H5545 — סָלַח (salach)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H5545
Original: סָלַח
Transliteration: salach (çâlach)
Pronunciation: saw-lakh'
Part of Speech: Verb (primitive root)
Root: Primitive root; no derived etymology given
Occurrences: 45 unique verses (49 tokens) across 13 books
First Occurrence: Exo 34:9 — "And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance."
Hapax Legomenon: No
Cognate Adjective: H5546 סַלָּח (sallach) — "ready to forgive" (Psa 86:5, Neh 9:17)

Lexicon Definition¶

A primitive root; to forgive: — forgive, pardon, spare.

Verb Stem Distribution¶

Stem	Count	Typical Meaning
Qal	33	forgive, pardon (active: God as subject, or prayer requesting forgiveness)
Niphal	13	be forgiven (passive: the offerer/sinner receives forgiveness)

Qal breakdown: Perfect 16×, Imperfect 10×, Imperative 4×, Infinitive Construct 3×, Participle 1× (Psa 103:3 "who forgiveth").

Niphal: All 13 occurrences are Perfect 3ms (nislach), exclusively in the Levitical sacrificial formulae (Lev 4–5, 6:7, 19:22, Num 15:25–28). The formulaic pattern is: "the priest shall make atonement (kaphar) for him... and it shall be forgiven (nislach) him."

Key observation: The Niphal passive occurs only in conjunction with sin offerings (chaṭṭaʾah) and trespass offerings (ʾasham) — never with burnt offerings (ʿolah), peace offerings (shelamim), or grain offerings (minchah). When Lev 5:10 mentions a burnt offering in the same verse, the forgiveness formula follows the sin offering portion, not the burnt offering.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
forgive / forgiven / forgiveth	30	66.7%
pardon / pardoned	13	28.9%
spare	1	2.2%
Other fragments	1	2.2%

The semantic range is narrow: virtually all occurrences mean "forgive" or "pardon." This is a single-sense verb.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Leviticus	10	1.16
2 Chronicles	6	0.73
Amos	1	0.68
Numbers	8	0.62
1 Kings	5	0.61
Lamentations	1	0.65
Jeremiah	6	0.44
Daniel	1	0.28
2 Kings	2	0.28
Exodus	1	0.08
Deuteronomy	1	0.10
Psalms	2	0.08
Isaiah	1	0.08

Patterns: Concentrated in Leviticus (sacrificial law) and 1 Kings / 2 Chronicles (Solomon's temple dedication prayer). Absent from the entire Pentateuchal narrative outside the law sections. Not used in wisdom literature except two Psalms. Prophetic usage clusters in Jeremiah.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Sacrificial Forgiveness Formula (Niphal passive — 13 verses)¶

The priest makes atonement (kaphar); forgiveness (nislach) follows as the result. - Lev 4:20 — "the priest shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them" - Lev 4:26 — "the priest shall make an atonement for him... and it shall be forgiven him" - Lev 5:10 — "the priest shall make an atonement for him for his sin... and it shall be forgiven him" - Num 15:25 — "the priest shall make an atonement for all the congregation... and it shall be forgiven them"

2. Intercession / Prayer for Forgiveness (Qal imperative/petition — 12 verses)¶

Moses, Solomon, Daniel, or Amos petitions God to forgive. - Exo 34:9 — "pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance" - 1 Ki 8:34 — "Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel" - Dan 9:19 — "O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do" - Amo 7:2 — "O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee"

3. Divine Promise / Declaration of Forgiveness (Qal perfect/imperfect — 10 verses)¶

God announces that he has forgiven or will forgive. - Num 14:20 — "And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word" - Jer 31:34 — "I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more" - Jer 33:8 — "I will cleanse them from all their iniquity... and I will pardon all their iniquities" - 2 Ch 7:14 — "then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land"

4. Conditional / Refused Forgiveness (Qal with negative — 5 verses)¶

God states conditions or explicitly refuses to forgive. - Deu 29:20 — "The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD... shall smoke against that man" - 2 Ki 24:4 — "for the innocent blood that he shed... which the LORD would not pardon" - Jer 5:7 — "How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me" - Lam 3:42 — "We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned"

5. General Divine Attribute / Habitual Action (Qal participle/infinitive — 3 verses)¶

Psa 103:3 — "Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases"
Isa 55:7 — "let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him... for he will abundantly pardon"
Psa 25:11 — "For thy name's sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great"

6. Husband Annulling Vows (Qal imperfect — 3 verses)¶

A unique non-sacrificial usage where YHWH forgives a woman whose husband annulled her vow. - Num 30:5 — "the LORD shall forgive her, because her father disallowed her" - Num 30:8 — "the LORD shall forgive her" - Num 30:12 — "the LORD shall forgive her"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
חַטָּאָה (chaṭṭaʾah)	H2403	16× (36%)	"forgive the sin" / sin offering context
כָּפַר (kaphar)	H3722	12× (27%)	"the priest shall make atonement... and it shall be forgiven"
כֹּהֵן (kohen)	H3548	12× (27%)	Priest performs atonement that results in forgiveness
שָׁמַע (shamaʿ)	H8085	15× (33%)	"hear from heaven and forgive" (temple prayer formula)
שָׁמַיִם (shamayim)	H8064	11× (24%)	"hear thou from heaven... and forgive"
עַם (ʿam)	H5971	13× (29%)	"forgive the sin of thy people"
עָוֺן (ʿavon)	H5771	8× (18%)	"pardon our iniquity"
חָטָא (chaṭaʾ)	H2398	9× (20%)	"sinned... forgive"
יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yisraʾel)	H3478	9× (20%)	"forgive thy people Israel"

Synonyms¶

H5375 נָשָׂא (nasaʾ) — "lift, carry, take away" — used for forgiveness in the sense of "bearing away" guilt (Exo 34:7, Psa 32:1 "whose transgression is forgiven [nasa]"); broader semantic range than salach
H3722 כָּפַר (kaphar) — "cover, make atonement" — the ritual act that produces the result expressed by salach; kaphar is the means, salach is the outcome

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
נָשָׂא (nasaʾ)	H5375	"forgive," "pardon"	nasaʾ = broad verb ("lift/carry/bear") used metaphorically for forgiveness; salach = dedicated forgiveness verb, always God-exclusive
כָּפַר (kaphar)	H3722	"forgive" (1×)	kaphar = ritual covering/atonement; salach = the forgiveness that results from atonement
ἀφίημι (aphiemi)	G863	"forgive" (12×)	Greek NT equivalent; broader range ("send away, leave, permit"); closest functional parallel to salach in NT usage

Semantic Domain¶

[002003003015] Innocent — Other words in domain include H935 boʾ, H1252/1253 bor, H1305 barar.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
ἵλεως (hileōs) G2436	18	25.04	Primary — "gracious, merciful"; propitiation sense
ἀφίημι (aphiemi) G863	14	17.86	Secondary — "send away, forgive"; broad NT forgiveness verb
ἱλάσκομαι (hilaskomai) G2433	6	15.77	"propitiate, be merciful"; cultic/propitiation contexts

The LXX translators chose ἵλεως (hileōs) as the primary rendering, emphasizing divine graciousness/mercy rather than the "sending away" (aphiemi) metaphor. The hilask- word family (G2433, G2434, G2435) appears in contexts where the Hebrew sacrificial formula is in view.