To forgive
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סָלַח (sālaḥ) is a Hebrew verb for forgiving or pardoning. Its characteristic active uses are God-centered: Moses asks the Lord to forgive Israel in Exodus 34:9 and Numbers 14:19, Solomon asks God to hear and forgive in 1 Kings 8:30, and God declares, “I have forgiven” in Numbers 14:20.
Reader summary
Full entry for סָלַח (H5545) · Open the biblical lexicon
סָלַח (sālaḥ) is a Hebrew verb for forgiving or pardoning. Its characteristic active uses are God-centered: Moses asks the Lord to forgive Israel in Exodus 34:9 and Numbers 14:19, Solomon asks God to hear and forgive in 1 Kings 8:30, and God declares, “I have forgiven” in Numbers 14:20.
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).
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).
סָלַח (sālaḥ) is a Hebrew verb for forgiving or pardoning. Its characteristic active uses are God-centered: Moses asks the Lord to forgive Israel in Exodus 34:9 and Numbers 14:19, Solomon asks God to hear and forgive in 1 Kings 8:30, and God declares, “I have forgiven” in Numbers 14:20. Leviticus frequently uses a passive formula after priestly atonement: the offender or congregation will be forgiven. This distribution gives the verb strong theological weight without implying that the Hebrew Bible lacks other vocabulary for human release, reconciliation, or forgiveness.
Numbers 14 shows pardon and consequence together. God answers Moses' intercession with forgiveness in verse 20, yet the rebellious generation still does not enter the land. Forgiveness is real, but it is not presented as erasure of every temporal consequence or as permission to ignore the damage caused by unbelief. Leviticus 4:20 and 5:10 place forgiveness within confession, sacrifice, priestly ministry, and atonement rather than treating pardon as denial that wrongdoing occurred.
The prophetic trajectory joins pardon to return and covenant renewal. Isaiah 55:7 calls the wicked to forsake the way and return to the Lord, who will abundantly forgive. Jeremiah 31:34 promises that God will forgive iniquity and remember sin no more within the new covenant. Second Chronicles 7:14 speaks to God's covenant people and their land in a temple-dedication setting. These passages nourish Christian teaching about divine forgiveness, but they should not be turned into a technique for controlling God, a national prosperity formula, or a reason to bypass truth, safety, justice, and repair.
Sālaḥ is concentrated in divine pardon, prayers for forgiveness, and passive priestly formulas of being forgiven. It connects wrongdoing, intercession, atonement, repentance, and covenant mercy while leaving consequences visible in several narratives.
After God's self-declaration, Moses asks the Lord to pardon the people's iniquity and sin and take them as an inheritance.
After the prescribed sin offering and priestly atonement for the congregation, the text says they will be forgiven.
God says he has forgiven according to Moses' word, while the following judgment still excludes the rebellious generation from the land.
Solomon asks God to hear prayers toward the temple from heaven and forgive.
God's response to Solomon addresses the humbled, praying, repentant covenant people and healing of their land.
The psalmist appeals to the Lord's name and asks pardon for great guilt.
Abundant forgiveness is announced alongside forsaking wicked ways and returning to the merciful Lord.
New-covenant knowledge of the Lord is joined to forgiveness of iniquity and no further remembrance of sin.
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. Divine prerogative of releasing guilt and restoring relationship; fundamentally God's sovereign act toward covenant people
Divine prerogative of releasing guilt and restoring relationship; fundamentally God's sovereign act toward covenant people
to forgive BDB: forgive Usage: forgive, pardon, spare.
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 4 selected witnesses from 48 lexical occurrence verses.
סָלַח is a primitive root - no further derivation.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Sālaḥ gives a congregation strong assurance that pardon belongs to God's merciful action. Moses intercedes, priests make atonement according to Torah, worshipers confess, and prophets call people to return, but none of these manipulates forgiveness out of a reluctant deity. God announces pardon and invites return. Numbers 14 keeps preaching honest by showing that forgiven people can still face serious consequences.
Jeremiah 31 keeps preaching hopeful by joining forgiveness to renewed covenant knowledge of God. In pastoral care, forgiveness must not be weaponized to silence lament, prevent reporting, restore unsafe access, or eliminate accountability. Divine pardon can ground repentance and repair precisely because wrongdoing has been named rather than denied.
Num.14.20
H5545 is more focused than broad roots such as H5375. Active clauses characteristically address or present God as forgiver, while Levitical texts frequently use a passive will-be-forgiven formula after atonement.
Jeremiah's new-covenant promise is taken up in the New Testament, and the Gospels present Jesus forgiving sins in ways that provoke questions about divine authority. Christian proclamation connects forgiveness to Christ's death and resurrection, while human relationships still require wisdom about repentance, justice, trust, and safety.