Hebrew word · H2531

חֶ֫מֶד

chemed

delight

Desire, delight, a desirable thing. From ḥāmad, 'to desire, covet, take pleasure in'. In Isa 27:2 (some manuscripts), 'a vineyard of delight'. In Isa 32:12, 'fields of delight'. Ezek 23:6, 12 uses it for desirable young men.

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

desire, delight, beauty, desirable, pleasant

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 Amos 5:11

Range of meaning

Desire, delight, a desirable thing. From ḥāmad, 'to desire, covet, take pleasure in'. In Isa 27:2 (some manuscripts), 'a vineyard of delight'. In Isa 32:12, 'fields of delight'. Ezek 23:6, 12 uses it for desirable young men.

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'pleasant' sounds mild in modern English. BSB 'lush' shifts the meaning to growth rather than desirability. The Hebrew means prized, coveted, choice.

How it drifted

'Pleasant' in 1611 could mean 'delightful, giving pleasure'. Today it means merely agreeable.

Used elsewhere in the period

The root is the 'covet' of the Ten Commandments (Exod 20:17; Deut 5:21) and appears in the stories of Achan (Josh 7:21) and of Micah 2:2 ('they covet fields and seize them').

From the study of Isaiah 27:2

Range of meaning

Desirableness, loveliness, something one longs for. It is from the root ḥ-m-d, "to desire, take pleasure in, covet" (Exod 20:17; Gen 2:9 "desirable to the sight"; Gen 3:6). In phrases it works like an adjective: baḥûrê ḥemed, "desirable young men" (Ezek 23:6, 12, 23); śədê ḥemed, "lovely fields" (Isa 32:12); karmê ḥemed, "lovely vineyards" (Amos 5:11).

Against the English

"Pleasant" (KJV elsewhere, WEB, ESV) and "fruitful" (BSB, NIV, NLT) both soften it. "Fruitful" names a result. Ḥemed names the feeling the vineyard causes in whoever looks at it: longing, delight, the wish to have it. YLT's "desirable" is closest.

How it drifted

"Pleasant" once meant "giving delight". Today it means "agreeable, mildly nice". "Fruitful" is an interpretation rather than a drift. Translators chose it to make the reversal of Isa 5 (where the vineyard bore bad fruit) explicit, and verse 6 does speak of fruit.

Used elsewhere in the period

The exact phrase karmê ḥemed, "vineyards of delight", appears in Amos 5:11, for the vineyards the oppressors planted but will not drink from. The Septuagint here has ampelōn kalos, epithymēma, "a beautiful vineyard, a thing desired". Epithymēma reflects the root ḥ-m-d and so supports the reading ḥemed.

Where it appears

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 27:2 חֶ֖מֶד delight

    In that day: “Sing about a fruitful vineyard.

    Here: "Of delight": a vineyard that people look at with longing, lovely and precious. It comes from the same root as "you shall not covet". Some manuscripts read ḥemer, "wine", instead (see textual notes).

  2. Isaiah 32:12 חֶ֕מֶד delight

    Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vines,

Ezekiel · 3

  1. Ezekiel 23:6 חֶ֖מֶד desire

    clothed in blue, governors and commanders, all desirable young men, horsemen mounted on steeds.

  2. Ezekiel 23:12 חֶ֖מֶד desire

    She too lusted after the Assyrians—governors and commanders, warriors dressed in splendor, horsemen riding on steeds, all desirable young men.

  3. Ezekiel 23:23 חֶ֜מֶד desire

    the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, the men of Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them—all desirable young men, governors and commanders, officers and men of renown, mounted on horses.

Amos · 1

  1. Amos 5:11 חֶ֣מֶד delight

    Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted.

    Here: 'Of desire': choice, coveted vineyards, the kind of property people want. It comes from the same root as 'you shall not covet' (Exod 20:17).

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