H2254 — חָבַל (chabal)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H2254
Original: חָבַל
Transliteration: chabal
Pronunciation: khaw-bal'
Part of Speech: Verb (primitive root)
Occurrences: 23 unique verses (37 tokens) across 12 books
First Occurrence: Exo 22:26 — "If thou at all take thy neighbour's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A primitive root; to wind tightly (as a rope), i.e. to bind; specifically, by a pledge; figuratively, to pervert, destroy; also to writhe in pain (especially of parturition): — at all, band, bring forth, (deal) corrupt(-ly), destroy, offend, lay to (take a) pledge, spoil, travail, very, withhold.

Verb Stem Distribution¶

Stem	Count	Typical Meaning
Qal	13	take a pledge, bind
Piel	9	destroy, corrupt, bring forth (travail)
Pual	2	be corrupted, be destroyed (passive)
Niphal	1	be destroyed (Pro 13:13)

The Qal dominates with pledge/binding usage. The Piel carries the figurative extensions: destruction/corruption and birth-travail. The Pual appears only in Isa 10:27 and Job 17:1 as a passive of corruption/destruction.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
pledge (take/lay to pledge)	8	35%
destroy/destroyed	6	26%
corrupt/corruptly	3	13%
bring forth/travail	2	9%
spoil	1	4%
offend	1	4%
withhold	1	4%
Other	1	4%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Job	5	0.5
Isaiah	4	0.3
Proverbs	3	0.3
Song of Solomon	2	—
Deuteronomy	2	0.2
Amos	1	0.7
Micah	1	1.0
Nehemiah	1	0.2
Exodus	1	0.1
Ezekiel	1	0.1
Psalms	1	0.04
Ecclesiastes	1	0.5

Concentrated in wisdom and prophetic literature. Job and Proverbs favour the pledge sense; Isaiah and the prophets use the destroy/corrupt extension.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Taking a Pledge / Binding by Surety¶

The primary, concrete sense — seizing a garment or property as collateral for a debt. - Exo 22:26 — "If thou at all take thy neighbour's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down" - Deu 24:6 — "No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge: for he taketh a man's life to pledge" - Deu 24:17 — "nor take a widow's raiment to pledge" - Job 22:6 — "For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing" - Job 24:3 — "They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge" - Job 24:9 — "They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor" - Pro 20:16 — "Take his garment that is surety for a stranger: and take a pledge of him for a strange woman" - Pro 27:13 — "Take his garment that is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge of him for a strange woman" - Eze 18:16 — "hath not withholden the pledge" - Amo 2:8 — "they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar"

2. Destruction / Corruption¶

Figurative extension from binding/twisting to perverting or ruining. - Isa 13:5 — "the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land" - Isa 32:7 — "he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words" - Mic 2:10 — "it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction" - Pro 13:13 — "Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed" (Niphal)

3. Moral Corruption / Dealing Corruptly¶

Acting perversely or faithlessly, especially against God. - Neh 1:7 — "We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments" - Job 17:1 — "My breath is corrupt" (Pual — a passive state of corruption) - Ecc 5:6 — "why should God... destroy the work of thine hands?" (Piel of corruption/ruin) - Isa 10:27 — "the yoke shall be destroyed" (Pual — broken/corrupted)

4. Travail / Bringing Forth in Pain¶

Writhing in labour pains — the physical twisting/winding of parturition. - Psa 7:14 — "Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood" - Sng 8:5 — "there thy mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth that bare thee" - Isa 54:16 — "I have created the smith... and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work"

5. Spoiling / Offending¶

Broader harm or violation. - Sng 2:15 — "Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines" - Job 34:31 — "I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
בֶּגֶד (beged)	H899	6x (26%)	"take [a] garment to pledge" — garment as pledge collateral
יָתוֹם (yathowm)	H3490	3x (13%)	"the fatherless" — victims of oppressive pledging
כְּלִי (keliy)	H3627	3x (13%)	"instrument/vessel" — object taken or brought forth
מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat)	H4941	3x (13%)	"judgment" — legal context of pledge law
אַלְמָנָה (almanah)	H490	2x (9%)	"widow" — victim of oppressive pledging (Deu 24:17, Job 24:3)
יָלַד (yalad)	H3205	2x (9%)	"bring forth/bear" — parallel birth-travail vocabulary
מִצְוָה (mitsvah)	H4687	2x (9%)	"commandment" — Neh 1:7 and Pro 13:13 contexts

Word Family / Cognates¶

H2256 חֶבֶל (chebel) — cord, rope, region, lot, territory; also "birth pang" (noun form from same root; 61v). The noun inherits the concrete "rope/cord" sense and extends to measured territory and metaphorical pangs.
H2258 חֲבֹל (chabol) — pledge (noun; Eze 18:7, 12, 16; 33:15). The direct nominal derivative for a pledged item.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
שָׁחַת (shachath)	H7843	"destroy"	shachath = broader ruin/decay/corruption, often moral or physical decay; chabal = destruction through binding/twisting, narrower contexts
שָׁמַד (shamad)	H8045	"destroy" / "destroyed"	shamad = total annihilation, extermination; chabal = destruction as corruption or perversion, less total
אָבַד (abad)	H6	"destroy"	abad = to perish, wander away, be lost (often intransitive); chabal = active corruption by an agent
לָקַח (laqach)	H3947	"take"	laqach = general taking (126 "take" verses); chabal = specifically taking as pledge/surety
חָלַל (chalal)	H2490	—	Often confused in Isa 53:5: "wounded" there is chalal (pierce/profane), not chabal. chalal = piercing/polluting; chabal = binding/winding

Semantic Domains (SDBH)¶

Non-Possess [002003002017] — taking as pledge, removing possession
Impact [002001001024] — wounding, damaging effect
End [002003003010] — destruction, bringing to an end
Sin [002003003018] — moral corruption, dealing corruptly
Birth [002002002003] — travail, bringing forth

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
G2440 ἱμάτιον (himation)	4x	7.53	"garment" — reflects the pledge-garment collocations
G851 ἀφαιρέω (aphaireō)	3x	6.53	"to remove/take away" — renders the seizing aspect

No dominant single Greek equivalent. The LXX fragments chabal's semantic range across several words depending on context (garment, removal, destruction), reflecting the breadth of the Hebrew term. Co-occurrence counts are too low for a meaningful cross-testament trace.

Note on Isaiah 53:5¶

The KJV "he was wounded for our transgressions" in Isa 53:5 uses H2490 חָלַל (chalal, "to pierce, profane") in the Pual stem (מְחֹלָל, "pierced/wounded"), not H2254 chabal. The related noun חֲבוּרָה (chaburah, H2250, "bruise/stripe") appearing later in the same verse ("with his stripes we are healed") derives from a different root (H2266 chabar "to join/bind"). Despite phonetic similarity, chabal, chalal, and chabar are distinct roots with distinct semantic ranges.