Hebrew word · H3873

הַלּוֹחֵשׁ

halochesh

Hallohesh

Built from lachash: to whisper, to charm (snakes), to murmur an incantation. The form with 'the' means 'the whisperer/charmer'.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man living at the time of Exile and Return, first mentioned at Neh.3.12;

father of: Shallum (H7967Q)

§ Hallohesh = "whisperer"

father of a chief of Jerusalem after the exile who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah

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 Nehemiah 3:12

Range of meaning

Built from lachash: to whisper, to charm (snakes), to murmur an incantation. The form with 'the' means 'the whisperer/charmer'.

Against the English

English versions just transliterate the name, which is correct. The meaning is a curiosity, not a hidden message.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lachash is used of snake-charming in Ps 58:5, Eccl 10:11 and Jer 8:17. The name Hallohesh appears again among the covenant sealers in Neh 10:24.

Where it appears

Nehemiah · 2

  1. Nehemiah 3:12 הַלּוֹחֵ֔שׁ Hallohesh

    And next to them, Shallum son of Hallohesh, ruler of the other half-district of Jerusalem, made repairs, with the help of his daughters.

    Here: A name that means 'the whisperer' or 'the charmer'. The verb lachash is used of snake-charming and murmured spells (Ps 58:5; Jer 8:17). It may have started as a nickname or a trade name. A Hallohesh is also among the leaders who seal the covenant in Neh 10:24, probably the same family.

  2. Nehemiah 10:24 הַלּוֹחֵ֥שׁ Hallohesh

    Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek,

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