What does חֹמֶר (ḥōmer) mean in the Bible?
Clay and mortar are familiar materials used in building and shaping objects. Exodus describes mortar and bricks as part of Israel's bitter forced labor.
Hebrew · H2563
חֹמֶר
Clay and mortar are familiar materials used in building and shaping objects. Exodus describes mortar and bricks as part of Israel's bitter forced labor.
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חֹמֶרH2563
Pronunciationḥōmer
What does חֹמֶר (ḥōmer) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for חֹמֶר (H2563) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H2563?
The BSB source-word alignment has 31 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include like clay (5), and a homer (2), from each homer (2), of a homer (2), of clay (2).
Where does חֹמֶר (ḥōmer) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 11:3. Its strongest book concentrations include Ezekiel (7), Job (7), Isaiah (6), Exodus (3).
What This Word Actually Means
Clay and mortar are familiar materials used in building and shaping objects. Exodus describes mortar and bricks as part of Israel's bitter forced labor. Isaiah uses clay and its maker to expose an inversion in which the formed thing denies the understanding of the one who formed it. Jeremiah watches a potter remake a spoiled vessel and then hears an explanation addressed to the house of Israel.
These settings differ: oppression in brickwork is not the same scene as God's potter illustration. The supplied word range also includes heap and a dry measure, which should not be forced into a clay gloss. Ask what material or measure the sentence describes and what its comparison actually argues before applying it to people.
How the Bible Uses It
Oppressive brickwork, Isaiah's maker comparison and Jeremiah's remade vessel show why clay language needs its actual narrative or argument rather than one universal account of human life.
- Exod.1.14
And made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh.
Mortar and brickwork belong to the Egyptians' bitter, ruthless treatment of Israel, so the material detail should not soften the passage's description of oppression.
- Isa.29.16
You have turned things upside down, as if the potter were regarded as clay. Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He did not make me”? Can the pottery say of the potter, “He has no understanding”?
The potter-clay comparison exposes an inversion that denies the maker's understanding; it does not transfer the maker's authority to a human ruler.
- Jer.18.4
But the vessel that he was shaping from the clay became flawed in his hand; so he formed it into another vessel, as it seemed best for him to do.
The potter remakes a spoiled vessel; the following explanation addresses Israel and speaks about nations turning from evil or refusing to listen.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itlike clay5×Job 10:9, Job 27:16, Job 38:14, Isaiah 10:6
and a homer2×Isaiah 5:10, Hosea 3:2
from each homer2×Ezekiel 45:13
of a homer2×Ezekiel 45:11
of clay2×Job 4:19, Job 13:12
. . .1×Exodus 8:14
[are equivalent to] a homer1×Ezekiel 45:14
[or] one homer1×Ezekiel 45:14
and mortar1×Exodus 1:14
are the clay1×Isaiah 64:8
as clay1×Isaiah 29:16
churning1×Habakkuk 3:15
Does the clay1×Isaiah 45:9
for every homer1×Leviticus 27:16
from clay1×Job 33:6
from the clay1×Jeremiah 18:4
homers1×Numbers 11:32
instead of mortar1×Genesis 11:3
into countless heaps1×Exodus 8:14
into the mud1×Job 30:19
the homer1×Ezekiel 45:11
the mortar1×Nahum 3:14
they were mortar1×Isaiah 41:25
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 11:3לַחֹֽמֶר׃toinstead of mortarPreposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine singularExodus 1:14בְּחֹ֙מֶר֙toand mortarPreposition-b | Noun - masculine singularExodus 8:14חֳמָרִ֣םtointo countless heapsNoun - masculine pluralExodus 8:14חֳמָרִ֑םto. . .Noun - masculine pluralLeviticus 27:16חֹ֣מֶרtofor every homerNoun - masculine singular constructNumbers 11:32חֳמָרִ֑יםtohomersNoun - masculine pluralJob 4:19חֹ֗מֶרtoof clayNoun - masculine singularJob 10:9כַחֹ֣מֶרtolike clayPreposition-k, Article | Noun - masculine singularJob 13:12חֹ֝֗מֶרtoof clayNoun - masculine singularJob 27:16וְ֝כַחֹ֗מֶרtolike clayConjunctive waw, Preposition-k, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowGenesis 11:3
Aligned rows31
Books represented11
Genesis1Exodus3Leviticus1Numbers1Job7Isaiah6Jeremiah2Ezekiel7Hosea1Nahum1Habakkuk1
Source forms
הַחֹ֙מֶר֙2xha·ḥō·merIsaiah 64:8, Ezekiel 45:11
הַחֹ֖מֶר2xha·ḥō·merEzekiel 45:11
חֹ֖מֶר2xḥō·merIsaiah 5:10, Habakkuk 3:15
כְּחֹ֥מֶר2xkə·ḥō·merIsaiah 10:6, Isaiah 29:16
בְּחֹ֙מֶר֙1xbə·ḥō·merExodus 1:14
בַחֹ֖מֶר1xḇa·ḥō·merNahum 3:14
בַּחֹ֖מֶר1xba·ḥō·merJeremiah 18:4
וְחֹ֥מֶר1xwə·ḥō·merHosea 3:2
Parsing patterns
Noun - masculine singular7xJob 4:19, Job 13:12, Isaiah 5:10, Isaiah 41:25
Article | Noun - masculine singular4xIsaiah 64:8, Ezekiel 45:11
Noun - masculine plural3xExodus 8:14, Numbers 11:32
Preposition-k | Noun - masculine singular construct3xJob 38:14, Isaiah 10:6, Isaiah 29:16
Noun - masculine singular construct2xLeviticus 27:16, Habakkuk 3:15
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular2xJeremiah 18:4, Nahum 3:14
Preposition-k, Article | Noun - masculine singular2xJob 10:9, Jeremiah 18:6
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine singular2xGenesis 11:3, Job 30:19
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not assign a human leader God's potter authority over other people.
- Avoid depicting coerced labor as beneficial merely because clay appears in the narrative.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim people are valueless material; the prophetic image concerns the Maker's authority and stated argument.
- Do not claim the potter scene removes response to evil; Jeremiah immediately explains turning and listening within its application.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Material substance shaped by force—clay, mire—carrying sense of formlessness awaiting divine molding or judgment.
Source Gloss
properly, a bubbling up, i.e. of water, a wave ; of earth, mire or clay (cement); also a heap ; hence, a chomer or dry measure
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Material substance shaped by force—clay, mire—carrying sense of formlessness awaiting divine molding or judgment.
properly, a bubbling up, i.e. of water, a wave; of earth, mire or clay (cement); also a heap; hence, a chomer or dry measure BDB: heap Usage: clay, heap, homer, mire, motion.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Mire or muddy clay as a result of plague, earth turned to mud
Human nature as clay, metaphor for God's creative power over mankind
Potter's clay shaped by the craftsman, metaphor for divine sovereignty over nations
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 31 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
חֹמֶר 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.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Jeremiah's potter scene should be read beyond the remade vessel. The Lord addresses the house of Israel and explains announcements about nations in relation to turning from evil or refusing to listen. The illustration therefore does not excuse ignoring the response language that follows. Isaiah's maker comparison similarly has a stated target: the inversion that denies the maker's knowledge.
Exodus supplies another setting altogether, describing bitter brickwork under ruthless oppression. Keeping these contexts together without collapsing them guards the teaching. God's authority in a prophetic comparison is not authority handed to a human controller, and Israel's suffering is not beautified simply because building material appears. The broader heap and measure uses also remain contextual; a clay illustration cannot be imposed on every occurrence of the word.
Anchor passage
Jer.18.4
Doctrinal connections
- Exodus 1:14 describes mortar and bricks within bitter labor imposed ruthlessly on Israel.
- Genesis 11:3 contrasts tar and mortar within the city's building and name-making project.
- Isaiah 29:16 challenges the inversion that denies the maker's knowledge and understanding.
- Isaiah 45:9 uses the potter comparison within a warning against quarreling with one's Maker.
- Jeremiah 18:4-10 explains the remade vessel through an address to Israel and response to evil.
- Ezekiel 45:11 uses the homer as a measurement standard rather than a clay illustration.
The attributed range includes clay, mortar, heap and a dry measure. Selected clay contexts can be explained without narrowing the owning word record or imposing one material gloss on the measurement setting.
From Old to New Testament
Romans 9:20-24 uses formed-object and potter imagery in Paul's own argument about God's purposes, mercy and calling. That textual comparison does not transfer God's authority to a human leader or turn Exodus's oppressive brickwork into an approved model; each argument and narrative retains its stated setting.