H2530 — חָמַד (chamad)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H2530
Original: חָמַד
Transliteration: chamad
Pronunciation: khaw-mad'
Part of Speech: Primitive root verb (also yields noun forms in same root family)
Root: Primitive root
Occurrences: 27 unique verses (33 tokens) in OT; 67 total root-family occurrences (verb + noun cognates)
First Occurrence: Gen 2:9 — "And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A primitive root; to delight in:—beauty, greatly beloved, covet, delectable thing, (great) delight, desire, goodly, lust, (be) pleasant (thing), precious (thing).

Verb Stem Distribution¶

Stem	Count	Typical Meaning
Qal Imperfect	6	desire, covet (prohibitive/jussive contexts)
Qal Perfect	5	desired, delighted in (completed action)
Qal Participle	3	that which is desired/desirable
Qal Wayyiqtol	1	coveted (narrative past)
Niphal Participle	4	to be desired, desirable (passive)
Piel Perfect	1	delighted greatly (intensive)

Total verb occurrences: 20. The remaining 47 root-family occurrences in the parser output are noun forms: חֶמְדָּה (chemdah, "what is desirable"), מַחְמָד (machmad, "desire/delight"), חֲמֻדוֹת (chamudoth, "desirables/precious things"), חֶמֶד (chemed, "splendour").

Notes: The Niphal participle functions as a passive adjective ("to be desired"), appearing in key passages (Gen 2:9; 3:6; Psa 19:11; Prov 21:20). The single Piel occurrence (Song 2:3) intensifies the delight. No Hiphil, Hophal, or Hithpael stems are attested.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
greatly beloved	3	11.1%
to be desired	3	11.1%
desire / desireth	4	14.8%
covet / coveted	3	11.1%
pleasant / pleasant things	3	11.1%
precious / precious things	2	7.4%
delight / great delight	2	7.4%
delectable things	1	3.7%
lust	1	3.7%
beauty	1	3.7%
Other renderings	4	14.8%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Daniel	6	1.7
Micah	1	1.0
Proverbs	4	0.4
Isaiah	3	0.2
Exodus	2	0.2
Deuteronomy	2	0.2
Genesis	2	0.1
Psalms	3	0.1
Joshua	1	0.2
Song of Solomon	1	—
2 Chronicles	1	0.1
Job	1	0.1

Notes: Highest density in Daniel (6 occurrences — all noun forms chamudoth/chemdah). Distributed across Torah, Prophets, and Writings. Present in both Decalogue versions (Exo 20:17; Deut 5:21).

Semantic Categories¶

1. Coveting / Prohibited Desire (Ethical-Legal)¶

Exo 20:17 — "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife"
Deut 5:21 — "Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour's house"
Mic 2:2 — "And they covet fields, and take them by violence"
Pro 6:25 — "Lust not after her beauty in thine heart"

2. Aesthetic Delight / Desirability (Positive Attraction)¶

Gen 2:9 — "every tree that is pleasant to the sight" (Niphal participle — inherently desirable)
Psa 19:10 — "More to be desired are they than gold" (Niphal participle — God's judgments)
Pro 21:20 — "There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise"
Song 2:3 — "I sat down under his shadow with great delight" (Piel — intensified delight)

3. Sinful Desire Leading to Action (Narrative)¶

Gen 3:6 — "a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof"
Jos 7:21 — "then I coveted them, and took them" (Achan's confession)
Job 20:20 — "he shall not save of that which he desired"
Pro 12:12 — "The wicked desireth the net of evil men"

4. Greatly Beloved / Precious Person (Daniel)¶

Dan 9:23 — "for thou art greatly beloved" (chamudoth — plural of preciousness)
Dan 10:11 — "O Daniel, a man greatly beloved"
Dan 10:19 — "O man greatly beloved, fear not"

5. Precious/Valuable Things (Material Worth)¶

Dan 11:38 — "a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things"
Dan 11:43 — "over all the precious things of Egypt"
2 Chr 20:25 — "they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels"

6. Desire for Land/Territory¶

Exo 34:24 — "neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the LORD"
Psa 68:16 — "this is the hill which God desireth to dwell in"
Isa 1:29 — "they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired"

7. Consuming Away / Loss of Beauty¶

Psa 39:11 — "thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth"
Isa 53:2 — "he hath no form nor comeliness... that we should desire him"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
זָהָב (zahab)	H2091	5x	coveting gold/silver (Deut 7:25; Jos 7:21; Dan 11:38, 43)
רָאָה (raah)	H7200	5x	seeing precedes desiring (Gen 3:6; Jos 7:21)
אִישׁ (iysh)	H376	6x	"man" — often the desiring subject or "no man shall desire"
כֶּסֶף (keseph)	H3701	4x	silver alongside gold as object of coveting
לָקַח (laqach)	H3947	4x	taking follows desiring (Gen 3:6; Jos 7:21)
אִשָּׁה (ishshah)	H802	3x	wife as object of prohibited desire (Exo 20:17; Deut 5:21)
טוֹב (towb)	H2896	3x	"good" — desirable things are good/pleasant
עֵץ (ets)	H6086	3x	tree — Eden garden context (Gen 2:9; 3:6)

Pattern: The sequence see → desire → take recurs across narratives (Eden, Achan, Decalogue prohibition). Gold/silver are the most frequent material objects.

Word Family / Cognates¶

H2531 חֶמֶד (chemed) — splendour, preciousness (noun; 6 occurrences in parser)
H2532 חֶמְדָּה (chemdah) — desirableness, preciousness (feminine noun; 16 occurrences in parser)
H4261 מַחְמָד (machmad) — desire, delight, precious thing (masculine noun; 13 occurrences in parser)
H2530 חֲמֻדוֹת (chamudoth) — desirables, precious things, greatly beloved (feminine plural participle/noun; used exclusively in Daniel for "greatly beloved" and in Ezra/Chronicles for "precious things")

Synonyms (SDBH)¶

H183 אָוָה (avah) — to wish for, crave, desire (H183-avah.md)
H977 בָּחַר (bachar) — to choose, select, prefer

Antonym (SDBH)¶

H8130 שָׂנֵא (sane) — to hate, detest

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
אָוָה (avah)	H183	"desire," "covet"	avah = appetite-driven craving/longing; chamad = attraction to perceived beauty/value
חֵפֶץ (chephets)	H2656	"desire," "delight"	chephets = willful pleasure/purpose; chamad = sensory-aesthetic attraction
תַּאֲוָה (taavah)	H8378	"desire," "lust"	taavah = appetite/craving (often physical); chamad = visual/aesthetic pull
נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh)	H5315	"desire" (rare)	nephesh = the whole person/life; occasionally used for desire as seat of longing

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI	Notes
ἐπιθυμία (epithymia)	G1939	7	7.29	Primary — noun form "longing/desire"; used in LXX Exo 20:17
ἐπιθυμέω (epithymeo)	G1937	5	7.05	Primary — verb form "to set the heart upon"; NT uses in Matt 5:28 echo Decalogue
καλός (kalos)	G2570	3	4.13	"Beautiful/good" — renders the Niphal "desirable" sense
αἰσχύνομαι (aischynomai)	G153	3	5.18	"To be ashamed" — renders the consequence of illicit desire

Notes: The ἐπιθυμέω/ἐπιθυμία word family is the dominant bridge (12 combined co-occurrences). This is theologically significant: Jesus' use of epithymeo in Matt 5:28 ("whoever looks at a woman to lust after her") directly echoes the LXX rendering of chamad in the Tenth Commandment.