Hebrew word · H6761

צֶ֫לַע

uvetzal'i

stumbling

Limping, stumbling, a fall, from the verb tsalaʿ, 'to limp' (used of Jacob limping after wrestling at Peniel, Gen 32:31). By extension it means a misstep, a moment of weakness, or a disaster that brings someone down. A different word spelled the same way (H6763) means 'rib' or 'side'.

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

What it means

limping, stumbling

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 Jeremiah 20:10

Range of meaning

Limping, stumbling, a fall, from the verb tsalaʿ, 'to limp' (used of Jacob limping after wrestling at Peniel, Gen 32:31). By extension it means a misstep, a moment of weakness, or a disaster that brings someone down. A different word spelled the same way (H6763) means 'rib' or 'side'.

Against the English

BSB, ESV and NASB say 'fall', NIV 'slip' and KJV and YLT 'halting'. In 1611 'halting' meant limping. Today it suggests hesitation, which is not the picture.

How it drifted

KJV 'halting' was accurate in its day, when 'halt' meant lame (as in 'the halt and the blind'). Modern English uses 'halting' for faltering or hesitant speech, so the image of a stumble is lost.

Used elsewhere in the period

Psalm 35:15: 'at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered.' Psalm 38:18 (Heb.): 'I am ready to stumble/fall.' Job 18:12: calamity is 'ready for his stumbling'. The Latin Vulgate here read the 'side/rib' word ('guarding my side').

From the study of Psalm 35:15

Range of meaning

A rare noun from the root ṣ-l-ʿ, 'to limp.' It means limping, a stumble, a fall. It has a separate homonym, ṣēlāʿ, 'rib, side,' which is a different word. The verb is used of Jacob limping after he wrestled at Peniel (Gen 32:31), and its participle means 'the lame' in God's promise to gather 'the limping' flock (Mic 4:6–7; Zeph 3:19).

Against the English

KJV 'adversity' and NLT 'trouble' make it abstract. BSB, ESV and NASB keep the concrete 'stumbling.' The picture is bodily: a man who has lost his footing.

How it drifted

KJV's 'adversity' goes back to earlier English versions and the Greek/Latin tradition, which smoothed the image into a general idea of misfortune.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ps 38:17: 'I am ready to fall' (literally 'for limping I am set'). Jer 20:10 is the closest parallel: Jeremiah's 'familiar friends' are 'watching for my stumbling' (šōmrê ṣalʿî), waiting to pounce, which is the same scene as here. Jerome's translation from the Hebrew renders it with a Latin verb for limping.

Where it appears

Job · 1

  1. Job 18:12 לְצַלְעֽוֹ׃ for stumbling his

    His strength is depleted, and calamity is ready at his side.

Psalms · 2

  1. Psalm 35:15 וּבְצַלְעִי֮ and at stumbling my

    But when I stumbled, they assembled in glee; they gathered together against me. Assailants I did not know slandered me without ceasing.

    Here: 'And at my limping / my stumble.' A physical picture of someone faltering on their feet, used for a fall into misfortune. The opening 'and' carries the sense of 'but,' setting their behaviour against the psalmist's grief for them in verses 13–14.

  2. Psalm 38:17 לְצֶ֣לַע for stumbling

    For I am ready to fall, and my pain is ever with me.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 20:10 צַלְעִ֑י stumbling my

    For I have heard the whispering of many: “Terror is on every side! Report him; let us report him!” All my trusted friends watch for my fall: “Perhaps he will be deceived so that we may prevail against him and take our vengeance upon him.”

    Here: 'My stumbling.' The word pictures someone who limps or trips. They are waiting for him to slip, morally, legally or in his prophesying, so they can pounce.

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