Hebrew word · H2527

חֹם

chom

heat

'As the heat of the day', meaning midday. The same expression appears in 1 Sam 11:11 and, as 'the heat of noon', in 2 Sam 4:5, where Ish-bosheth is lying on his bed. It was the hour for resting and not for travelling.

Appears 10 times in 9 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

heat, hot

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 Genesis 18:1

Range of meaning

'As the heat of the day', meaning midday. The same expression appears in 1 Sam 11:11 and, as 'the heat of noon', in 2 Sam 4:5, where Ish-bosheth is lying on his bed. It was the hour for resting and not for travelling.

Against the English

English 'in the heat of the day' is accurate. The time detail is easy to skim, but it tells the first hearers that visitors at this hour were unusual and needed shelter. Abraham's running to them (v. 2) at this hour is remarkable.

Used elsewhere in the period

Compare Gen 3:8, where God walks in the garden 'at the breeze/wind of the day' (the cool of evening). The Septuagint reads 'at midday' (mesēmbrias).

From the study of 1 Samuel 11:9

Range of meaning

Chom is 'heat, warmth' (from the verb chamam, 'to be or grow warm'). With 'the sun' and the preposition ke- ('as, when') it marks a time: when the sun grows hot, i.e. the later morning to midday.

Against the English

Most versions give 'by the time the sun is hot', which is accurate. YLT's 'by the heat of the sun' keeps the Hebrew wording but could be misread as saying the sun is how the deliverance comes.

Used elsewhere in the period

Compare 11:11, 'until the heat of the day' (ad chom hayyom), the end of the battle. Genesis 18:1 ('in the heat of the day') and Exodus 16:21 ('when the sun grew hot, it melted') use the same way of telling time. The Septuagint here has a participle meaning 'when the sun has grown hot'.

Where it appears

Genesis · 2

  1. Genesis 8:22 וָחֹ֜ם and heat

    As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall never cease.”

    Here: Heat, the heat of the dry season and of the day. With 'cold', it covers the whole range of temperature.

  2. Genesis 18:1 כְּחֹ֥ם when [the] heat of

    Then the LORD appeared to Abraham by the Oaks of Mamre in the heat of the day, while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent.

    Here: 'As / when the heat of'. The prefix marks time: at the point when the day grows hot.

1 Samuel · 3

  1. 1 Samuel 11:9 כְּחֹ֣ם like [the] heat of

    So they said to the messengers who had come, “Tell the men of Jabesh-gilead: ‘Deliverance will be yours tomorrow by the time the sun is hot.’” And when the messengers relayed this to the men of Jabesh, they rejoiced.

    Here: 'As' or 'when' plus 'heat': a time marker for late morning to midday, when the sun's heat is strong. Verse 11 says the battle lasted 'until the heat of the day'.

  2. 1 Samuel 11:11 חֹ֣ם [the] heat of

    The next day Saul organized the troops into three divisions, and during the morning watch they invaded the camp of the Ammonites and slaughtered them, until the hottest part of the day. And the survivors were so scattered that no two of them were left together.

  3. 1 Samuel 21:6 חֹ֔ם heat

    So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there but the Bread of the Presence, which had been removed from before the LORD and replaced with hot bread on the day it was taken away.

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 4:5 כְּחֹ֣ם when [the] heat of

    Now Rechab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, set out and arrived at the house of Ish-bosheth in the heat of the day, while the king was taking his midday nap.

Job · 1

  1. Job 24:19 חֹ֗ם heat

    As drought and heat consume the melting snow, so Sheol steals those who have sinned.

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 18:4 כְּחֹ֥ם בְּחֹ֥ם like heat, in [the] heat of

    For this is what the LORD has told me: “I will quietly look on from My dwelling place, like shimmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”

    Here: 'Like heat'. This begins the first comparison: God's quiet watching is like the still heat of a summer day.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 17:8 חֹ֔ם heat

    He is like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It does not worry in a year of drought, nor does it cease to produce fruit.

    Here: The scorching heat of summer, or of the hot east wind, which withers plants that lack deep water.

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