chalila · far be it!

What it means

chalila (חָלִילָה) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “far be it!”.

"Far be it!", "by no means!": an expression that rejects something as unthinkable.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. "By no means!", rejecting something.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Where it appears

• Genesis×4
• Joshua×2
• 1 Samuel×8
• 2 Samuel×3
• 1 Kings×1
• 1 Chronicles×1
• Job×2

• Genesis 18:25

  Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put to death the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare like the wicked! Far be it from you! Shall the Judge of all the earth not do justice?”

• Genesis 44:7

  They said to him, “Why does my lord speak words like these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing!

• Genesis 44:17

  But he said, “Far be it from me to do this! The man in whose hand the cup was found, he will be my slave; and you, go up in peace to your father.”

• Joshua 22:29

  Far be it from us to rebel against YHWH and to turn back today from following YHWH by building an altar for burnt offering, for grain offering, and for sacrifice, besides the altar of YHWH our Elohim that is before his dwelling!”

• Joshua 24:16

  And the people answered and said, “Far be it from us to abandon YHWH to serve other gods!

• 1 Samuel 2:30

  Therefore declares YHWH, the Elohim of Israel: I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father would walk before me forever; but now declares YHWH: Far be it from me! For those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me will be lightly esteemed.

• 1 Samuel 12:23

  As for me, far be it from me to sin against YHWH by ceasing to pray for you; and I will instruct you in the good and right way.

• 1 Samuel 14:45

  The people said to Saul, “Shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far be it! As YHWH lives, not a hair of his head shall fall to the ground, for with Elohim he has worked this day.” So the people ransomed Jonathan, and he did not die.

• 1 Samuel 20:2

  He said to him, “Far be it! You shall not die. Look, my father does not do anything great or anything small without making it known to me; why then would my father hide from me this thing? It is not so.”

• 1 Samuel 20:9

  Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! For if I should indeed know that the evil is decided on the part of my father to come upon you, would I not tell it to you?”

• 1 Samuel 22:15

  Is it today that I have begun to inquire of Elohim for him? Far be it from me! Let not the king lay anything against his servant or against all the house of my father, for your servant did not know anything of all this, small or great.”

• 1 Samuel 24:6

  He said to his men, “Far be it from me, by YHWH, that I should do this thing to my lord, to the anointed of YHWH, to stretch out my hand against him, for he is the anointed of YHWH.”

• 1 Samuel 26:11

  Far be it from me, by YHWH, to stretch out my hand against the anointed of YHWH! Now please take the spear that is at his head and the jar of water, and let us go away.”

• 2 Samuel 20:20

  Joab answered and said, “Far be it, far be it from me that I should swallow up or destroy!

• 2 Samuel 23:17

  He said, “Far be it from me, YHWH, to do this! Shall I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” And he was not willing to drink it. These things the three mighty men did.

• 1 Kings 21:3

  Naboth said to Ahab, “Far be it from me, by YHWH, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you!”

• 1 Chronicles 11:19

  And he said, “Far be it from me, by my Elohim, to do this! Shall I drink the blood of these men at the risk of their lives? For at the risk of their lives they brought it.” And he was not willing to drink it. These things the three mighty men did.

• Job 27:5

  Far be it from me that I declare righteous you; until I expire I will not remove my integrity from me.

• Job 34:10

  Therefore, men of heart, listen to me: far be it from El to do wickedness, and from Shaddai to do injustice.

And 2 more times.