Hebrew word · H2552

חָמַם

vecham

to warm

Chamam means to be or become warm, whether by fire, clothing, sun or another body. The form here is taken as "for warming them." The identical letters and vowels also spell "their bread" (lechem, H3899, plus "their"; compare Hosea 9:4).

Appears 21 times in 19 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to be hot, become warm

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to be or grow warm

1a2) of passion (fig.)

1b) (Niphal) to become aroused, inflame oneself with

1c) (Piel) to warm

1d) (Hithpael) to warm oneself

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 Isaiah 47:14

Range of meaning

Chamam means to be or become warm, whether by fire, clothing, sun or another body. The form here is taken as "for warming them." The identical letters and vowels also spell "their bread" (lechem, H3899, plus "their"; compare Hosea 9:4).

Against the English

KJV and WEB say "to warm at," BSB and YLT "to warm them," and ESV "for warming oneself." No major English version prints "bread," and a reader of English cannot see the possible double sound.

Used elsewhere in the period

Warming is an everyday need in the Hebrew Bible: 1 Kings 1:1–2, Ecclesiastes 4:11, Haggai 1:6. Most striking is Isaiah 44:15–19, where the idol-maker warms himself, sees the fire (ur), bakes bread, and uses coals (the same coal word) from the same wood he carves into a god.

From the study of Isaiah 57:5

Range of meaning

The basic sense is 'to be or become warm, hot'. It is used of bodily warmth (1 Kgs 1:1–2, old David cannot get warm; Eccl 4:11, two people lying together keep warm), of warming oneself at a fire (Isa 44:15–16), and of the heat of passion (Hos 7:7, 'all of them are hot as an oven'). The passive-reflexive form used here means 'get oneself heated, be in heat'. HALOT and BDB give 'inflame oneself' and 'be in heat' for this verse.

Against the English

KJV, WEB and YLT keep the image of heat ('enflaming yourselves', 'inflame yourselves', 'are inflamed'), which leaves open what the heat is. BSB, ESV and NIV say 'burn with lust', which spells out the sexual sense. NLT reads it as passionate worship of idols.

How it drifted

'Burn with lust' is defensible, but modern readers hear it as private sexual desire. In the prophets, sexual heat is the standard picture for Israel's unfaithfulness to its covenant God (Hos 4:13; Jer 2:20–24; 3:6). The Hebrew fuses erotic and religious ardour, and English has to choose between them.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isa 44:15–16 uses the same root for the idol-maker who warms himself with half the log and carves a god from the rest. The closely related root יחם describes animals in heat when they mate (Gen 30:38–41). The vowels of this form are unusual. Some grammarians (GKC §67u) explain it as a contracted form of חמם; others derive it from יחם. Either way the sense is 'getting hot', in heat. The Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate read the consonants as נחם, 'comfort / call upon' (LXX parakalountes, Vulgate consolamini).

From the study of Jeremiah 51:39

Range of meaning

The basic meaning is 'to be or become warm or hot'. It is used of the body (1 Kgs 1:1–2, of King David being warmed), of the sun, and of a fire. It is often used of inner heat: the hot temper of an avenger (Deut 19:6, 'while his heart is hot'), sexual arousal (Isa 57:5, 'you who burn with lust among the oaks'), and the overheated, wine-fuelled state of plotting courtiers (Hos 7:5–7, 'they are all hot as an oven').

Against the English

KJV and YLT say 'in their heat', which is literal but vague to modern ears. Some modern versions say 'inflamed', 'heated up' or 'aroused' (NIV), and the BSB says 'flushed with heat'. Each catches one side of the word: appetite, drink, or excitement.

How it drifted

In older English 'heat' readily meant passion or excitement. Today 'in their heat' sounds like weather, or like an animal in season. The Hebrew points to a hot-blooded state of appetite and intoxication.

Used elsewhere in the period

Hosea 7:5–7 is the closest parallel: rulers 'sick with the heat of wine' and 'hot as an oven' at a royal feast. The Greek Septuagint renders the word here with thermasia, 'heat, feverishness' (BDB, HALOT s.v. חמם).

Similar words

Where it appears

Exodus · 1

  1. Exodus 16:21 וְחַ֥ם and it was warm

    Every morning each one gathered as much as was needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away.

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 19:6 יֵחַם֮ it will be hot

    Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue the manslayer in a rage, overtake him if the distance is great, and strike him dead though he did not deserve to die, since he did not intend any harm.

1 Kings · 2

  1. 1 Kings 1:1 יִחַ֖ם it was warm

    Now King David was old and well along in years, and though they covered him with blankets, he could not keep warm.

  2. 1 Kings 1:2 וְחַ֖ם and it will be warm

    So his servants said to him, “Let us search for a young virgin for our lord the king, to attend to him and care for him and lie by his side to keep him warm.”

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 4:34 וַיָּ֖חָם and it became warm

    Then Elisha got on the bed and lay on the boy, mouth to mouth, eye to eye, and hand to hand. As he stretched himself out over him, the boy’s body became warm.

Nehemiah · 1

  1. Nehemiah 7:3 חֹ֣ם is hot

    And I told them, “Do not open the gates of Jerusalem until the sun is hot. While the guards are on duty, keep the doors shut and securely fastened. And appoint the residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some at their own homes.”

Job · 3

  1. Job 6:17 בְּ֝חֻמּ֗וֹ in heat its

    but ceasing in the dry season and vanishing from their channels in the heat.

  2. Job 31:20 יִתְחַמָּֽם׃ he warmed himself

    if his heart has not blessed me for warming him with the fleece of my sheep,

  3. Job 39:14 תְּחַמֵּֽם׃ it keeps [them] warm

    For she leaves her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 39:3 חַם־ it became hot

    My heart grew hot within me; as I mused, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue:

    Here: A completed change of state: "it got hot." The same verb describes a heart 'hot' with rage in Deuteronomy 19:6, so it pictures heat building up inside under pressure, not a cosy warmth.

Ecclesiastes · 2

  1. Ecclesiastes 4:11 וְחַ֣ם יֵחָֽם׃ and it will be warm, will it be warm

    Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone?

Isaiah · 5

  1. Isaiah 44:15 וַיָּ֔חָם and he became warm

    It serves as fuel for man. He takes some of it to warm himself, and he kindles a fire and bakes his bread. He also fashions it into a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it.

  2. Isaiah 44:16 יָחֹם֙ חַמּוֹתִ֖י he is warm, I am warm

    He burns half of it in the fire, and he roasts meat on that half. He eats the roast and is satisfied. Indeed, he warms himself and says, “Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.”

  3. Isaiah 47:14 לַחְמָ֔ם to warm them

    Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame. There will be no coals to warm them or fire to sit beside.

    Here: "For warming them." The spelling is exactly that of "their bread" (as in Hosea 9:4), so listeners may have caught that sound as well. See the debate below.

  4. Isaiah 57:5 הַנֵּֽחָמִים֙ who inflame yourselves

    who burn with lust among the oaks, under every luxuriant tree, who slaughter your children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?

    Here: A passive-reflexive participle with the article: 'you who get yourselves hot'. The word is about heat, and in this setting it means being in heat, aroused with desire. The passage around it (v. 3 'adulterer and whore', v. 8 the bed) makes that desire both sexual and religious. The article ties it back to the 'you' of v. 4: 'you, the ones who…'

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 51:39 בְּחֻמָּ֞ם when getting heated they

    While they are flushed with heat, I will serve them a feast, and I will make them drunk so that they may revel; then they will fall asleep forever and never wake up, declares the LORD.

    Here: 'In their being hot', a verb form used like a noun, with 'in' and 'their'. The heat is the flush of greedy appetite and drink, and it picks up the roaring, hungry lions of verse 38. The moment Babylon is most fired up is the moment God acts.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 24:11 תֵּחַ֜ם it may grow warm

    Set the empty pot on its coals until it becomes hot and its copper glows. Then its impurity will melt within; its rust will be consumed.

Hosea · 1

  1. Hosea 7:7 יֵחַ֙מּוּ֙ they are hot

    All of them are hot as an oven, and they devour their rulers. All their kings fall; not one of them calls upon Me.

    Here: "They grow hot." The verb form describes something ongoing or repeated: they keep heating up. The heat is the burning passion for intrigue and violence. Verse 6 calls it the heart prepared like an oven.

Haggai · 1

  1. Haggai 1:6 לְחֹ֣ם to be warm

    You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into a bag pierced through.”

    Here: "Being warm". The clothing exists, but it does not do what clothing is for, perhaps because it is thin, worn or too little wool.

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