What does חָלָב (ḥālāb) mean in the Bible?
חָלָב (ḥālāb): Milk as symbol of abundance and nourishment; distinctly marks promised land's fertility in covenantal language
Hebrew · H2461
חָלָב
Milk (as the richness of kine)
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חָלָב H2461
Pronunciation ḥālāb
What does חָלָב (ḥālāb) mean in the Bible?
חָלָב (ḥālāb): Milk as symbol of abundance and nourishment; distinctly marks promised land's fertility in covenantal language
Full entry for חָלָב (H2461) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H2461?
The BSB source-word alignment has 44 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include with milk (21), milk (5), and milk (4), of milk (3), than milk (2).
Where does חָלָב (ḥālāb) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 18:8. Its strongest book concentrations include Deuteronomy (8), Exodus (6), Isaiah (4), Numbers (4).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It with milk 21× Exodus 3:8, Exodus 3:17, Exodus 13:5, Exodus 33:3
milk 5× Exodus 23:19, Exodus 34:26, Deuteronomy 14:21, Judges 5:25
and milk 4× Genesis 18:8, Deuteronomy 32:14, Song Of Solomon 4:11, Isaiah 55:1
of milk 3× Judges 4:19, Proverbs 30:33, Isaiah 7:22
than milk 2× Genesis 49:12, Lamentations 4:7
. . . 1× Job 21:24
from milk 1× Isaiah 28:9
in milk 1× Song Of Solomon 5:12
like milk 1× Job 10:10
my milk 1× Song Of Solomon 5:1
of cheese 1× 1 Samuel 17:18
suckling 1× 1 Samuel 7:9
the milk 1× Isaiah 60:16
your milk 1× Ezekiel 25:4
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 18:8 וְחָלָ֗ב to and milk Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular Genesis 49:12 מֵחָלָֽב׃פ to than milk Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular Exodus 3:8 חָלָ֖ב to with milk Noun - masculine singular Exodus 3:17 חָלָ֖ב to with milk Noun - masculine singular Exodus 13:5 חָלָ֖ב to with milk Noun - masculine singular Exodus 23:19 בַּחֲלֵ֥ב to milk Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct Exodus 33:3 חָלָ֖ב to with milk Noun - masculine singular Exodus 34:26 בַּחֲלֵ֥ב to milk Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct Leviticus 20:24 חָלָ֖ב to with milk Noun - masculine singular Numbers 13:27 חָלָ֥ב to with milk Noun - masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Genesis 18:8
Aligned rows 44
Books represented 16
Genesis 2 Exodus 6 Leviticus 1 Numbers 4 Deuteronomy 8 Joshua 1 Judges 2 1 Samuel 2 Job 2 Proverbs 2 Song Of Solomon 3 Isaiah 4 Jeremiah 2 Lamentations 1 Ezekiel 3 Joel 1
Source forms
חָלָ֖ב 13x ḥā·lāḇ Exodus 3:8, Exodus 3:17, Exodus 13:5, Exodus 33:3
חָלָב֙ 6x ḥā·lāḇ Numbers 16:13, Deuteronomy 27:3, Deuteronomy 31:20, 1 Samuel 7:9
בַּחֲלֵ֥ב 3x ba·ḥă·lêḇ Exodus 23:19, Exodus 34:26, Deuteronomy 14:21
בֶּֽחָלָ֔ב 1x be·ḥā·lāḇ Song Of Solomon 5:12
הֶחָלָ֛ב 1x he·ḥā·lāḇ Judges 4:19
הֶֽחָלָב֙ 1x he·ḥā·lāḇ 1 Samuel 17:18
וְחָלָ֗ב 1x wə·ḥā·lāḇ Genesis 18:8
וְחָלָב֙ 1x wə·ḥā·lāḇ Song Of Solomon 4:11
Parsing patterns
Noun - masculine singular 26x Exodus 3:8, Exodus 3:17, Exodus 13:5, Exodus 33:3
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular 3x Genesis 18:8, Song Of Solomon 4:11, Isaiah 55:1
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct 3x Exodus 23:19, Exodus 34:26, Deuteronomy 14:21
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular 3x Genesis 49:12, Isaiah 28:9, Lamentations 4:7
Article | Noun - masculine singular 2x Judges 4:19, 1 Samuel 17:18
Noun - masculine singular construct 2x Proverbs 27:27, Isaiah 60:16
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct 1x Deuteronomy 32:14
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular 1x Song Of Solomon 5:1
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Milk as symbol of abundance and nourishment; distinctly marks promised land's fertility in covenantal language
Source Gloss
milk (as the richness of kine)
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Milk as symbol of abundance and nourishment; distinctly marks promised land's fertility in covenantal language
milk (as the richness of kine) BDB: milk Usage: cheese, milk, sucking.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Milk from goats as provision for household sustenance and nourishment
Showing 1 selected witness from 44 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
חָלָב is built from this root:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain