What does סָלַח (sālaḥ) mean in the Bible?
Salach is a principal OT verb for divine forgiveness. Its pastoral weight is that Scripture uses it for God's pardoning act rather than ordinary human pardon.
Hebrew · H5545
סָלַח
To forgive
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סָלַח H5545
Pronunciation sālaḥ
What does סָלַח (sālaḥ) mean in the Bible?
Salach is a principal OT verb for divine forgiveness. Its pastoral weight is that Scripture uses it for God's pardoning act rather than ordinary human pardon.
Reader summary
Full entry for סָלַח (H5545) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H5545?
The BSB source-word alignment has 46 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include and he will be forgiven (9), forgive (7), and forgive (6), will absolve (3), And may You forgive (2).
Where does סָלַח (sālaḥ) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Exodus 34:9. Its strongest book concentrations include Leviticus (10), Numbers (8), 2 Chronicles (6), Jeremiah (6).
What This Word Actually Means
Salach is a principal OT verb for divine forgiveness. Its pastoral weight is that Scripture uses it for God's pardoning act rather than ordinary human pardon. When Moses prays 'Forgive the iniquity of this people' (Num 14:19), the petition is directed to the One who can answer it. When Jeremiah promises the new covenant declaration, 'I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more' (Jer 31:34), this same divine action stands at the heart of the covenant promise.
Ultimate pardon from sin is God's prerogative; human forgiveness is real but derivative, not the divine act of canceling guilt before God. The NT claim that Jesus forgives sins (Mark 2:5-7) is therefore theologically weighty: the scribes recognize that forgiveness belongs to God's domain, and the question becomes whether Jesus is blaspheming or revealing God's own authority in person.
How the Bible Uses It
Salach appears about 48 times in the local Hebrew index and is used for divine pardon, with strong concentration in intercessory and covenant-renewal contexts. The distribution is weighted toward Pentateuchal intercession, Solomon's temple prayer, prophetic promise, and prophetic intercession. Lamentations 3:42 provides the negative: God has not forgiven.
- Num.14.19-20
Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people, in keeping with the greatness of Your loving devotion, just as You have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt.”
Moses' intercession after the wilderness rebellion is the fullest OT transaction of סָלַח. The petition is made; God answers in the same word. Divine forgiveness here is both conditional (Moses intercedes) and sovereign (God grants it on His own terms, which include the wilderness generation not entering the land).
- Jer.31.34
No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”
The new covenant promise climaxes with סָלַח. The forgiveness of the new covenant is not a novel mechanism — it is the same divine prerogative that operated in Moses' day — but now extended without the ongoing need for priestly mediation. The knowledge of God and the forgiveness of sin are the two defining marks of the new covenant.
- Jer.50.20
In those days and at that time, declares the Lord, a search will be made for Israel’s guilt, but there will be none, and for Judah’s sins, but they will not be found; for I will forgive the remnant I preserve.
The eschatological reach of סָלַח: a day when iniquity cannot be found because it has been completely forgiven. This is not moral improvement but divine pardon so thorough that nothing remains to seek.
- Amos.7.2
And when the locusts had eaten every green plant in the land, I said, “Lord God, please forgive! How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?”
Amos' intercessory cry uses סְלַח. The plea is rooted not in Jacob's merit but in his vulnerability — 'he is so small.' Divine forgiveness is asked for precisely where there is no basis to ask for it except God's own character.
- Lam.3.42
“We have sinned and rebelled; You have not forgiven.”
The only occurrence where סָלַח is negated — God has not forgiven. Lamentations does not deny that God can forgive; it names the current reality that judgment has come and pardon has not yet arrived. The word's absence is itself a theological statement.
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 and he will be forgiven 9× Leviticus 4:26, Leviticus 4:31, Leviticus 4:35, Leviticus 5:10
forgive 7× Exodus 34:9, 2 Kings 5:18, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Psalms 25:11
and forgive 6× 1 Kings 8:30, 1 Kings 8:34, 1 Kings 8:36, 2 Chronicles 6:21
will absolve 3× Numbers 30:5, Numbers 30:8, Numbers 30:12
And may You forgive 2× 1 Kings 8:39, 2 Chronicles 6:30
I will forgive 2× Jeremiah 31:34, Jeremiah 50:20
May You forgive 2× 1 Kings 8:50, 2 Chronicles 6:39
Pardon 2× Numbers 14:19, Isaiah 55:7
then I will forgive 2× Jeremiah 5:1, Jeremiah 36:3
to forgive 2× Deuteronomy 29:20, 2 Kings 24:4
and they will be forgiven 1× Leviticus 4:20
and will forgive 1× Jeremiah 33:8
forgiven 1× Lamentations 3:42
He who forgives 1× Psalms 103:3
he will be forgiven 1× Numbers 15:28
I have pardoned them 1× Numbers 14:20
should I forgive you 1× Jeremiah 5:7
so that they may be forgiven 1× Numbers 15:25
will be forgiven 1× Numbers 15:26
Show sample aligned rows
Exodus 34:9 וְסָלַחְתָּ֛ to forgive Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine singular Leviticus 4:20 וְנִסְלַ֥ח to and they will be forgiven Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular Leviticus 4:26 וְנִסְלַ֥ח to and he will be forgiven Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular Leviticus 4:31 וְנִסְלַ֥ח to and he will be forgiven Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular Leviticus 4:35 וְנִסְלַ֥ח to and he will be forgiven Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular Leviticus 5:10 וְנִסְלַ֥ח to and he will be forgiven Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular Leviticus 5:13 וְנִסְלַ֣ח to and he will be forgiven Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular Leviticus 5:16 וְנִסְלַ֥ח to and he will be forgiven Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular Leviticus 5:18 וְנִסְלַ֥ח to and he will be forgiven Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular Leviticus 6:7 וְנִסְלַ֣ח to and he will be forgiven Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Exodus 34:9
Aligned rows 46
Books represented 13
Exodus 1 Leviticus 10 Numbers 8 Deuteronomy 1 1 Kings 5 2 Kings 3 2 Chronicles 6 Psalms 2 Isaiah 1 Jeremiah 6 Lamentations 1 Daniel 1 Amos 1
Source forms
וְנִסְלַ֥ח 8x wə·nis·laḥ Leviticus 4:20, Leviticus 4:26, Leviticus 4:31, Leviticus 4:35
וְנִסְלַ֣ח 4x wə·nis·laḥ Leviticus 5:13, Leviticus 6:7, Leviticus 19:22, Numbers 15:25
וְסָ֣לַחְתָּ֔ 3x wə·sā·laḥ·tā 1 Kings 8:34, 2 Chronicles 6:25, 2 Chronicles 6:30
וְסָ֨לַחְתָּ֜ 2x wə·sā·laḥ·tā 1 Kings 8:36, 2 Chronicles 6:27
וְסָלָֽחְתָּ׃ 2x wə·sā·lā·ḥə·tā 1 Kings 8:30, 2 Chronicles 6:21
יִֽסְלַֽח־ 2x yis·laḥ- Numbers 30:8, Numbers 30:12
אֶסְלוֹחַ 1x ʾɛs·lō·aḥ Jeremiah 5:7
אֶסְלַח֙ 1x ’es·laḥ Jeremiah 31:34
Parsing patterns
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular 13x Leviticus 4:20, Leviticus 4:26, Leviticus 4:31, Leviticus 4:35
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine singular 12x Exodus 34:9, 1 Kings 8:30, 1 Kings 8:34, 1 Kings 8:36
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular 5x Numbers 30:5, Numbers 30:8, Numbers 30:12, 2 Kings 5:18
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - first person common singular 3x Jeremiah 5:7, Jeremiah 31:34, Jeremiah 50:20
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - first person common singular 2x Jeremiah 33:8, Jeremiah 36:3
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct 2x 2 Kings 24:4, Isaiah 55:7
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular 2x Numbers 14:19, Amos 7:2
Article | Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular 1x Psalms 103:3
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Because salach names God's pardoning act, forgiveness in the deepest sense is always a gift from him, not something achieved by enough repentance, ritual, or self-improvement. Receive it as divine provision.
- Jeremiah 31:34's pairing of forgiveness with 'I will remember their sin no more' means the new covenant pardon is complete and permanent — do not live as though you must continually re-earn what God has definitively granted.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that salach means God simply ignores sin or that sin has no consequences — forgiveness in the OT was always anchored in the sacrificial system (the cost was real); the new covenant grounds it in Christ's sacrifice.
- Do not use God's forgiveness texts to argue that human forgiveness of others is optional — the NT explicitly connects receiving and extending forgiveness, even though salach itself is a divine-only act.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Divine prerogative of releasing guilt and restoring relationship; fundamentally God's sovereign act toward covenant people
Strong's H5545
Lexical occurrences 48 verses Word forms 1 form 14 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Isaiah 55:6-11 Source Gloss
to forgive
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Divine prerogative of releasing guilt and restoring relationship; fundamentally God's sovereign act toward covenant people
to forgive BDB: forgive Usage: forgive, pardon, spare.
Grammatical Forms
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.
Form groups 1 Aligned forms 14
Qal basic active stem — the word in its most common, direct sense 14×
Imperfect 2Kgs 5:18 · Num 30:6 · Num 30:9 · Num 30:13 · Jer 5:7 · Jer 31:34 · Jer 50:20 8×
Sequential imperfect Amos 7:2 · Num 14:19 2×
Perfect Lam 3:42 · Num 14:20 2×
Jussive 2Kgs 5:18 1×
Infinitive construct Deut 29:19 1×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
God's abundant forgiveness offered to the wicked who seek the Lord
Divine forgiveness of iniquity in the context of covenant renewal and restoration
God's comprehensive forgiveness of all iniquities as an expression of mercy and compassion
God's forgiveness of Israel's sins in the context of restoration after judgment
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 48 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
סָלַח is a primitive root - no further derivation.
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
The most important fact about salach is who grants the pardon: God. The OT pattern does not use this verb as ordinary human-to-human forgiveness. This is the lexical background for the shock of Mark 2:5-7: when Jesus says, 'your sins are forgiven,' the scribes recognize the divine-prerogative claim. They are not wrong that forgiveness belongs to God; they are wrong about who Jesus is.
Preaching on forgiveness in the OT should keep this God-centered pardon in view: the question is not whether God is capable, but whether he will forgive. The NT answer is that he has, at the cross.
Anchor passage
Num.14.20
Doctrinal connections
- G863 ἀφίημι — the NT heir of סָלַח; same divine action now announced by Jesus
- H2398 חָטָא — the sin that סָלַח pardons
- H3722 כָּפַר — atonement is the mechanism; סָלַח is the result from God's side
- Jer 31:34 — the new covenant foregrounding of this word
- Mark 2:5-10 — the NT claim that Jesus exercises the divine prerogative of סָלַח
The God-centered distribution is the core pastoral argument in one lexical fact. Human forgiveness language in the OT often uses other verbs such as nasa, to lift or bear. Bearing an offense differs from salach, which names God's judicial act of pardon. The two are related pastorally but should not be treated as simple synonyms. Salach should not be flattened into generic human release; it is the OT word family for God's pardoning action.
From Old to New Testament
Mark 2:5-7 is the direct NT sequel: Jesus pronounces forgiveness (ἀφέωνταί, from G863 ἀφίημι, the LXX word for סָלַח), and the scribes immediately understand the claim: 'Who can forgive sins but God alone?' They have the theology right. Jer 31:34's new covenant promise of סָלַח without ongoing priestly mediation is cited in Heb 8:12 and 10:17 as fulfilled in Christ's once-for-all offering.
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