Hebrew word · H2475

חֲלוֹף

chalof

destruction

Appears only here. The root verb chalaf means to pass by or pass on (Job 9:26; Song 2:11), to pass away or vanish (Isaiah 2:18; Psalm 102:26), and to change or be renewed (Isaiah 40:31, "renew strength"). In some related Semitic languages (e.g.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

destruction, passing away, vanishing, appointed to destruction

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 Proverbs 31:8

Range of meaning

Appears only here. The root verb chalaf means to pass by or pass on (Job 9:26; Song 2:11), to pass away or vanish (Isaiah 2:18; Psalm 102:26), and to change or be renewed (Isaiah 40:31, "renew strength"). In some related Semitic languages (e.g. Arabic khalafa) the root means "come after, be left behind."

Against the English

Each English version is a guess at a word that occurs only once. KJV: "appointed to destruction." ASV/WEB: "left desolate." YLT: "sons of change." BSB: "the dispossessed." ESV/NIV/NRSV: "destitute." NASB: "unfortunate."

How it drifted

KJV's "appointed to destruction" can sound to modern ears like people predestined to damnation. Nothing in the Hebrew points to eternal destruction.

Used elsewhere in the period

Not found elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible. Inside the passage, verse 5 speaks of "all the sons of affliction" (kol-benei oni), in the same grammatical slot as "all the sons of chalof." So chalof names a condition of misfortune. Verse 6 says to give strong drink to "the one perishing" (oved), which supports the "passing away, perishing" sense. Compare "sons of death" (Psalm 79:11; 102:20), meaning condemned prisoners.

Where it appears

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 31:8 חֲלֽוֹף׃ passing away

    Open your mouth for those with no voice, for the cause of all the dispossessed.

    Here: This noun appears only here in the Bible. It comes from a root meaning "to pass on, pass away, change." "Sons of passing away" most likely means people who are going under: perishing, vanishing, with no one to hold them up. Other proposals are "those whose fortunes have changed" and "those left behind" (orphans). In every proposal they are vulnerable people.

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