חָלַל châlal — properly, to bore, i.e. (by implication) to wound, to dissolve
Translated in the KJV as begin, defile, × break, × eat, × first, × gather the grape thereof, × take inheritance, pipe, player on instruments, pollute, profane, prostitute.
a primitive root (compare H2470); also denominative (from H2485); properly, to bore, i.e. (by implication) to wound, to dissolve; figuratively, to profane (a person, place or thing), to break (one's word), to begin (as if by an 'opening wedge'); to play (the flute).
châlal in each stem
Pi'el
Perfect (qatal) 20Imperfect (yiqtol) 16Infinitive construct 11Sequential perfect (weqatal) 8Participle (active) 7Wayyiqtol 6Jussive 1
Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.
And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.
Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
Hiph'il
Perfect (qatal) 28Wayyiqtol 13Imperfect (yiqtol) 8Infinitive construct 3Imperative 2Infinitive absolute 1Participle (active) 1
And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:
And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.
Niph'al
Infinitive construct 4Imperfect (yiqtol) 2Sequential perfect (weqatal) 2Wayyiqtol 1Perfect (qatal) 1
But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself.
And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.
For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another.
Po'el
Perfect (qatal) 1Participle (active) 1
By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?
Qal (Pa'al)
Participle (active) 1Perfect (qatal) 1
As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there: all my springs are in thee.
For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.
Pu'al
Participle (passive) 2
There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they caused their terror in the land of the living.
And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
Hoph'al
Perfect (qatal) 1
And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.
Polal
Participle (passive) 1
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
What the stems mean
A Hebrew verb is its root letters set into a pattern. The pattern — the binyan — is the grammar's way of saying three things at once: whether the action is simple, intensive or causative, and whether its subject is active, passive or reflexive. That is why one Hebrew word can need six English ones. All seven binyanim, explained ›