Hebrew word · H2535

חַמָּה

chamah

heat

A poetic term for the sun, literally 'the hot one,' from the root ḥmm 'to be warm, hot' (Ps 19:7 'its heat'; Isa 24:23; 30:26; Song 6:10 'bright as the sun'). It is related in sound and partly in meaning to ḥēmāh 'heat, rage, venom,' and ancient readers sometimes confused the two.

Appears 6 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

sun, heat of the sun, heat

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 Job 30:28

Range of meaning

A poetic term for the sun, literally 'the hot one,' from the root ḥmm 'to be warm, hot' (Ps 19:7 'its heat'; Isa 24:23; 30:26; Song 6:10 'bright as the sun'). It is related in sound and partly in meaning to ḥēmāh 'heat, rage, venom,' and ancient readers sometimes confused the two.

Against the English

KJV, WEB and YLT have 'without the sun,' meaning sunless, in gloom. BSB, NIV and ESV have 'but not by the sun,' meaning the darkness is not sunburn. Some versions render it 'without comfort' or 'without warmth,' following an emendation or a figurative reading. The Vulgate has 'without fury.'

Used elsewhere in the period

Song 1:6 is the closest parallel: 'I am dark because the sun has gazed on me.' There, dark skin is explained as sunburn from outdoor work. Job turns the explanation around: dark, but not from the sun. Jerome's Vulgate reads sine furore ('without fury'), taking the word as ḥēmāh. This shows the ambiguity was felt in antiquity.

Where it appears

Job · 1

  1. Job 30:28 חַמָּ֑ה sun

    I go about blackened, but not by the sun. I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.

    Here: A poetic word for the sun, from the root 'to be hot' (compare Song 6:10; Isa 30:26). The most likely sense is that Job is blackened, but not by sunburn: grief and disease did it. The word is short and could also suggest 'without warmth.'

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 19:6 מֵֽחַמָּתוֹ׃ from heat its

    it rises at one end of the heavens and runs its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.

Song of Songs · 1

  1. Song of Songs 6:10 כַּֽחַמָּ֔ה like the sun

    Who is this who shines like the dawn, as fair as the moon, as bright as the sun, as majestic as the stars in procession?

    Here: A poetic name for the sun, from the word for heat. It is paired with 'the white one' for the moon, as in Isaiah 24:23 and 30:26. Her brightness is the dazzling, scorching kind.

Isaiah · 3

  1. Isaiah 24:23 הַֽחַמָּ֑ה the sun

    The moon will be confounded and the sun will be ashamed; for the LORD of Hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before His elders with great glory.

    Here: A poetic name for the sun taken from its heat, used instead of the ordinary shemesh. 'The White One' and 'the Hot One' make a matched pair of sky-lights that are both humbled.

  2. Isaiah 30:26 הַֽחַמָּ֔ה הַֽחַמָּה֙ the sun

    The light of the moon will be as bright as the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter—like the light of seven days—on the day that the LORD binds up the brokenness of His people and heals the wounds He has inflicted.

    Here: A poetic name for the sun, from the root for 'heat'. It pairs with 'the white one': the pale one and the blazing one.

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