StrongerBible

ḥeleq

חֵלֶק

HebrewH2506“portion, inheritance, ...”

Appears 67 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 14:24 (2×)Gen 31:14Lev 6:17(10)Num 18:20 (2×)Num 31:36Deu 10:9Deu 12:12Deu 14:27Deu 14:29Deu 18:1Deu 18:8 (2×)Deu 32:9Jos 14:4Jos 15:13Jos 18:5Jos 18:6Jos 18:7Jos 18:9Jos 19:91Sa 30:24 (2×)2Ki 9:102Ki 9:362Ki 9:37Job 20:29Job 27:13Job 31:2Job 32:17Psa 16:5Psa 17:14Psa 50:18Psa 73:26Psa 119:57Psa 142:5(6)Ecc 2:10Ecc 2:21Ecc 3:22Ecc 5:18(17)Ecc 5:19(18)Ecc 9:9Isa 57:6Isa 61:7Lam 3:24Ezk 45:7Ezk 48:8Ezk 48:21Hos 5:7Hab 1:16Zec 2:12(16)
Names & words formed with this
Word studyKHEH-leknoun

What ḥeleq means

1

portion: the share that falls to someone, whether land, goods, or one's lot in life.

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

At its core this word names a part that has been parceled out and assigned, the share that comes to a particular person or group. It belongs to the world of dividing things up fairly: splitting the land among the tribes, dividing plunder among soldiers, handing the priests their due. Whatever the thing being divided, this word is the piece you walk away with.

From that concrete base the word stretches in two directions. Outward, it names an actual stretch of ground, a plot or field, as when a place is called the tract belonging to a town. Inward, it becomes a way of talking about what life itself hands a person: the enjoyment they get from their work, the fate appointed to them, even the doom God assigns to the wicked. The book of Ecclesiastes leans on it again and again to ask what good a person really gets to keep under the sun.

The word reaches its height when Israel says that the LORD himself is their portion. The tribe of Levi received no land like the others; instead God said he would be their share. The Psalms and Lamentations turn that arrangement into the deepest kind of trust: when everything else is gone, God is the portion that remains. So the same plain word that divides a field also carries one of the Bible's boldest claims about where a person's true inheritance lies.

Nuances

1aan allotted share of land or inheritance, especially the territory parceled out to the tribes (and the Levites' lack of one).
Gen 31:14Num 18:20 (2×)Deu 10:9Deu 12:12Deu 14:27Deu 14:29Deu 18:1Jos 14:4Jos 15:13Jos 18:5Jos 18:6Jos 18:7
1ba share of goods, spoil, or sacred offering that a person receives as their due.
Gen 14:24 (2×)Lev 6:17(10)Num 31:36Deu 18:8 (2×)1Sa 30:24 (2×)Job 32:17Psa 50:18Ecc 11:2
1cone's lot in life: the enjoyment, reward, or fleeting good a person gets from their work and days.
Ecc 2:10Ecc 2:21Ecc 3:22Ecc 5:18(17)Ecc 5:19(18)Ecc 9:6Ecc 9:9
1dan appointed fate or destiny, often the doom assigned to the wicked by God.
Job 20:29Job 27:13Job 31:2Psa 17:14Isa 17:14Isa 57:6Hab 1:16
1ethe LORD himself as one's portion: God as the share and inheritance that takes the place of land.
Deu 32:9Psa 16:5Psa 73:26Psa 119:57Psa 142:5(6)Isa 61:7Jer 10:16Jer 51:19Lam 3:24Zec 2:12(16)
1fa tract or plot of ground identified as a named field.
2Ki 9:102Ki 9:362Ki 9:37
2

smoothness, flattery: smooth and seductive speech that flatters in order to mislead.

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintyStrong

Hebrew has a separate root meaning to be smooth, and from it comes a word spelled the same as the common word for portion but meaning something entirely different. In this sense the word names smoothness applied to speech: words that go down easily and are meant to charm a listener off course.

The one clear case in this group is the seductress of Proverbs, who wins over the young man with the smoothness of her lips. The picture is of talk so flattering and frictionless that it slides past his judgment. The standard lexicons treat this as a genuinely distinct word that happens to share its spelling with the word for portion, not as one more shade of share or lot.

Because only a single occurrence in this set carries the meaning beyond doubt, the division remains a judgment call.

Pro 7:21

Uncategorized

Awaiting AI sense categorization.

2 verses
Job 17:5Amo 7:4

What scholars say about ḥeleq

Standard lexicons trace this word to the verb meaning to divide or apportion, giving it the core sense of an allotted share: tribal land, plunder, the priestly due, and figuratively a person's lot or destiny. Its theological peak is the declaration that the LORD is the believer's portion, replacing a land inheritance. The lexicons also recognize a homonym spelled the same but tied to a different root meaning to be smooth, used for flattering speech, with Proverbs 7:21 as its clear instance.

Where scholars disagree about ḥeleq

Whether the smooth-speech word in Proverbs 7:21 is a separate homonym from the common word for portion, or one more figurative shade of it.

  • majorityIt is a distinct word from a different root meaning to be smooth, only coincidentally spelled like the word for portion.; HALOT, s.v. חֵלֶק; BDB, s.v. חֵלֶק

Sources

  • HALOT, s.v. חֵלֶקlexicon
  • BDB, s.v. חֵלֶקlexicon
  • G. Wanke, "חֵלֶק," in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament (TDOT)dictionary

AI-generated word study · claude-opus-4-8

All attested forms of חֵלֶק

m s absolute

חֵלֶק

Gen 31:14, Num 18:20, Deu 10:9, Deu 12:12, Deu 14:27, Deu 14:29, Deu 18:1, Deu 18:8

m s construct

חֵלֶק

Gen 14:24, Num 31:36, Deu 32:9, Jos 19:9, 1Sa 30:24, 1Sa 30:24, 2Ki 9:10, 2Ki 9:36

m s construct

חֶלְקִי

Job 32:17, Psa 16:5, Psa 73:26, Psa 119:57, Psa 142:5, Ecc 2:10, Lam 3:24

m p absolute

חֲלָקִים

Jos 18:5, Jos 18:6, Jos 18:9, Ezk 45:7, Ezk 48:8, Ezk 48:21

m s construct

חֶלְקוֹ

Ecc 2:21, Ecc 3:22, Ecc 5:18, Ecc 5:19, Hab 1:16, Zec 2:12

m s construct

חֶלְקָם

Gen 14:24, Lev 6:17, Psa 17:14, Isa 61:7

m s construct

חֶלְקְךָ, חֶלְקֶךָ

Num 18:20, Ecc 9:9, Psa 50:18

m p construct

חֶלְקֵיהֶם

Hos 5:7

m s construct

חֶלְקֵךְ

Isa 57:6