Aramaic word · H2783
חֲרַץ
chartzeh
loin
Hips, loins, the lower back and pelvic region. Matches Hebrew ḥălāṣayim ('loins'), with Aramaic r where Hebrew has l.
A Biblical Aramaic word, from the parts of the Old Testament written in Aramaic. Why Aramaic?
Appears once in the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·
What it means
loin, hip, hip joint
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
- Range of meaning
Hips, loins, the lower back and pelvic region. Matches Hebrew ḥălāṣayim ('loins'), with Aramaic r where Hebrew has l.
- Against the English
KJV/YLT 'loins', WEB 'thighs', BSB 'hips', NASB 'hip joints'. NIV/NLT/ESV generalize to 'legs' or 'limbs', which loses the region the text names.
- How it drifted
In modern English 'loins' mostly suggests the genitals ('fruit of his loins'). In biblical idiom the loins are the hips and lower back, where a man's strength and readiness sit.
- Used elsewhere in the period
In Hebrew Scripture, girding the loins means getting ready for action (1 Kgs 18:46; Job 38:3). Shaking or weakened loins means terror and helplessness (Ps 69:23; Isa 21:3; Nah 2:10). Isaiah 45:1 has God promise Cyrus, the conqueror of Babylon, that he will 'ungird the loins of kings', using the Hebrew equivalent motnayim.
Where it appears
Daniel · 1
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Daniel 5:6 חַרְצֵהּ֙ loin[s] his
his face grew pale and his thoughts so alarmed him that his hips gave way and his knees knocked together.
Here: 'His hips/loins.' This is the region of the hips and lower back. In biblical thought it is where a man's strength and steadiness sit (as in 'gird up your loins').
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.