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)
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H2490 describes making an opening and, according to context and form, can express beginning an action, piercing or wounding, or treating a holy person, place, name, covenant, or gift as common and profaned. The verb ranges across the start of an activity, physical piercing, covenant violation, desecration of worship, moral pollution, and injury to Gods holy name, so its senses must be traced from each clause rather.
Reader summary
Full entry for חָלַל (H2490) · Open the biblical lexicon
H2490 describes making an opening and, according to context and form, can express beginning an action, piercing or wounding, or treating a holy person, place, name, covenant, or gift as common and profaned. The verb ranges across the start of an activity, physical piercing, covenant violation, desecration of worship, moral pollution, and injury to Gods holy.
The BSB source-word alignment has 142 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include began (13), profane (8), and profaned (4), defile (4), They began (4).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 4:26. Its strongest book concentrations include Ezekiel (35), Leviticus (16), 2 Chronicles (11), Deuteronomy (10).
This entry includes 1 verse guide that explain exact original-language forms in context.
H2490 describes making an opening and, according to context and form, can express beginning an action, piercing or wounding, or treating a holy person, place, name, covenant, or gift as common and profaned. The verb ranges across the start of an activity, physical piercing, covenant violation, desecration of worship, moral pollution, and injury to Gods holy name, so its senses must be traced from each clause rather than blended into one idea.
In Gen. 4. 26, after Enosh is born, the narrative says that people began to call upon the name of the Lord. In Lev. 18. 21, the prohibition of giving children to Molech is grounded in the command not to profane the name of Israels God. H2490 opens teaching on beginnings that set action in motion and on profanation that tears down the distinction between what belongs to God and what people treat as available for misuse.
It corrects the claim that holiness is merely private respectability and exposes religious, sexual, economic, or violent practices that dishonor Gods name by harming people and corrupting worship. H2490 does not carry one image through all its uses: people begin to call on the Lord in Genesis, Israel must not profane Gods holy name in Leviticus, and Amos condemns sexual exploitation that profanes that name.
A beginning opens a course of action, while profanation treats what God claims as though it were common material for human use. Context, verbal form, and object distinguish these senses and expose the human harm bound to false worship. For H2490, responsible teaching keeps lexical meaning, passage context, canonical synthesis, and present application distinguishable.
H2490 does not make every new beginning holy, reduce holiness to ritual objects, treat survivors as defiled by what was done to them, authorize violence against people labeled profane, or imply that human sin can diminish Gods actual holiness.
H2490 appears across passages that develop beginnings, holy distinction, covenant faithfulness, worship, desecration, sexual exploitation, violence, repentance, and Gods vindicated name. For H2490, the immediate setting decides which part of the range is active, so the witnesses must remain distinct rather than being merged into one formula.
And to Seth also a son was born, and he called him Enosh. At that time men began to call upon the name of the Lord.
After Enosh is born, the narrative says that people began to call upon the name of the Lord.
You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.
The prohibition of giving children to Molech is grounded in the command not to profane the name of Israels God.
They trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the earth; they push the needy out of their way. A man and his father have relations with the same girl and so profane My holy name.
Amos condemns powerful men who exploit the poor and the same young woman, thereby profaning Gods holy name.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Hebrew word. To pierce or wound, thus to profane sacred things by breaking covenant boundaries or ritual purity.
How the stem changes the meaning of this verb across the biblical text.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 143 lexical occurrence verses.
Sabbath violation represents treating sacred time as ordinary, undermining covenant holiness.Nehemiah 13:15-22
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
H2490 does not carry one image through all its uses: people begin to call on the Lord in Genesis, Israel must not profane Gods holy name in Leviticus, and Amos condemns sexual exploitation that profanes that name. A beginning opens a course of action, while profanation treats what God claims as though it were common material for human use. Context, verbal form, and object distinguish these senses and expose the human harm bound to false worship.
H2490 describes making an opening and, according to context and form, can express beginning an action, piercing or wounding, or treating a holy person, place, name, covenant, or gift as common and profaned. The selected witnesses keep the teaching concrete: Gen. 4. 26 shows that after Enosh is born, the narrative says that people began to call upon the name of the Lord, while Lev.
18. 21 Shows that the prohibition of giving children to Molech is grounded in the command not to profane the name of Israels God. Amos. 2. 7 adds that amos condemns powerful men who exploit the poor and the same young woman, thereby profaning Gods holy name. H2490 opens teaching on beginnings that set action in motion and on profanation that tears down the distinction between what belongs to God and what people treat as available for misuse.
It corrects the claim that holiness is merely private respectability and exposes religious, sexual, economic, or violent practices that dishonor Gods name by harming people and corrupting worship. A church teaching H2490 faithfully will name both the promise and the boundary carried by these contexts, attend to vulnerable hearers, and refuse to make the lexical item prove more than its passages support.
H2490 does not make every new beginning holy, reduce holiness to ritual objects, treat survivors as defiled by what was done to them, authorize violence against people labeled profane, or imply that human sin can diminish Gods actual holiness.
Gen.4.26
H2490 is a Hebrew verb whose verbal stems and objects yield several related but distinct senses, including begin, pierce or wound, and profane or treat as common; English glosses cannot safely be exchanged across every occurrence.
The Old Testament joins Gods holy name to truthful worship, covenant loyalty, justice, and protection from exploitation. Jesus fulfills the Law and Prophets, cleanses rather than contaminates those who seek Him, and forms a holy people whose worship is shown in mercy, fidelity, and embodied care.