Hebrew word · H2520

חֶלְקָת֙

chelkat

Helkath

A place name. It is related to the root ḥ-l-q, which can mean 'to be smooth' (smooth, flat ground) or 'to divide, apportion' (ḥeleq/ḥelqah = 'portion, plot of land'). Elsewhere the same element appears in 'Helkath-hazzurim', 'field of flints/blades' (2 Sam 2:16).

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

Helkath = "smooth"

the town named as the starting point for the boundary of the tribe of Asher and allotted with its suburbs to the Gershonite Levites

Also named: chu.qoq (חוּקֹק "Hukok" H2712B)

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 19:25

Range of meaning

A place name. It is related to the root ḥ-l-q, which can mean 'to be smooth' (smooth, flat ground) or 'to divide, apportion' (ḥeleq/ḥelqah = 'portion, plot of land'). Elsewhere the same element appears in 'Helkath-hazzurim', 'field of flints/blades' (2 Sam 2:16).

Against the English

All English versions transliterate it as 'Helkath'. No translation issue.

Used elsewhere in the period

Joshua 21:31 assigns Helkath to the Gershonite Levites from Asher's land. The parallel list in 1 Chronicles 6:75 (Hebrew 6:60) has 'Hukok' at this point. Most scholars treat this as a variant or scribal confusion of the same town, though some think it is a different place. A name ḥrqt in Pharaoh Thutmose III's list of Canaanite towns (15th century BC) has been connected with it by some scholars. Proposed locations include Tell el-Qassis (Tel Qashish) by the Kishon and Tell el-Harbaj (Tel Regev). The identification is unsettled.

Similar words

Where it appears

Joshua · 2

  1. Joshua 19:25 חֶלְקַ֥ת Helkath

    Their territory included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph,

    Here: The first town listed. It is later assigned to the Levite clan of Gershon (Josh 21:31). The name probably means 'smooth (ground)' or 'portion, plot'.

  2. Joshua 21:31 חֶלְקָת֙ Helkath

    Helkath, and Rehob—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

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