חָמַד

Genesis 2:9 נֶחְמָ֥ד desirable

Out of the ground the LORD God gave growth to every tree that is pleasing to the eye and good for food. And in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Here: A passive participle of the verb 'to desire, crave, covet', so literally 'desired' or 'desirable'. Here the sense is positive: God made the trees attractive. But the word is the one 3:6 uses when the woman finds the forbidden tree 'desirable to make one wise', and the one the Ten Commandments use for 'you shall not covet'.

Genesis 3:6 וְנֶחְמָ֤ד and [it was] desirable

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.

Here: 'Desirable, coveted'. This is the root behind 'you shall not covet' (Exodus 20:17) and the 'pleasing to the sight' of 2:9. Here the desire is aimed at what the tree can do for her, not at how it looks.

Exodus 20:17 תַחְמֹ֖ד תַחְמֹ֞ד you must covet

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Here: 'You shall desire', addressed to a single 'you'. Ḥāmad is a strong, fixed desire for something seen as attractive. Here it is aimed at what already belongs to someone else, and the desire tends to move toward acquiring it. (The supplied gloss 'you must covet' leaves out the negative. With lōʾ the meaning is 'you shall not covet'.)

Exodus 34:24 יַחְמֹ֥ד he will covet

For I will drive out the nations before you and enlarge your borders, and no one will covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the LORD your God.

Here: The same verb as 'you shall not covet' in the Ten Commandments (Exod 20:17). Here it is the desire of a hostile neighbour who has his eye on Israel's land and the designs that come with it. God promises that the predatory urge itself will not arise.

Deuteronomy 5:21 תַחְמֹ֖ד you must covet

You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house or field, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Here: 'You shall desire.' Chamad is the attraction of the eye and heart that fixes on a particular desirable thing; here it is ruled out when the thing is a woman already married to someone else. The form addresses each Israelite as a single 'you'.

Deuteronomy 7:25 תַחְמֹד֩ you will covet

You must burn up the images of their gods; do not covet the silver and gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it; for it is detestable to the LORD your God.

Here: 'You (singular) shall not desire/covet.' This is the verb of the tenth commandment (Deut 5:21). It means wanting something for its attractiveness so strongly that you reach for it. The address now narrows from 'you all' to each Israelite.

Joshua 7:21 וָֽאֶחְמְדֵ֖ם and I desired them

When I saw among the spoils a beautiful cloak from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

Here: 'I desired them', with the word of the tenth commandment ('you shall not covet'). It means a strong desire to possess, here aimed at what belonged to God.

2 Chronicles 20:25 חֲמֻד֔וֹת precious things

Then Jehoshaphat and his people went to carry off the plunder, and they found on the bodies an abundance of goods and valuables—more than they could carry away. They were gathering the plunder for three days because there was so much.

Ezra 8:27 חֲמוּדֹ֖ת precious

20 gold bowls valued at 1,000 darics, and two articles of fine polished bronze, as precious as gold.

Job 20:20 בַּ֝חֲמוּד֗וֹ among desired [things] his

Because his appetite is never satisfied, he cannot escape with his treasure.

Psalm 19:10 הַֽנֶּחֱמָדִ֗ים those desirable

They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.

Here: A passive participle with 'the' in front: 'the ones that are desired / desirable.' Because there is no new subject, it reaches back to the LORD's instruction, testimony, precepts, commandment, fear and judgments in verses 7–9 and means 'these are the things worth wanting.' The verb is about longing desire, the same root as 'you shall not covet' and the 'desirable' tree of Genesis 3:6.

Psalm 39:11 חֲמוּד֑וֹ desired [thing] his

You discipline and correct a man for his iniquity, consuming like a moth what he holds dear; surely each man is but a vapor. Selah

Here: "His desired thing": a form of the verb "to desire" (the verb of "you shall not covet"), meaning whatever a person finds desirable and holds dear: looks, strength, possessions. Like a fine robe in a chest.

Psalm 68:16 חָמַ֣ד [which] he desired

Why do you gaze in envy, O mountains of many peaks? This is the mountain God chose for His dwelling, where the LORD will surely dwell forever.

Here: This is the verb of the tenth commandment ('you shall not covet'), used here for God's own wanting. It is more than a choice made from a list: God was drawn to this mountain and wanted it. It begins a clause describing 'the mountain', and Hebrew leaves out the word 'which'.

Proverbs 1:22 חָמְד֣וּ do they delight in?

“How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways? How long will scoffers delight in their scorn and fools hate knowledge?

Here: 'Have desired / take delight in.' It is a strong word for wanting, the same verb as 'you shall not covet' (Exod 20:17). Its form describes a settled fact, not a passing whim. Scorn has become something they crave.

Proverbs 6:25 תַּחְמֹ֣ד you desire

Do not lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.

Here: This is the verb of the tenth commandment ('you shall not covet your neighbour's wife', Exod 20:17; Deut 5:21). It means wanting something so much that you fix on having it. Here the thing wanted is a woman who belongs to another man.

Proverbs 12:12 חָמַ֣ד he covets

The wicked desire the plunder of evil men, but the root of the righteous flourishes.

Here: The craving verb of the commandment 'You shall not covet' (Exod 20:17). It is in the perfect, which Proverbs uses for what is typically true: this is how a wicked person habitually works. It comes first in the sentence, so the craving is in focus.

Proverbs 21:20 נֶחְמָ֣ד desirable

Precious treasures and oil are in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man consumes them.

Here: A passive form, 'something wanted': goods that are worth having. The word is used of the tree in Eden that was 'pleasant to look at' (Genesis 2:9). Here it marks the stores as choice, worth keeping.

Song of Songs 2:3 חִמַּ֣דְתִּי I desired

Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my beloved among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

Here: 'I desired / I delighted': strong longing that reaches for what it wants. The verb is in an intensive form (the Piel) found only here, which makes it 'I longed hard' or 'I took great delight'.

Isaiah 1:29 חֲמַדְתֶּ֑ם you have desired

Surely you will be ashamed of the sacred oaks in which you have delighted; you will be embarrassed by the gardens that you have chosen.

Here: 'You desired.' This is a strong, possessive attraction, the verb of 'you shall not covet' (Exod 20:17). The people were drawn to these trees with longing. The past tense treats the desire as a settled fact. Here the verb switches to 'you'.

Isaiah 44:9 וַחֲמוּדֵיהֶ֖ם and desired [things] their

All makers of idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Their witnesses fail to see or comprehend, so they are put to shame.

Here: "And their desired things": the treasured images, probably gold- and silver-plated, that their owners love. It comes from the same root as 'you shall not covet' (Exod 20:17), so it hints at desire fixed on the wrong object.

Isaiah 53:2 וְנֶחְמְדֵֽהוּ׃ and we will desire him

He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no stately form or majesty to attract us, no beauty that we should desire Him.

Here: 'That we should desire him'. This means finding him attractive or worth wanting. It is the same root used for the tree in Eden that was 'desirable' to the eye (Gen 2:9; 3:6). The meaning is about being drawn to him, not about romance.

Daniel 11:38 וּבַחֲמֻדֽוֹת׃ and with precious things

And in their place, he will honor a god of fortresses—a god his fathers did not know—with gold, silver, precious stones, and riches.

Here: From the root ḥ-m-d, 'to desire'. It means coveted valuables and treasures. It plays on v. 37: he disregards 'the one desired by women' (ḥemdat), yet pours 'desirable things' (ḥamudot) on his new god.

Daniel 11:43 חֲמֻד֣וֹת [the] precious things of

He will gain control of the treasures of gold and silver and over all the riches of Egypt, and the Libyans and Cushites will also submit to him.

Here: From the verb chamad, 'to desire, covet'. These are things people long for: costly goods, luxuries, precious objects. The same word appears in v. 38, where this king honours his god with gold, silver, precious stones and 'desirable things'. Now he takes Egypt's.

Micah 2:2 וְחָמְד֤וּ and they desire

They covet fields and seize them; they take away houses. They deprive a man of his home, a fellow man of his inheritance.

Here: 'And they covet.' This is the verb of the tenth commandment ('you shall not covet your neighbor's house… field'). It means wanting that fixes on a particular thing that belongs to someone else. Here it is the first step of a chain that ends in taking.