כָּלַם

Numbers 12:14 תִכָּלֵ֖ם will she be put to shame

But the LORD answered Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Let her be confined outside the camp for seven days; after that she may be brought back in.”

Here: 'She would bear disgrace' or 'be humiliated'. This is lowered public standing, a shame other people can see. It is not mainly a private feeling of guilt.

Judges 18:7 מַכְלִ֨ים [was one] putting to shame

So the five men departed and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living securely, like the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting. There was nothing lacking in the land and no oppressive ruler. And they were far away from the Sidonians and had no alliance with anyone.

Ruth 2:15 תַכְלִימֽוּהָ׃ you must humiliate her

When Ruth got up to glean, Boaz ordered his young men, “Even if she gathers among the sheaves, do not insult her.

1 Samuel 20:34 הִכְלִמ֖וֹ he had put to shame him

Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger and did not eat any food that second day of the month, for he was grieved by his father’s shameful treatment of David.

1 Samuel 25:7 הֶכְלַמְנ֗וּם we have humiliated them

Now I hear that it is time for shearing. When your shepherds were with us, we did not harass them, and nothing of theirs was missing the whole time they were in Carmel.

1 Samuel 25:15 הָכְלַ֙מְנוּ֙ we were humiliated

Yet these men were very good to us. When we were in the field, we were not harassed, and nothing of ours went missing the whole time we lived among them.

Here: A passive form: 'we were not shamed, insulted or mistreated.' The word covers humiliating treatment of any kind, from insults to roughing up and taking things. It repeats almost exactly David's own claim in verse 7, 'we did not humiliate them.'

2 Samuel 10:5 נִכְלָמִ֣ים humiliated

When this was reported to David, he sent messengers to meet the men, since they had been thoroughly humiliated. The king told them, “Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown back, and then return.”

2 Samuel 19:3 הַנִּכְלָמִ֔ים who are ashamed

So they returned to the city quietly that day, as people steal away in humiliation after fleeing a battle.

1 Chronicles 19:5 נִכְלָמִ֣ים humiliated

When someone came and told David about his men, he sent messengers to meet them, since the men had been thoroughly humiliated. The king told them, “Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown back, and then return.”

2 Chronicles 30:15 נִכְלְמוּ֙ they were ashamed

And on the fourteenth day of the second month they slaughtered the Passover lamb. The priests and Levites were ashamed, and they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the house of the LORD.

Ezra 9:6 וְנִכְלַ֔מְתִּי and I am humiliated

and said: “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, because our iniquities are higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached the heavens.

Here: The common partner of 'ashamed': to be put to public dishonour, made to lose face. Together the two verbs say Ezra is thoroughly disgraced.

Job 11:3 מַכְלִֽם׃ [is one who] puts to shame

Should your babbling put others to silence? Will you scoff without rebuke?

Job 19:3 תַּכְלִימ֑וּנִי you have insulted me

Ten times now you have reproached me; you shamelessly mistreat me.

Psalm 35:4 וְיִכָּלְמוּ֮ and they may be humiliated

May those who seek my life be disgraced and put to shame; may those who plan to harm me be driven back and confounded.

Here: "And may they be humiliated." It adds the social sting: being disgraced in front of others, losing face and standing.

Psalm 40:14 וְיִכָּלְמ֑וּ and may they be humiliated

May those who seek my life be ashamed and confounded; may those who wish me harm be repelled and humiliated.

Here: 'And may they be disgraced.' It means being openly insulted and losing standing in front of others, the kind of public dishonour a defeated army suffers.

Psalm 44:9 וַתַּכְלִימֵ֑נוּ and you have humiliated us

But You have rejected and humbled us; You no longer go forth with our armies.

Here: "And you have disgraced us." The causative form means God made them suffer public humiliation. In an honor-and-shame culture, defeat in battle meant losing face in front of the nations (compare vv. 13–16). The word is about losing standing in public, not an inner feeling of humility.

Psalm 69:6 יִכָּ֣לְמוּ they be humiliated

May those who hope in You not be ashamed through me, O Lord GOD of Hosts; may those who seek You not be dishonored through me, O God of Israel.

Here: A passive form: 'may they not be made to suffer disgrace'. It is a close partner of bosh and stresses insult and public loss of standing.

Psalm 70:2 וְיִכָּלְמ֑וּ and may they be humiliated

May those who seek my life be ashamed and confounded; may those who wish me harm be repelled and humiliated.

Here: 'And may they be humiliated.' The word is about being publicly dishonoured or insulted, losing face in front of others.

Psalm 74:21 נִכְלָ֑ם humiliated

Do not let the oppressed retreat in shame; may the poor and needy praise Your name.

Here: A participle that describes the state he would be in as he turns away: publicly disgraced and shown up as someone whose trust failed. It is about loss of face in front of others, not mainly an inner feeling of guilt.

Proverbs 25:8 בְּהַכְלִ֖ים when puts to shame

do not bring hastily to court. Otherwise, what will you do in the end when your neighbor puts you to shame?

Here: 'When [he] humiliates.' The verb means to disgrace someone publicly and lower their standing. Here that is what happens when the accused neighbor wins and the accuser is shown to be wrong.

Proverbs 28:7 יַכְלִ֥ים he shames

A discerning son keeps the law, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father.

Here: A causative verb: he brings public humiliation on someone, makes them lose face. This is social disgrace before the community, not only private disappointment.

Isaiah 41:11 וְיִכָּ֣לְמ֔וּ and they may be put to shame

Behold, all who rage against you will be ashamed and disgraced; those who contend with you will be reduced to nothing and will perish.

Here: 'And they will be humiliated': brought low, insulted, stripped of standing in front of others. It pairs with the previous verb as a fixed pair meaning total public disgrace.

Isaiah 45:16 נִכְלְמ֖וּ they will be put to shame

They will all be put to shame and humiliated; the makers of idols will depart together in disgrace.

Here: 'They are humiliated.' This is the shame of being publicly insulted and exposed. It is the standard partner of bosh, and together the pair means complete disgrace.

Isaiah 45:17 תִכָּלְמ֖וּ you will be put to shame

But Israel will be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation; you will not be put to shame or humiliated, to ages everlasting.

Here: The usual partner of bosh. It refers to being insulted, slighted, made to lose face before others. Verse 16 also uses it of the idol-makers (nikhlemu, kelimmah), so the reversal is exact.

Isaiah 50:7 נִכְלָ֑מְתִּי I have been humiliated

Because the Lord GOD helps Me, I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set My face like flint, and I know that I will not be put to shame.

Here: "I have not been disgraced / humiliated." This deliberately echoes v.6, where he did not hide his face from kelimmot, "insults, disgrace", from the same root. They heaped disgrace on him, but he was not disgraced. The insults did not stick.

Isaiah 54:4 תִּכָּלְמִ֖י you be ashamed

Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame; do not be intimidated, for you will not be humiliated. For you will forget the shame of your youth and will remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.

Here: The passive form: to be humiliated or dishonoured by others' treatment of you. Most often appears alongside bôš, as its partner word.

Jeremiah 3:3 הִכָּלֵֽם׃ to be ashamed

Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen. Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to be ashamed.

Here: 'To be put to shame, humiliated', or 'to take on the disgrace' one has earned. The drought should have left her publicly humiliated and humbled. She would not accept that state or show it.

Jeremiah 6:15 הַכְלִים֙ to exhibit shame

Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse,” says the LORD.

Here: An infinitive meaning 'to display humiliation', the visible, bodily side of shame. English renders it idiomatically as 'blush'.

Jeremiah 8:12 וְהִכָּלֵם֙ and to be ashamed

Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse, says the LORD.

Here: 'And being humiliated.' This is the public, felt side of disgrace: the loss of face that should make a person drop their eyes or flush.

Jeremiah 14:3 וְהָכְלְמ֖וּ and they are humiliated

The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns, but find no water; their jars return empty. They are ashamed and humiliated; they cover their heads.

Here: 'And they have been humiliated': the verb form is passive, meaning disgrace is brought on them. It is the usual partner of bosh, and together the two words stress how complete the loss of face is.

Jeremiah 22:22 וְנִכְלַ֔מְתְּ and you will be humiliated

The wind will drive away all your shepherds, and your lovers will go into captivity. Then you will be ashamed and humiliated because of all your wickedness.

Here: 'And you will be humiliated': exposed, made to lose face in front of others. Paired with the previous verb, it doubles the image of public disgrace.

Jeremiah 31:19 נִכְלַ֔מְתִּי I was humiliated

After I returned, I repented; and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’

Here: 'I was humiliated': the public, insulting side of disgrace, the loss of face. Together with bosh it makes a fixed pair meaning total shame (Ezra 9:6; Jeremiah 3:25).

Ezekiel 16:27 הַנִּכְלָמ֖וֹת who were ashamed

Therefore I stretched out My hand against you and reduced your portion. I gave you over to the desire of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd conduct.

Here: "Who are put to shame / embarrassed." The sting is that even these pagan enemies blush at Jerusalem's behaviour, a deep loss of honour for her.

Ezekiel 16:54 וְנִכְלַ֕מְתְּ and you will be ashamed

So you will bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you did to comfort them.

Here: The verb related to the noun just before it: 'and you will be disgraced / feel the disgrace.' Repeating the same root drives home that she will both carry the humiliation and feel it.

Ezekiel 16:61 וְנִכְלַמְתְּ֒ and you will be ashamed

Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your older and younger sisters. I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of My covenant with you.

Here: A passive verb form: she will be brought to disgrace, made to feel her lowered standing. This shame comes after her restoration, not before it.

Ezekiel 36:32 וְהִכָּלְמ֛וּ and be humiliated

It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord GOD—let it be known to you. Be ashamed and disgraced for your ways, O house of Israel!

Here: "And be humiliated." The word means the disgrace of being insulted or exposed. Pairing it with bōš drives the point home: Israel's proper reaction is to feel its dishonor deeply.

Ezekiel 43:10 וְיִכָּלְמ֖וּ so they may be ashamed

As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the people of Israel, so that they may be ashamed of their iniquities. Let them measure the plan,

Here: 'So that they will be ashamed.' The verb form expresses the result Ezekiel's report is meant to have. The word means public disgrace, being exposed and losing face, not just a private feeling of guilt.

Ezekiel 43:11 נִכְלְמ֞וּ they are ashamed

and if they are ashamed of all they have done, then make known to them the design of the temple—its arrangement and its exits and entrances—its whole design along with all its statutes, forms, and laws. Write it down in their sight, so that they may keep its complete design and all its statutes and may carry them out.

Here: To be disgraced, to have one's honour exposed and lost. This picks up v.10's 'so that they may be ashamed of their iniquities.' It is a public, social humiliation, not only a private feeling.