:12 חָ֥לָֽה she is in anguish

For the dwellers of Maroth pined for good, but calamity came down from the LORD, even to the gate of Jerusalem.

Micah 4:10 ח֧וּלִי writhe in pain

Writhe in agony, O Daughter of Zion, like a woman in labor. For now you will leave the city and camp in the open fields. You will go to Babylon; there you will be rescued; there the LORD will redeem you from the hand of your enemies!

Here: A command addressed to a woman: 'Writhe!' It is the bodily twisting of labor contractions, and it picks up the noun ḥîl ('anguish, labor pain') that has just seized Zion in 4:9.

Habakkuk 3:10 יָחִ֙ילוּ֙ they writhe

The mountains saw You and quaked; torrents of water swept by. The deep roared with its voice and lifted its hands on high.

Here: 'They writhe.' This is the word for the convulsions of a woman in labour. The mountains do not just shake. They heave and buckle in agony when they see God. Here the verb has no sense of 'dance', although the supplied lemma gloss gives that meaning for the root.

Zechariah 9:5 וְתָחִ֣יל so it may be in anguish

Ashkelon will see and fear; Gaza will writhe in agony, as will Ekron, for her hope will wither. There will cease to be a king in Gaza, and Ashkelon will be uninhabited.