H2470 — חָלָה (chalah)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H2470
Original: חָלָה
Transliteration: chalah
Pronunciation: khaw-law'
Part of Speech: Verb (primitive root)
Root: Primitive root (compare H2342 chuwl, H2490 chalal); properly, to be rubbed or worn
Occurrences: 73 unique verses (93 tokens) across 25 books
First Occurrence: Gen 48:1 — "And it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A primitive root (compare H2342, H2490); properly, to be rubbed or worn; hence (figuratively) to be weak, sick, afflicted; or (causatively) to grieve, make sick; also to stroke (in flattering), entreat: — beseech, (be) diseased, (put to) grief, be grieved, (be) grievous, infirmity, intreat, lay to, put to pain, pray, make prayer, be (fall, make) sick, sore, be sorry, make suit (supplication), woman in travail, be (become) weak, be wounded.

Verb Stem Distribution¶

Stem	Count	Typical Meaning
Qal	36	be sick, be weak, be ill (stative)
Piel	18	entreat (the face of), beseech, pray to; make sick
Niphal	10	be made sick, be grievous, be incurable (wound)
Hiphil	4	cause sickness, put to grief, make sick
Hithpael	3	make oneself sick, feign sickness
Hophal	3	be wounded, be made sick (passive of Hiphil)
Pual	1	be made weak (Isa 14:10)

Stem notes: The Qal and Piel together account for 72% of all occurrences. The Piel develops a distinctive secondary meaning ("entreat, beseech") absent from other stems — literally "to stroke/smooth the face of" (cf. Exo 32:11; Zech 7:2; 8:21-22; Mal 1:9; Psa 119:58). The Hiphil causative is significant in Isa 53:10 (hecheli — "he has put [him] to grief/made [him] sick") and Mic 6:13.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
sick / was sick / fell sick / is sick / made himself sick	26	36%
besought / beseech / intreat / made supplication / pray	14	19%
weak / become weak	6	8%
grieved / grievous / grief	6	8%
wounded / sore / sore wounded	5	7%
diseased	3	4%
infirmity	1	1%
woman in travail	1	1%
sorry	1	1%
Other (pain, weariness, etc.)	10	14%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Malachi	3	5.5
Nahum	1	2.1
Zechariah	3	1.4
2 Kings	7	1.0
Micah	1	1.0
Ecclesiastes	2	0.9
1 Kings	6	0.7
Amos	1	0.7
Isaiah	8	0.6
2 Chronicles	5	0.6
Daniel	2	0.6
1 Samuel	4	0.5
Hosea	1	0.5
Judges	3	0.5
2 Samuel	3	0.4
Jeremiah	6	0.4
Proverbs	3	0.3
Nehemiah	1	0.2
Psalms	4	0.2
Ezekiel	3	0.2
Genesis	1	0.1
Exodus	1	0.1
Deuteronomy	1	0.1
Job	1	0.1
Song of Solomon	2	—

Heavy concentration in Kings/Chronicles historical narratives (royal sickness accounts) and the minor prophets (Malachi, Zechariah). Isaiah carries the highest raw count (8 occurrences) including the theologically significant Isa 53:10.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Physical Sickness / Illness (Qal, Niphal, Hophal)¶

Gen 48:1 — "Behold, thy father is sick" (Jacob's final illness)
1 Ki 14:1 — "At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick"
2 Ki 20:1 — "In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death"
2 Ki 13:14 — "Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died"

2. Weakness / Loss of Strength (Qal)¶

Judg 16:7 — "If they bind me with seven green withs... then shall I be weak, and be as another man"
Judg 16:11, 17 — Samson repeating the pattern to Delilah: "then shall I be weak"
Isa 14:10 — "Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?" (taunt against fallen king of Babylon; Pual)

3. Entreaty / Supplication (Piel — "to smooth the face of")¶

Exo 32:11 — "And Moses besought the LORD his God" (after golden calf)
Psa 119:58 — "I intreated thy favour with my whole heart"
Zech 8:21-22 — "Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD... to pray before the LORD of hosts"
Mal 1:9 — "And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us"

4. Emotional / Psychological Distress (Qal, Niphal)¶

2 Sam 13:2 — "Amnon was so vexed, that he fell sick for his sister Tamar" (lovesick)
Song 2:5 — "Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love"
Song 5:8 — "Tell him, that I am sick of love"
Amos 6:6 — "They are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph"

5. Wound / Battle Injury (Hophal, Qal)¶

1 Ki 22:34 — "A certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel... I am wounded" (Ahab)
2 Chr 35:23 — "The archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said... I am sore wounded"
Jer 30:12 — "Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous" (Niphal participle)

6. Causative: Inflicting Sickness/Grief (Hiphil)¶

Isa 53:10 — "Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief" (hecheli — Hiphil: the LORD caused his sickness/suffering)
Mic 6:13 — "Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee"
Hos 7:5 — "In the day of our king the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine"

7. Feigned Sickness (Hithpael — reflexive)¶

2 Sam 13:5 — "Lay thee down on thy bed, and make thyself sick" (Jonadab's counsel to Amnon)
2 Sam 13:6 — "So Amnon lay down, and made himself sick"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
מֶלֶךְ (melek)	H4428	18x	Royal sickness narratives: "king X was/fell sick"
פָּנִים (paniym)	H6440	16x	Piel idiom: "entreated the face of [the LORD]"
מַכָּה (makkah)	H4347	7x	"wound/blow" paired with sickness
חִזְקִיָּה (Chizqiyah)	H2396	7x	Hezekiah's illness narrative (2 Ki 20, Isa 38)
רַע (ra')	H7451	7x	"sore/grievous evil" intensifying the sickness
יוֹם (yowm)	H3117	10x	Temporal marker: "in those days was X sick"
שׁוּב (shuwb)	H7725	7x	Recovery: "returned" from sickness or battle-wound

Synonyms¶

H1245 בָּקַשׁ (baqash) — to seek, request (synonym for the Piel "entreat" sense)
H6419 פָּלַל (palal) — to pray, intercede (near-synonym for Piel supplication sense)
H3665 כָּנַע (kana') — to humble, subdue (associated with the posture of entreaty)
H605 אָנוּשׁ (anuwsh) — to be sick, incurable (synonym for the illness sense)
H3511 כְּאֵב (ke'eb) — pain, sorrow (nominal synonym for the suffering sense)

Antonyms¶

H2388 חָזַק (chazaq) — to be strong, prevail (opposite of weakness/sickness)

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
חוּל (chuwl)	H2342	"grieved," "grievous"	chuwl = writhing/travailing in pain; chalah = weakened/worn down by illness
רַע (ra')	H7451	"sore," "grievous"	ra' = evil/bad (adjective modifier); chalah = the state of being sick itself
כָּבֵד (kabed)	H3515	"grievous," "sore"	kabed = heavy/weighty as intensifier; chalah = the sickness condition
עָצַב ('atsab)	H6087	"grieved"	'atsab = emotional distress from carving/shaping; chalah = physical/emotional wearing down
H2490 חָלַל (chalal)	H2490	related root	chalal = to pierce, profane, begin; chalah = to be sick/weak — different semantic fields despite similar consonants

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI	Notes
δέω (deo) G1210	12	5.32	"to bind" — renders chalah in supplication contexts
ἐνοχλέω (enochleo) G1776	4	8.04	"to crowd in, trouble" — high PMI but low frequency
πληγή (plege) G4127	8	5.29	"stroke, wound" — renders wound/sickness sense
ἀσθενέω (astheneo) G770	4	4.61	"to be weak/sick" — closest semantic match
πόνος (ponos) G4192	5	4.66	"toil, pain, anguish"

No single dominant Greek equivalent. The LXX fragmentation reflects the word's wide semantic range — sickness, entreaty, and wounding each map to different Greek terms.