Hebrew word · H2628

חָסַל

yachselenu

to consume

This verb appears only here in the Hebrew Bible. Its meaning, 'consume, finish off, eat to the end', comes from the related noun chasil, a word for a locust or a stage of its growth (1 Kings 8:37; Psalm 78:46; Isaiah 33:4; Joel 1:4; 2:25).

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 31, 2026

What it means

(Qal) to consume, finish off, bring to an end

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 Deuteronomy 28:38

Range of meaning: This verb appears only here in the Hebrew Bible. Its meaning, 'consume, finish off, eat to the end', comes from the related noun chasil, a word for a locust or a stage of its growth (1 Kings 8:37; Psalm 78:46; Isaiah 33:4; Joel 1:4; 2:25). In later Hebrew and Aramaic the root means 'to finish, bring to an end', as in the Passover Seder phrase chasal siddur Pesach, 'the Passover order is finished'.
Against the English: 'Consume' (KJV, BSB, WEB) is fine but plain. The Hebrew verb works almost like 'to locust' a field: to strip it the way a chasil does. 'Devour' or 'eat bare' is closer.
Used elsewhere in the period: Only here in the Bible. The related noun chasil appears in 1 Kings 8:37 and 2 Chronicles 6:28, alongside 'arbeh, and in Psalm 78:46, in the retelling of the plagues. The meaning 'finish, end' is common in Mishnaic Hebrew and Aramaic. BDB and HALOT give 'consume'.

Where it appears

Deuteronomy · 1

Deuteronomy 28:38 יַחְסְלֶ֖נּוּ it will consume it

You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because the locusts will consume it.

Here: 'It will finish it off.' This verb appears only here in the Hebrew Bible. It is clearly connected to chasil, a name for a kind of locust or a stage of its growth (Joel 1:4), so it means 'eat it bare' the way locusts do. 'It' at the end refers back to the seed, meaning the crop grown from it.

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