H2492 — חָלַם (châlam)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H2492
Original: חָלַם
Transliteration: châlam
Pronunciation: khaw-lam'
Part of Speech: Verb (primitive root)
Root: Primitive root — properly, to bind firmly (to be plump/healthy); by figurative sense of dumbness, to dream
Occurrences: 31 tokens in 25 unique verses across 9 books (OT)
First Occurrence: Gen 28:12 — "And he dreamed (חָלַם), and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A primitive root; properly, to bind firmly, i.e. (by implication) to be (causatively to make) plump; also (through the figurative sense of dumbness) to dream:— (cause to) dream(-er), be in good liking, recover.

The word carries two related but distinct senses: (1) the concrete/physiological idea of being firm, plump, or in good health; (2) the figurative idea of dreaming, evidently through the notion of the "dumbness" or stillness of sleep. The dreaming sense dominates usage (~90%); the "be healthy/recover" sense survives in a few texts (Job 39:4, Isa 38:16).

Verb Stem Distribution¶

Stem	Count	Typical Meaning
Qal	28	to dream; to be healthy/plump
Hiphil	3	to cause to dream; to restore to health (cause to be well)

Tallied from hebrew_parser.py output (vs= feature values). The Qal dominates overwhelmingly. The Hiphil occurs in Jer 29:8 (מַחְלְמִים "causers of dreams / that ye cause to be dreamed"), Isa 38:16 (תַחֲלִימֵנִי "thou shalt restore/make me well"), and Job 39:4 (יַחְלְמוּ "they grow up [in health]").

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation Family	Verses	%
"dream / dreamed / dreameth / shall dream" (finite verb, dreaming)	17	68%
"I/we have dreamed" (perfect of dreaming)	7	28%
"dreamer" (participle)	2	8%
"cause to be dreamed" (Hiphil, Jer 29:8)	1	4%
"are in good liking" (Job 39:4, health sense)	1	4%
"so wilt thou recover me" (Isa 38:16, health sense)	1	4%

(Percentages of 25 unique verses; a single verse may be counted under more than one translation phrase where the English collapses variants. Derived from search_strongs.py --lookup.)

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Joel	1	1.4
Genesis	12	0.8
Daniel	2	0.6
Deuteronomy	3	0.3
Judges	1	0.2
Isaiah	2	0.2
Jeremiah	2	0.1
Job	1	0.1
Psalms	1	0.0

Pattern: Strikingly concentrated in the Joseph narrative of Genesis (12 of 25 verses — Gen 37–42). Second concentration is Deuteronomy 13's "prophet or dreamer of dreams" warning. Daniel's use is narrative-only (chapters 2; all other Daniel "dream" occurrences come from the Aramaic cognate חֲלֶם, not H2492). Absent from wisdom literature outside a single Job occurrence, and entirely absent from the Pentateuch outside Genesis/Deuteronomy.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Revelatory / Divine Dream¶

Dreaming as a channel for divine communication — the patriarchal and royal-court pattern. - Gen 28:12 — "And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth…" (Jacob's theophanic dream) - Gen 37:5 — "And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren" - Gen 41:1, 5 — Pharaoh's paired dreams of kine and ears - Dan 2:1, 3 — "Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled"

2. Ordinary / Narrative Dream¶

Dreams recounted for narrative purposes without explicit theophanic framing. - Gen 40:5, 8 — the butler and baker "dreamed a dream both of them" - Gen 41:11 — "And we dreamed a dream in one night" - Judg 7:13 — Midianite soldier: "Behold, I dreamed a dream"

3. False / Deceptive Prophetic Dream¶

Dreams claimed as revelation by false prophets — uniformly condemned. - Deut 13:1, 3, 5 — "a prophet, or a dreamer (חֹלֵם) of dreams… shall be put to death" - Jer 23:25 — "I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed" - Jer 29:8 — "Let not your prophets and your diviners… nor hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed" (Hiphil: self-induced / fabricated dreams)

4. Eschatological / Spirit-Outpouring Dream¶

Dreaming as a sign of the Spirit poured out in the last days. - Joel 2:28 — "your old men shall dream dreams" (quoted in Acts 2:17 using G1797 ἐνυπνιάζομαι)

5. Illusion / Vanishing Dream (Simile)¶

The dream used as a figure of unreality or fleeting experience. - Ps 126:1 — "we were like them that dream" - Isa 29:8 — "as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty"

6. Health / Vigor / Recovery (Non-Dream Sense)¶

The root's concrete meaning "to be plump / firm / well." - Job 39:4 — wild asses' young "are in good liking (יַחְלְמוּ), they grow up with corn" - Isa 38:16 — Hezekiah: "make me to live (תַחֲלִימֵנִי)… so wilt thou recover me"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
אָמַר ʼâmar (say)	H559	10x (40%)	speech frame: "he dreamed… and said"
אֲשֶׁר ʼăsher (which)	H834	8x (32%)	relative — "the dream which I dreamed"
עַל ʻal (upon/concerning)	H5921	7x (28%)	positional/subject — "concerning the dream"
הִנֵּה hinnêh (behold)	H2009	6x (24%)	dream-opener formula: "and behold"
אֱלֹהִים ʼĕlôhîym (God)	H430	5x (20%)	divine source of dream
נָבִיא nâbîyʼ (prophet)	H5030	5x (20%)	prophet//dreamer pairing (esp. Deut 13; Jer 23, 29)
שָׁמַע shâmaʻ (hear)	H8085	5x (20%)	hearing the dream / refusing to hear
רוּחַ rûwach (spirit)	H7307	4x (16%)	dreamer's spirit troubled (Dan 2:1, 3; Joel 2:28)
יוֹסֵף Yôwçêph (Joseph)	H3130	4x (16%)	Joseph cycle proper name collocate
סָפַר çâphar (recount/tell)	H5608	4x (16%)	telling the dream to another
פִּתְרוֹן pithrôwn (interpretation)	H6623	3x (12%)	dream + its interpretation pair

The collocation profile encodes the classic biblical dream-scene: someone dreams (חָלַם), the dream opens with "behold" (הִנֵּה), the dreamer tells/recounts (סָפַר/אָמַר) it, and an interpretation (פִּתְרוֹן) is sought.

Word Family / Cognates¶

H2472 חֲלוֹם (chălôwm) — masculine noun, "dream" (the thing dreamed). The derived noun; the overwhelmingly standard OT word for "a dream" (65x). חָלַם (verb) + חֲלוֹם (noun) function as a cognate pair (cognate accusative "dream a dream" appears repeatedly, e.g., Gen 37:5; 41:11).
H2473 חֲלֹם (chălôm) — shortened form of H2472.
Aramaic H2493 חֵלֶם (chêlem) — Aramaic cognate noun "dream," used throughout Daniel 2, 4, 7 (the Aramaic portions). The verb H2492 does not itself occur in the Aramaic; Dan 2:1, 3 are the only Daniel uses of H2492 and are in the Hebrew frame.

Synonyms¶

A2370 חזה — Aramaic cognate of חָזָה, a Danielic seeing/vision verb in the same revelatory field as dream-language.
H2377 חָזוֹן (chazon) — "vision." Closest Hebrew noun in the same revelatory domain; overlaps where revelation comes through dream or sight.
H2384 חִזָּיוֹן (chizzayon) — "vision, night-vision." Especially close where nocturnal revelation blurs dream and vision.
H3786 כַּשָּׁף — neighboring divinatory/oneiric term returned by the tool, though illicit rather than prophetic.
H4759 מַרְאָה (mar'ah) — "vision, appearance." Overlaps where the seen content of the dream is foregrounded.
H5012 נבא — neighboring prophetic verb in the same revelatory field.
H5030 נָבִיא (nabi') — "prophet." Dreamers and prophets are repeatedly paired in Deut 13 and Jer 23.
H6049 ענן — neighboring divinatory term returned by the tool.
H7080 קסם — divination vocabulary adjacent to false dreams.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms returned by search_relationships.py for H2492.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
חֲלוֹם (chalowm)	H2472	both render as "dream / dreamer"	H2472 is the noun (the dream itself); H2492 is the verb (the act of dreaming). Usually paired.
בַּעַל (baʻal)	H1167	rendered "dreamer" in Gen 37:19 ("dreamer" = baʻal hachalomot, "master of dreams")	baʻal = "master/lord/owner"; functions as a title only in construct with חֲלוֹם.
חָזָה (chazah) / חָזוֹן (chazon)	H2372 / H2377	both can describe revelatory experience	chazah/chazon = waking visionary seeing; chalam = nocturnal dream. Often paired but distinct mechanisms.
רָאָה (raʼah) "see"	H7200	"see" in a dream context	raʼah is the general verb of seeing, often used for what one sees within a dream; chalam is the dreaming itself.

Semantic Domains¶

Code	Domain Label	Notes
002001001059	Strong	Preserves the root's concrete sense of firmness/health ("be plump, be healthy"), seen in the rare non-dream uses in Job 39:4 and Isa 38:16.
002004002015	Vision	Dominant field for the biblical data: dream as revelatory or nocturnal vision, which accounts for the overwhelming majority of uses.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occurrence	PMI	Notes
ἐνυπνιάζομαι (enypniazomai)	G1797	16x	9.58	Primary verbal equivalent — "to dream." Verb-to-verb match. Used in Acts 2:17 quote of Joel 2:28.
ἐνύπνιον (enypnion)	G1798	20x	8.12	Primary noun equivalent of the cognate accusative — "a dream."
ὁράω (horao) "see"	G3708	8x	2.72	When a dream is "seen" rather than "dreamed" in Greek idiom.
προφήτης (prophetes)	G4396	4x	3.81	Contextual from Deut 13 / Jer 23 pairing (prophet + dreamer).
πνεῦμα (pneuma)	G4151	3x	3.40	Contextual — spirit troubled by / source of dreams.

Primary bridge: ἐνυπνιάζομαι (G1797) / ἐνύπνιον (G1798). The LXX preserves the Hebrew verb/noun cognate pair.