Properly, smoothness (of the tongue); also an allotment
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H2506 is a Hebrew noun for a portion, share, allotment, inheritance, or, in some wisdom settings, smoothness expressed as flattery. Lamentations 3:24 confesses, in the middle of communal devastation, that the LORD is the speaker's portion and therefore the ground of hope.
Reader summary
Full entry for חֵלֶק (H2506) · Open the biblical lexicon
H2506 is a Hebrew noun for a portion, share, allotment, inheritance, or, in some wisdom settings, smoothness expressed as flattery. Lamentations 3:24 confesses, in the middle of communal devastation, that the LORD is the speaker's portion and therefore the ground of hope.
The BSB source-word alignment has 67 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include portion (14), . . . (3), on the plot [of ground] (3), portions (3), share (3).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 14:24. Its strongest book concentrations include Joshua (9), Deuteronomy (8), Ecclesiastes (8), Psalms (6).
H2506 is a Hebrew noun for a portion, share, allotment, inheritance, or, in some wisdom settings, smoothness expressed as flattery. Lamentations 3:24 confesses, in the middle of communal devastation, that the Lord is the speaker's portion and therefore the ground of hope. Deuteronomy 14:29 commands provision for Levites, foreigners, fatherless children, and widows, explaining that the Levite lacks a territorial portion or inheritance among Israel.
First Samuel 30:24 names the equal share given to those guarding supplies and those entering battle. Proverbs 7:21 uses the related smoothness sense for persuasive lips that lure someone toward destructive adultery. H2506 opens teaching on material shares, belonging, inheritance, God's sufficiency, care for those excluded from ordinary assets, and deceptive appeal.
It corrects spiritualizing God as portion in ways that deny food and economic support, as well as claims that any person's hardship or exclusion is simply the share God assigned and others need not repair.
H2506 names a person's share in land, food, labor, spoil, worship, or life and can identify the Lord Himself as His people's portion. A secondary smoothness branch appears in flattery. Possessor, source, and social setting determine whether the portion is material, vocational, relational, or figurative.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.”
Amid lament over Jerusalem's devastation, the speaker names the Lord as his portion and therefore chooses hope.
Then the Levite (because he has no portion or inheritance among you), the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates may come and eat and be satisfied. And the Lord your God will bless you in all the work of your hands.
Those with produce are to provide food for Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows, including people without an ordinary land inheritance.
Who will listen to your proposal? The share of the one who went to battle will match the share of the one who stayed with the supplies. They will share alike.”
The recovered goods are shared equally between those who fought and those who stayed to guard the supplies.
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.
Hebrew word. Smoothness of tongue metaphorically extends to flattery; also denotes inherited portion or allotment.
Smoothness of tongue metaphorically extends to flattery; also denotes inherited portion or allotment.
properly, smoothness (of the tongue); also an allotment BDB: smoothness Usage: flattery, inheritance, part, × partake, portion.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 67 lexical occurrence verses.
חֵלֶק is built from this root:
The Levites’ designated portion reflects God’s structured provision for ministry.Micah 2:1-5
Nehemiah declares that opponents have no covenant share in Jerusalem, clarifying boundaries of participation in God’s redemptive community.Nehemiah 13:10-14
Its removal signals covenant reversal; those who stole inheritances will forfeit their own.Nehemiah 2:11-20
Greek words that correspond to or develop the meaning of this Hebrew word in the New Testament.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
H2506 gives both material and theological weight to the idea of a share. Israel's land system assigns portions, but Levites do not receive the same territorial inheritance. That difference does not make their material needs irrelevant. Deuteronomy repeatedly commands the community to include them with foreigners, orphans, and widows in food and celebration. When the Lord says He is the priests' portion, spiritual vocation comes with communal arrangements for provision.
Lamentations speaks from a different setting of catastrophic loss. Calling the Lord one's portion does not deny ruined streets, grief, hunger, or judgment. It locates hope in God's steadfast love when ordinary securities have collapsed. First Samuel adds a principle of recognized participation: support personnel receive a share alongside fighters because the common work depended on both.
Other passages describe political cries of having no portion in a king, allotted land, priestly food, the reward of labor, and flattering speech that lures. H2506 therefore cannot be reduced to private contentment. It asks whether shares are allocated truthfully and whether people without ordinary assets are included. Hope in God can free people from worshiping possessions while also empowering communities to meet real needs.
Leaders must not offer spiritual slogans instead of fair wages, food, housing support, access, or restitution.
Lam.3.24
H2506 is a noun related to division or smoothness. It commonly means portion, share, inheritance, tract, or reward, while a smaller branch means smoothness or flattery. It should be distinguished from the related verb H2505, which describes dividing or acting smoothly.
New Testament language about inheritance in Christ, shared provision, differing service, daily bread, and deceptive flattery continues these canonical concerns. Spiritual inheritance and practical generosity remain joined rather than competing explanations of care.