Hebrew word · H2787

חָרַר

nachar

to scorch

To be hot, glow, be scorched or charred. Used of bones burning with fever (Job 30:30), a pot glowing on coals (Ezek 24:11), a parched land (Jer 17:6, related word ḥărērîm "parched places").

Appears 10 times in 10 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to burn, be hot, be scorched, be charred

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to be hot, be scorched

1a2) to burn, be burned

1b) (Niphal)

1b1) to be scorched, be burned

1b2) to burn

1b3) to be dry, be angry

1c) (Pilpel) to cause to burn

Aramaic equivalent: cha.rakh (חֲרַךְ "to singe" H2761)

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 24:6

Range of meaning

To be hot, glow, be scorched or charred. Used of bones burning with fever (Job 30:30), a pot glowing on coals (Ezek 24:11), a parched land (Jer 17:6, related word ḥărērîm "parched places").

Against the English

"Burned" (KJV, BSB, WEB, NIV "burned up") suggests incineration. "Scorched" (ESV) is closer to the drought-and-heat picture of the context.

Used elsewhere in the period

Job 30:30; Ps 102:3 [4] ("my bones burn like a hearth"); Ezek 24:10–11. The ancient versions disagree here: the Septuagint has "they will be poor," and the Vulgate apparently "they will go mad" (insanient). Some modern scholars emend to ḥāwərû "they grew pale." The supplied contextual gloss "they have diminished" reflects one more proposal, which fits "few are left."

From the study of Psalm 102:3

Range of meaning

To burn, scorch, char. In the passive: to be charred or parched. Related to charar, 'parched places' (Jeremiah 17:6), and to words for heat.

Against the English

'Burn' (BSB, ESV, NIV) is accurate but general. 'Scorched' (NASB) and the LXX's 'parched' fit better: the root means blackened and dried out, not burning brightly.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ezekiel 15:4–5, a vine branch whose middle is 'charred' and useless; Ezekiel 24:10–11, 'let the bones be burned' in the pot; Job 30:30, 'my bones burn (charah) with heat'; Jeremiah 6:29, 'the bellows blow fiercely.'

From the study of Proverbs 26:21

Range of meaning

The root ḥārar means to be hot, burn or be scorched (Job 30:30; Ezek 24:11; Jer 6:29 'the bellows blow fiercely'). Here the first syllable is doubled, a form that adds intensity and repetition: keeping something hot, stoking, fanning.

Against the English

'Kindle' (KJV, WEB, BSB) is acceptable. To a modern ear, though, 'kindle' mostly means to start a fire. The Hebrew, set beside 'charcoal to embers', is more about keeping heat going and raising it.

How it drifted

English 'kindle' now usually means lighting a fire for the first time. 'Kindling' as a noun (small starter sticks) adds to that impression.

Used elsewhere in the period

This exact doubled form occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. Related nouns include ḥarḥur, 'fever, burning heat' (Deut 28:22).

Where it appears

Job · 1

  1. Job 30:30 חָ֝֗רָה it has burned

    My skin grows black and peels, and my bones burn with fever.

Psalms · 2

  1. Psalm 69:3 נִחַ֪ר it has become parched

    I am weary from my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.

    Here: 'It is scorched, burned.' The verb is used for charred wood and burning bones. The throat feels raw and burning from calling out, a hoarse and inflamed voice. It is more than plain dryness.

  2. Psalm 102:3 נִחָֽרוּ׃ they have been burned

    For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers.

    Here: 'They have been scorched.' The word is used for wood charred in a fire (Ezekiel 15:4) and for bones burned in a pot (Ezekiel 24:10). The form is passive: the fire is something done to the speaker.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 26:21 לְחַרְחַר־ to kindling

    Like charcoal for embers and wood for fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.

    Here: The root means to be hot or burn, and its first syllable is said twice (ḥar-ḥar). That doubled form appears only here in the Bible. It pictures heat kept going and pushed higher, and the repeated sound may echo crackling fire.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 24:6 חָרוּ֙ they have diminished

    Therefore a curse has consumed the earth, and its inhabitants must bear the guilt; the earth’s dwellers have been burned, and only a few survive.

    Here: Most likely "they were scorched," like vegetation in a killing heat (compare the withering vines in v.7). The word is textually uncertain, and ancient and modern readers have proposed "grew pale," "became poor" or "dwindled."

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 6:29 נָחַ֣ר it puffs

    The bellows blow fiercely, blasting away the lead with fire. The refining proceeds in vain, for the wicked are not purged.

Ezekiel · 4

  1. Ezekiel 15:4 נָחָ֔ר it is charred

    No, it is cast into the fire for fuel. The fire devours both ends, and the middle is charred. Can it be useful for anything?

  2. Ezekiel 15:5 וַיֵּחָ֔ר and it has been charred

    Even when it was whole, it could not be made useful. How much less can it ever be useful when the fire has consumed it and charred it!

  3. Ezekiel 24:10 יֵחָֽרוּ׃ let them be charred

    Pile on the logs and kindle the fire; cook the meat well and mix in the spices; let the bones be burned.

  4. Ezekiel 24:11 וְחָ֣רָה and it will be hot

    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.

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