Hebrew word · H2426

חֵל

chel

rampart

Rampart, outer wall, forewall, or the sloped earthwork in front of a city's main wall; more generally a fortification.

Appears 7 times in 7 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) rampart, fortress, wall

1a) rampart

1b) fortress

Also means: che.lah (חֵילָה "bulwark" H2430)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Psalm 122:7

Range of meaning

Rampart, outer wall, forewall, or the sloped earthwork in front of a city's main wall; more generally a fortification.

Against the English

Most English versions say 'walls'. That is acceptable, but Hebrew has a separate word for the main city wall (ḥomah). Ḥêl is the outer defensive line.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lam 2:8 sets ḥêl and ḥomah side by side ('he made rampart and wall lament'). Isa 26:1 has 'walls and rampart'. Nah 3:8 and 2 Sam 20:15 (the siege mound 'stood against the rampart'). Ps 48:13 (Heb. 48:14) gives the same pair as our verse: 'consider her rampart (ḥêl), pass through her citadels (armon)', in a hymn about touring Zion's defences. The Septuagint here reads the consonants as ḥayil, 'strength', and translates dynamis.

Where it appears

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 20:15 בַּחֵ֑ל by the rampart

    And Joab’s troops came and besieged Sheba in Abel-beth-maacah and built a siege ramp against the outer rampart of the city. As all the troops with Joab were battering the wall to topple it,

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 21:23 בְּחֵ֥ל in [the] rampart of

    And the LORD also speaks concerning Jezebel: ‘The dogs will devour Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 122:7 בְּחֵילֵ֑ךְ in rampart your

    May there be peace within your walls, and prosperity inside your fortresses.”

    Here: 'In your rampart.' The ḥêl is the outer defence line of a city, the forewall or earthwork in front of the main wall. 'Your' is feminine because Jerusalem is spoken to as a woman.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 26:1 וָחֵֽל׃ and a rampart

    In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; salvation is established as its walls and ramparts.

    Here: The outer line of defence in front of the main wall: an outer wall, sloping earth bank or defended strip. Together, "walls and rampart" means complete, layered fortification.

Lamentations · 1

  1. Lamentations 2:8 חֵ֥ל rampart

    The LORD determined to destroy the wall of the Daughter of Zion. He stretched out a measuring line and did not withdraw His hand from destroying. He made the ramparts and walls lament; together they waste away.

    Here: The outer defensive work in front of the main wall: an earthen bank, outer wall or sloping base (Isa 26:1; Nah 3:8). With "wall" it covers the whole defensive system, outer and inner.

Obadiah · 1

  1. Obadiah 1:20 הַֽחֵל־ the fortress

    And the exiles of this host of the Israelites will possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath; and the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will possess the cities of the Negev.

Nahum · 1

  1. Nahum 3:8 חֵ֣יל rampart

    Are you better than Thebes, stationed by the Nile with water around her, whose rampart was the sea, whose wall was the water?

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.