chalal · slain, pierced; defiled

What it means

chalal (חָלָל) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “slain, pierced; defiled”.

Slain in battle, pierced by the sword. Another word of similar form, said of a woman, means "defiled", dishonored.

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. Someone killed or wounded in war.
2. Another word spelled the same: a dishonored woman.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

Slain, above all one who falls pierced in battle; also mortally wounded. It comes from חָלַל (H2490), a verb BDB defines as to bore, to wound, and also to profane. Said of a woman, “profaned”.

• Those slain in battle 1 Samuel 31:12 Samuel 1:19
• The slain man found in the field Deuteronomy 21:1
• Touching one slain by the sword Numbers 19:16
• “Profaned”: a woman the priest may not take Leviticus 21:7

Historical and cultural background

Deuteronomy 21:1-9 gives the rite for when someone slain is found in the field and it is not known who struck him: the elders of the nearest city take a heifer and declare their innocence over it.

How we translate it

“Slain” 73 times, “wounded” 10, “dead” 5, “pierced” 4, “profaned” 2. This edition renders חָלָל “slain” (“someone slain”, Deuteronomy 21:1), and for the woman, חֲלָלָה, “profaned” (Leviticus 21:7). “Pierced” where the wound itself is stressed.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• slain ×73
• wounded ×10
• dead ×5
• pierced ×4
• profaned ×2

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Genesis×1
• Leviticus×2
• Numbers×5
• Deuteronomy×5
• Joshua×2
• Judges×4
• 1 Samuel×3
• 2 Samuel×5
• 1 Kings×1
• 1 Chronicles×5
• 2 Chronicles×1
• Job×2
• Psalms×3
• Proverbs×1
• Isaiah×4
• Jeremiah×9
• Lamentations×3
• Ezekiel×35
• Daniel×1
• Nahum×1
• Zephaniah×1

• Genesis 34:27

  The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the city, because they had made their sister unclean.

• Leviticus 21:7

  They shall not take a woman who is a prostitute or profaned, and they shall not take a woman divorced from her husband, for he is holy to his Elohim.

• Leviticus 21:14

  A widow, or a divorced woman, or a profaned prostitute, these he shall not take; but a virgin of his own people he shall take as wife,

• Numbers 19:16

  And everyone who touches, in the open field, one slain by the sword or a dead body or a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.

• Numbers 19:18

  And a clean man shall take hyssop and dip it in the water and sprinkle it on the tent and on all the vessels and on the persons who were there, and on the one who touched the bone or the slain or the dead or the grave.

• Numbers 23:24

  Look, a people rises like a lioness, and like a lion it lifts itself up; it does not lie down until it devours the prey and drinks the blood of the slain.”

• Numbers 31:8

  And the kings of Midian they killed along with their slain: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian; and Balaam son of Beor they killed with the sword.

• Numbers 31:19

  And you, camp outside the camp seven days; everyone who has killed a person and everyone who has touched the slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives.

• Deuteronomy 21:1

  If someone slain is found on the ground that YHWH your Elohim is giving you to possess it, lying in the field, and it is not known who struck him,

• Deuteronomy 21:2

  then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure to the cities that are around the slain one.

• Deuteronomy 21:3

  And the city that is nearest to the slain one, the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd that has not been worked and that has not pulled in a yoke.

• Deuteronomy 21:6

  And all the elders of that city who are nearest to the slain one shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the stream,

• Deuteronomy 32:42

  I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword will devour flesh, with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the head of the leaders of the enemy.’

• Joshua 11:6

  YHWH said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for tomorrow at this time I will give all of them slain before Israel. Their horses you shall hamstring and their chariots you shall burn with fire.”

• Joshua 13:22

  And Balaam son of Beor, the diviner, the sons of Israel killed with the sword, in addition to their slain.

• Judges 9:40

  Abimelech pursued him, and he fled before him, and many fell slain, up to the entrance of the gate.

• Judges 16:24

  And the people saw him and praised their god, for they said, “Our god has given into our hand our enemy, and the one who laid waste our land and who multiplied our dead.”

• Judges 20:31

  And the sons of Benjamin went out to meet the people; they were drawn away from the city, and they began to strike some of the people, leaving them dead, as at other times, on the highways, of which one goes up to Bethel and one to Gibeah in the field: about thirty men of Israel.

• Judges 20:39

  Then the men of Israel turned in the war, and Benjamin began to strike men dead among the men of Israel, about thirty men, for they said, “Surely they are completely struck down before us, as in the first war.”

• 1 Samuel 17:52

  The men of Israel and of Judah rose and shouted and pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance of the valley and as far as the gates of Ekron. And the dead of the Philistines fell on the road of Shaaraim, as far as Gath and as far as Ekron.

• 1 Samuel 31:1

  The Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

• 1 Samuel 31:8

  The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.

• 2 Samuel 1:19

  “The beauty, O Israel, lies slain on your high places. How the mighty have fallen!

• 2 Samuel 1:22

  From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not turn back, and the sword of Saul did not return empty.

• 2 Samuel 1:25

  How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan lies slain on your high places.

• 2 Samuel 23:8

  These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth, a Tahchemonite, head of the captains; he was Adino the Eznite; he was against eight hundred slain at one time.

• 2 Samuel 23:18

  Abishai, the brother of Joab, son of Zeruiah, he was head of the three; and he brandished his spear against three hundred slain, and he had a name among the three.

• 1 Kings 11:15

  And it happened, when David was in Edom, when Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the slain, that he struck every male in Edom

• 1 Chronicles 5:22

  For many fell slain, because the war was from Elohim. And they lived in their place until the exile.

• 1 Chronicles 10:1

  And the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

• 1 Chronicles 10:8

  And the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.

• 1 Chronicles 11:11

  And this is the number of the mighty men whom David had: Jashobeam son of Hachmoni, head of the captains; he brandished his spear against three hundred slain at one time.

• 1 Chronicles 11:20

  As for Abishai, the brother of Joab, he was head of the three; and he brandished his spear against three hundred slain, and he had a name among the three.

• 2 Chronicles 13:17

  Abijah and his people struck them with a great blow, and there fell slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men.

• Job 24:12

  From the city men groan, and the soul of the wounded calls for help; yet Eloah does not count it as impropriety.

• Job 39:30

  And its young suck up blood, and where the dead are, there it is.”

• Psalms 69:26

  For the one whom you struck they persecute, and of the pain of your wounded they talk.

• Psalms 88:5

  set loose among the dead, like the pierced who lie in the grave, whom you do not remember anymore, and they from your hand have been cut off.

• Psalms 89:10

  You crushed Rahab like one pierced; with the arm of your strength you scattered your enemies.

• Proverbs 7:26

  For many wounded she has brought down, and numerous are all those she has killed.

And 54 more times.