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הָלַךְ hâlak — to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)

pronounced haw-lak' · Strong's H1980 · 511 occurrences in the Hebrew Bible · 4 stems: Qal (Pa'al), Hitpa'el, Pi'el, Niph'al

Translated in the KJV as along, apace, behave, come, continually, be conversant, depart, be eased, enter, exercise, follow, forth.

akin to H3212; a primitive root; to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively).

hâlak in each stem

Qal (Pa'al) 421×

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

Participle (active) 153Perfect (qatal) 149Infinitive absolute 48Sequential perfect (weqatal) 47Imperfect (yiqtol) 9Infinitive construct 7Imperative 4Wayyiqtol 3Jussive 1

הַֽהֹלֵ֖ךְ Gen 2:14 Participle (active), masculine singular

And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. (KJV)

הָל֣וֹךְ Gen 8:3 Infinitive absolute

And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated. (KJV)

הָל֣וֹךְ Gen 8:5 Infinitive absolute

And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen. (KJV)

Hitpa'el 64×

Intensive · reflexive — the action intensified, repeated or brought about; the subject does it to or for themselves

Imperfect (yiqtol) 15Perfect (qatal) 14Participle (active) 10Wayyiqtol 10Infinitive construct 6Imperative 4Sequential perfect (weqatal) 4Cohortative 1

מִתְהַלֵּ֥ךְ Gen 3:8 Participle (active), masculine singular

And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. (KJV)

וַיִּתְהַלֵּ֨ךְ Gen 5:22 Wayyiqtol, 3rd person masculine singular

And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: (KJV)

וַיִּתְהַלֵּ֥ךְ Gen 5:24 Wayyiqtol, 3rd person masculine singular

And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. (KJV)

Pi'el 25×

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

Imperfect (yiqtol) 15Perfect (qatal) 5Participle (active) 2Wayyiqtol 1Participle (passive) 1Imperative 1

וַיְהַלֵּ֖ךְ 1Kgs 21:27 Wayyiqtol, 3rd person masculine singular

And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. (KJV)

הִ֭לְּכוּ Job 24:10 Perfect (qatal), 3rd person common plural

They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry; (KJV)

הִ֭לַּכְתִּי Job 30:28 Perfect (qatal), 1st person common singular

I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation. (KJV)

Niph'al

Simple · passive — the plain action; the subject has it done to them

Perfect (qatal) 1

נֶהֱלָ֑כְתִּי Ps 109:23 Perfect (qatal), 1st person common singular

I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust. (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 ›

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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. hâlak 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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