A2493 — חֵלֶם (chêlem)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H2493
Original: חֵלֶם
Transliteration: chêlem
Pronunciation: khay'-lem
Part of Speech: Masculine noun (Aramaic)
Root: From a root corresponding to H2492 (חָלַם, chalam — to dream)
Occurrences: 22 tokens / 18 unique verses (all in Aramaic Daniel)
First Occurrence: Dan 2:4 — "tell thy servants the dream (chêlem)"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

(Aramaic) From a root corresponding to H2492; a dream: — dream. The Aramaic cognate of the Hebrew noun חֲלוֹם (chalom, H2472), both derived from the root חלם "to dream." Confined in biblical Aramaic to Daniel, where it denotes a dream experienced as a medium of divine revelation to Gentile kings (Nebuchadnezzar in Dan 2, 4) and to Daniel himself (Dan 7:1). The word carries revelatory weight: in every occurrence the dream originates from or is decoded by God, and its interpretation (פְּשַׁר, pᵉshar) is the decisive issue.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
the dream	12	66.7%
a dream	2	11.1%
Thy dream / dream / of my dream / of the dream	4	22.2%
of dreams	1	5.6%
(conjunction "and" — conjunction attached to the noun)	2	11.1%

KJV renders chêlem uniformly as "dream" in every substantive occurrence. Variation is only in article and possessive.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Daniel	18	5.0

All 18 occurrences fall exclusively in the Aramaic section of Daniel (Dan 2–7), concentrated in three literary units: (1) Nebuchadnezzar's statue dream (Dan 2, 9x), (2) Nebuchadnezzar's tree dream (Dan 4, 6x — with Dan 5:12 summarizing Daniel's gift of interpreting chêlem), and (3) Daniel's own vision-dream of the four beasts (Dan 7:1, 2x in that verse). This is one of the most book-restricted nouns in the OT: every use is in Daniel, and every use is Aramaic.

Semantic Categories¶

1. The Dream as Withheld Test (Nebuchadnezzar Demands Recall + Interpretation)¶

Dan 2:5 — "make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces"
Dan 2:6 — "if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts"
Dan 2:9 — "if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you"

The king's demand that the Chaldeans recount the chêlem itself, not merely interpret it, frames chêlem as a divinely withheld content that only a revealing God can supply.

2. The Dream Revealed by the God of Heaven¶

Dan 2:26 — "Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?"
Dan 2:28 — "there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets... thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed"
Dan 2:36 — "This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king"
Dan 2:45 — "the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass... and the dream is certain"

Here chêlem is tied explicitly to divine disclosure — the dream is "certain" (yatstsiyb) and its interpretation "sure" because its source is God.

3. The Dream as Source of Dread¶

Dan 4:5 — "I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me"
Dan 4:18 — "This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation"
Dan 4:19 — "My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies"

The chêlem provokes fear in the dreamer even before its meaning is understood — the numinous quality precedes interpretation.

4. The Dream Told to Expert Interpreters¶

Dan 4:6 — "I made a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream"
Dan 4:7 — "I told the dream before them; but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof"
Dan 4:8 — "at the last Daniel came in before me... and before him I told the dream"
Dan 4:9 — "tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof"

chêlem becomes the verbal content told (ʼămar) to interpreters — the professional class fails while the Spirit-endowed Daniel succeeds.

5. The Dream as Daniel's Prophetic Gift¶

Dan 5:12 — "an excellent spirit... interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences... were found in the same Daniel"

The plural pointer (chelmîn) — Daniel's gift is generalized to dream-interpretation as a category.

6. The Dream as Received Prophetic Vision (Daniel Himself)¶

Dan 7:1 — "Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters"

Notably Daniel, the interpreter of others' chalmîn in Dan 2 and 4, now receives his own. The chêlem is paired with chezvê rêʼsh ("visions of the head") and is written down — chêlem and prophetic apocalyptic converge.

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
דִּי (dîy)	H1768	10x (56%)	relative/genitive particle — "the dream which..."
יְדַע (yᵉdaʻ)	H3046	9x (50%)	"make known" the dream / "know" its content
חֲזָא (chăzâʼ)	H2370	6x (33%)	"saw" a dream — the verb pairing "dreamed a dream / saw in dream"
בֵּלְטְשַׁאצַּר (Bêlṭᵉshaʼtstsar)	H1096	6x (33%)	Daniel addressed as Belteshazzar when asked to interpret
לָא (lâʼ)	H3809	6x (33%)	negation — "will not make known the dream," "could not" interpret
אֱלָהּ (ʼĕlâhh)	H426	5x (28%)	God as the revealer of the dream
דָּנִיֵּאל (Dânîyêʼl)	H1841	5x (28%)	Daniel as the interpreter
חֲוָא (chăvâʼ)	H2324	5x (28%)	"shew/declare" the dream and its interpretation
חֵזֵו (chêzêv)	H2376	4x (22%)	paired: "dream and visions of the head"
רוּחַ (rûwach)	H7308	4x (22%)	"spirit" — Daniel's spirit enabling interpretation; Neb's spirit troubled
מִלָּה (millâh)	H4406	3x (17%)	"word/matter" — the content of the dream
מִשְׁכַּב (mishkab)	H4903	3x (17%)	"bed" — "thoughts upon my bed" in the dream setting

Typical pattern: chêlem is most often paired with (1) a verb of cognition/disclosure (yᵉdaʻ "make known," chăvâʼ "declare," chăzâʼ "see"), (2) an agent of revelation (ʼĕlâhh "God" → Dânîyêʼl "Daniel"), and (3) the paralleling experience chêzêv "vision of the head" / mishkab "bed." The recurring formula is "the chêlem which (dîy) X saw (chăzâʼ)" + "make it known (yᵉdaʻ)."

Word Family / Cognates¶

H2492 חָלַם (châlam) — Hebrew root verb: to dream; to become healthy/strong. The Aramaic chêlem (A2493) and Hebrew chălôm (H2472) both derive from this root.
H2472 חֲלוֹם (chălôwm) — Hebrew noun: a dream (65x in OT). Direct Hebrew cognate of chêlem; used for Joseph, Pharaoh, Gideon, Solomon, and all other Hebrew dream narratives.

Synonyms¶

No synonyms returned by search_relationships.py for H2493.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms returned by search_relationships.py for H2493.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
חֲלוֹם (chălôwm)	H2472	"dream" (65x)	Hebrew cognate; used throughout Hebrew OT (Genesis, Judges, 1 Kings, Job, Jeremiah, Joel); chêlem is confined to Aramaic Daniel
ὄναρ (ónar)	G3677	"dream" (6x, all in Matthew)	Greek NT word; used only of the Magi and Joseph's dream warnings in Matthew's infancy/passion narratives
חֵזֵו (chêzêv)	H2376	"vision" (paired with dream)	Aramaic "vision" — chêlem is the dream event; chêzêv is the seen content within it; often juxtaposed ("dream and visions of the head")
חִזָּיוֹן (chizzâyôn)	H2384	Hebrew "vision, night-vision"	Hebrew counterpart to chêzêv; covers the dream-vision experience in Job 4:13, 33:15

Key distinction: chêlem and chălôwm are the same word in two dialects. The OT systematically uses chălôwm in Hebrew narrative and chêlem in Aramaic (Daniel's court narrative). Within Daniel, chêlem is the dream-event, while chêzêv is the specific visionary content perceived during it; the two are juxtaposed in Dan 2:28, 4:5, 4:9–10, and 7:1.

Semantic Domains¶

No semantic domains were returned by search_relationships.py for H2493.

LXX Mapping (Hebrew/Aramaic → Greek)¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occ	PMI	Notes
ἐνύπνιον (enýpnion) G1798	18	8.45	Primary rendering — "something seen in sleep, a dream." Standard LXX/Theodotion equivalent for chêlem in Daniel.
γνωρίζω (gnōrízō) G1107	6	6.98	"Make known" — renders the verb yᵉdaʻ paired with chêlem ("make known the dream")
ὅρασις (hórasis) G3706	4	5.87	"Vision" — renders paired chêzêv "vision of the head" alongside chêlem
ἀναγγέλλω (anangéllō) G312	5	4.91	"Announce in detail" — renders chăvâʼ "declare the dream"
κοίτη (koítē) G2845	3	5.98	"Bed/couch" — renders mishkab in dream-setting formulas

The dominant bridge is chêlem → ἐνύπνιον (enýpnion). Greek enýpnion is the precise counterpart — "that which appears during sleep" — distinct from ὄναρ (onar, used in Matthew's NT dream narratives) and from ὅραμα (horama, a waking vision).