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חָלַף châlaph — properly, to slide by, i.e. (by implication) to hasten away, pass on, spring up, pierce or change

pronounced khaw-laf' · Strong's H2498 · 28 occurrences in the Hebrew Bible · 3 stems: Qal (Pa'al), Hiph'il, Pi'el

Translated in the KJV as abolish, alter, change, cut off, go on forward, grow up, be over, pass (away, on, through), renew, sprout.

a primitive root; properly, to slide by, i.e. (by implication) to hasten away, pass on, spring up, pierce or change.

châlaph in each stem

Qal (Pa'al) 16×

Simple · active — the plain action; the subject does it

Imperfect (yiqtol) 7Perfect (qatal) 5Sequential perfect (weqatal) 3Infinitive construct 1

וְחָלְפָ֖ה Judg 5:26 Perfect (qatal), 3rd person feminine singular

She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen’s hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when she had pierced and stricken through his temples. (KJV)

וְחָלַפְתָּ֨ 1Sam 10:3 Sequential perfect (weqatal), 2nd person masculine singular

Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Beth–el, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine: (KJV)

יַחֲלֹ֑ף Job 4:15 Imperfect (yiqtol), 3rd person masculine singular

Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up: (KJV)

Hiph'il 10×

Causative · active — causing someone or something to do the action; the subject does it

Imperfect (yiqtol) 7Perfect (qatal) 1Wayyiqtol 1Imperative 1

וְהֶחֱלִ֥ף Gen 31:7 Perfect (qatal), 3rd person masculine singular

And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me. (KJV)

וַתַּחֲלֵ֥ף Gen 31:41 Wayyiqtol, 2nd person masculine singular

Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times. (KJV)

וְהַחֲלִ֖יפוּ Gen 35:2 Imperative, 2nd person masculine plural

Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: (KJV)

Pi'el

Intensive · active — the action intensified, repeated or brought about; the subject does it

Wayyiqtol 2

וַיְחַלֵּ֣ף Gen 41:14 Wayyiqtol, 3rd person masculine singular

Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh. (KJV)

וַיְחַלֵּף֙ 2Sam 12:20 Wayyiqtol, 3rd person masculine singular

Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the Lord, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat. (KJV)

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 ›

Open in Hebrew Explorer with Verb Anatomy on →

In the app, tap any Hebrew verb while reading: its root, stem and form are named, the letters of the word itself are coloured to show which is which, and the stem's meaning is put in plain English. châlaph in the lexicon ›

Morphology from OpenScriptures MorphHB (CC BY 4.0); definitions from Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (public domain); text from the Westminster Leningrad Codex.

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