Hebrew word · H6760

צָלַע

tzolea'

to limp

Participle of ṣālaʿ, 'to limp, be lame'. The verb is extremely rare: Genesis 32:31 (Jacob 'limping on his hip'), Micah 4:6–7, and this verse. It is related to the noun ṣelaʿ, 'stumbling, fall' (Psalm 35:15; 38:17).

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to limp, be lame

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to limp

1a2) to be lame

2) (Pael) to pray

Aramaic equivalent: tse.la (צְלָא "to pray" H6739)

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 Zephaniah 3:19

Range of meaning

Participle of ṣālaʿ, 'to limp, be lame'. The verb is extremely rare: Genesis 32:31 (Jacob 'limping on his hip'), Micah 4:6–7, and this verse. It is related to the noun ṣelaʿ, 'stumbling, fall' (Psalm 35:15; 38:17).

Against the English

'Halteth' (KJV) and 'halting' (YLT) are old English for limping. 'The lame' (BSB, NIV, ESV, NASB) is accurate but loses two things: the word is singular and feminine, and it describes a moving animal (a limping ewe) rather than a category of people. NLT's 'the weak and helpless' gives the sense but drops the picture.

Used elsewhere in the period

Micah 4:6–7 reads almost identically: 'I will gather the limping one (haṣṣōlēʿâ), and the driven-away one (hanniddāḥâ) I will gather… and I will make the limping one a remnant.' Ezekiel 34:16 uses the same shepherd picture with different words: 'the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up.' The echo of Jacob, the ancestor who came away limping but blessed, may be intended, but that is uncertain.

From the study of Micah 4:6

Range of meaning

The verb means 'to limp, be lame'. It is very rare: it appears only in Genesis 32:31 (Hebrew 32:32, Jacob 'limping on his hip' after wrestling at Peniel), Micah 4:6–7, and Zephaniah 3:19. The related noun ṣela‘ means 'stumbling, a fall, disaster' (Psalm 35:15; 38:17; Jeremiah 20:10), so the word leans toward 'one who has been made to stumble and fall'.

Against the English

'The lame' (BSB, NIV, ESV, NASB) or 'her that halteth' (KJV). English 'the lame' sounds like a category of disabled individuals. The Hebrew is a single feminine figure, 'the limping one (she)', an image of a whole people.

How it drifted

English plural or abstract 'the lame' drops the feminine singular, and with it the collective picture. That opens the way to reading the verse mainly as a promise of physical healing for disabled people.

Used elsewhere in the period

Zephaniah 3:19 repeats nearly the same pair: 'I will save the limping one and gather the driven-off one', which shows this was a fixed restoration image. Hebrew flock words (ṣō’n, 'flock') are feminine, and Micah 2:12 and 4:8 ('tower of the flock') use shepherd language. The only narrative use, Genesis 32, describes Jacob, the ancestor whose name stands for the nation in Micah ('Jacob', 2:12; 3:1, 8).

From the study of Micah 4:7

Range of meaning

The verb tsala' means 'to limp, be lame'. It is rare: Gen 32:31 (Jacob limping after Peniel), Micah 4:6–7, and Zeph 3:19. The feminine participle 'the limping one' is used as a collective noun for an injured flock or people.

Against the English

BSB/WEB 'the lame' is accurate but loses the feminine singular and the animal image. KJV 'her that halted' keeps the feminine, but 'halt' (old English for 'limp') now sounds like 'stop'.

How it drifted

English 'halt' once meant 'lame, limping' (as in 'the halt and the blind') but now mostly means 'stop'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Zeph 3:19 repeats the pairing almost word for word: 'I will save the limping one and gather the outcast.' This shows it was a fixed phrase for the exiles. The Greek Septuagint renders it 'the crushed/broken one' (syntetrimmenē).

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 32:31 צֹלֵ֖עַ [was] limping

    The sun rose above him as he passed by Penuel, and he was limping because of his hip.

Micah · 2

  1. Micah 4:6 הַצֹּ֣לֵעָ֔ה the [one who is] lame

    “On that day,” declares the LORD, “I will gather the lame; I will assemble the outcast, even those whom I have afflicted.

    Here: A feminine singular participle: 'the limping one (she)'. A collective picture, most naturally a limping sheep of the flock or Daughter Zion herself, standing for a people crippled by judgment.

  2. Micah 4:7 הַצֹּֽלֵעָה֙ the [one who was] lame

    And I will make the lame into a remnant, the outcast into a strong nation. Then the LORD will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day and forever.

    Here: A feminine singular participle, 'the one who limps', used as a collective for the scattered people pictured as an injured ewe or flock (verse 8 calls Zion the 'tower of the flock'). It also faintly recalls Jacob, who 'limped' after wrestling with God (Gen 32:31).

Zephaniah · 1

  1. Zephaniah 3:19 הַצֹּלֵעָ֗ה the lame [person]

    Behold, at that time, I will deal with all who afflict you. I will save the lame and gather the scattered; and I will appoint praise and fame for the disgraced throughout the earth.

    Here: 'The limping one'. It is feminine singular: a limping ewe, and also Zion pictured as a woman. The verb is very rare. Elsewhere it appears only for Jacob limping after he wrestled at Peniel (Genesis 32:31) and in Micah 4:6–7, which this verse closely echoes.

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