Hebrew word · H2510

חָלָק

hechalak

(Mount )Halak

The adjective ḥālāq means 'smooth, slippery, bare'. It is used of smooth speech and flattery (Prov 5:3; 26:28; Ezek 12:24), of smooth skin (Gen 27:11) and of slippery ground. The related noun gives the 'smooth stones' David picked up from the stream bed (1 Sam 17:40).

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 30, 2026

What it means

§ Halak = "smooth"

a mountain in southern Judah which is the southern limit of Joshua's conquest

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 Joshua 11:17

Range of meaning: The adjective ḥālāq means 'smooth, slippery, bare'. It is used of smooth speech and flattery (Prov 5:3; 26:28; Ezek 12:24), of smooth skin (Gen 27:11) and of slippery ground. The related noun gives the 'smooth stones' David picked up from the stream bed (1 Sam 17:40). As a place name it means 'the Bare Mountain'.
Against the English: All the major English versions transliterate it as 'Mount Halak' (KJV 'the mount Halak'). That is accurate for a name, but the reader does not see the description built into it: a bald, treeless ridge.
Used elsewhere in the period: In the Bible it appears only here and in Joshua 12:7, which repeats the whole boundary phrase. It is usually identified with Jebel Ḥalāq (Har Halak) in the central Negev, south of Beersheba and west of the Arabah. This is a bare chalky ridge running south-west to north-east. The identification is widely accepted (Aharoni; Rainey & Notley) but not certain.

Where it appears

Joshua · 2

Joshua 11:17 הֶֽחָלָק֙ <the> Halak

from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, as far as Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon at the foot of Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings and struck them down, putting them to death.

Here: A describing word used as a name: 'the Smooth' or 'the Bald' mountain. That fits a bare chalk ridge with no trees. English versions keep it as the proper name 'Halak', so the picture gets lost.
Joshua 12:7 הֶחָלָ֖ק <the> Halak

And these are the kings of the land that Joshua and the Israelites conquered beyond the Jordan to the west, from Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir (according to the allotments to the tribes of Israel, Joshua gave them as an inheritance

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