H2491a H2491a
One who is pierced, slain, or fatally wounded; a battlefield casualty or corpse left by violence.
The noun חָלָל derives from the root חלל 'to pierce, bore through' and designates someone who has been violently pierced—typically fatally. In the vast majority of its 90 occurrences, the word refers to the battle-dead, those slain by the sword. The phrase חַלְלֵי חֶרֶב ('slain of the sword') recurs like a grim refrain through Ezekiel's oracles against the nations. A smaller set of passages preserves the earlier, more literal nuance of being wounded or pierced without necessarily implying death (Job 24:12; Prov 7:26). Arabic cognate evidence (قتيل 'killed' vs. جريح 'wounded') helps confirm the distinction. In Deut 21:1-6, the word shifts toward 'corpse'—the physical remains of the slain.
1. slain, fatally pierced — The dominant sense across roughly 74 occurrences: a person or persons killed in battle or by violence. The multilingual glosses converge strongly—Arabic قتلى 'killed ones,' Spanish 'los muertos,' French 'tué,' German 'Erschlagener.' Often used collectively in the plural (חֲלָלִים) for heaps of battlefield dead, as in Num 23:24 and throughout Ezekiel 30-32. The construct chain חַלְלֵי חֶרֶב ('slain of the sword') in Isa 22:2, Jer 14:18, and frequently in Ezekiel marks this as the standard biblical term for war casualties. 74×
AR["قَتْلى","قَتْلَى","قَتْلَى-","ٱلْقَتْلَى"]·ben["নিহত","নিহতদের","নিহতদের-দিয়ে","নিহতের","নিহতের-","নিহতেরা-"]·DE["Erschlagener"]·EN["slain","slain-by-","slain-of","slain-of-","the-slain-of"]·FR["blessé"]·heb["חללי","חללי-","חללים"]·HI["और-नालों","तलवार-से","फ़िरौन","मारे-गए","मारे-हुए","मारे-हुओं"]·ID["orang-orang-terbunuh","orang-orang-yang-terbunuh","orang-terbunuh-","yang-terbunuh","yang-terbunuh,","yang-terbunuh-oleh-"]·IT["trafitto","ucciso"]·jav["para-ingkang-tiwas","tiyang-pejah","tiyang-pejah-","tiyang-pejah-déning","tiyang-tiyang-pejah"]·KO["좽은-자들로","좽임-당한-자들이","좽임을-당한-자들-","죽임-당한-자들","죽임당한-자들이","칼에-찔린-자들을","칼에-찔린-자들의","칼에-찔린-자들의-","칼에-찔린-자들이라","칼에-찔린-자들이라-"]·PT["mortos-de","traspassados","traspassados-de","traspassados-de-"]·RU["поражённые","поражённые-","поражённым-","поражёнными","поражёнными-","поражённых","поражённых-","сражённых","убитыми"]·ES["heridos","los-heridos","los-muertos-a","los-muertos-de","muertos","muertos-a","muertos-de"]·SW["waliouawa","waliouawa-kwa","waliouawa-na","waliouawa-wa"]·TR["yaralılar","yaralıları","yaralıların","öldürülenleri","öldürülenleri-","öldürülenlerini","öldürülmüşler","öldürülmüşler-","öldürülmüşlere-","öldürülmüşleri-","öldürülmüşlerin-"]·urd["لاشوں-سے","مارے-گئوں-کے","مارے-گئوں-کے-","مارے-گئے","مارے-گئے-","مقتولوں-کے"]
Num 23:24, Deut 32:42, Josh 11:6, Judg 20:31, Judg 20:39, 1 Sam 31:1, 2 Sam 1:19, 2 Sam 1:25, 2 Sam 23:8, 2 Sam 23:18, 1 Chr 5:22, 1 Chr 10:1 (+38 more)
▼ 2 more senses below
Senses
2. wounded, pierced (injured) — About 11 occurrences foreground the wounding or piercing rather than death itself. Arabic جريح/جرحى ('wounded') and Spanish 'herido' ('injured') in these contexts distinguish this from outright killing. Proverbs 7:26 uses חָלָל metaphorically for those 'pierced' by the seductress—brought low rather than literally killed. Job 24:12 speaks of the wounded groaning, emphasizing ongoing suffering. The 1 Sam 17:52 reference to those who fell along the road may include the wounded alongside the dead. 11×
AR["الْجَرْحَى","جَرِيحٌ","جَرِيحٍ","جَرْحاكَ","جَرْحَى","صَرْعَى","قَتِيلِ","قَتْلَى","كَالْمَجْرُوحِ"]·ben["আহত","আহতদের","আহতদের-মত","তারা-বর্ণনা-করে।","নিহত","নিহতের","নিহতেরা"]·DE["Erschlagener","[חללים]","[כחלל]","dein-verwundet-Leute","erschlagen","slain-von"]·EN["Your-wounded-ones","are-the-slain","like-the-wounded","slain","slain-of","the-wounded","wounded","wounded-ones"]·FR["blessé","il-a-profané","tué","tué-de","חללים"]·heb["חלל","חללי","חלליך","חללים","כ-חלל"]·HI["घयल","घायल","घायल-की","घायल-की-तरह","घायलों","घायलों-की","मारे-गए","मारे-गए-की"]·ID["korban-korban-terbunuh","orang-orang-tewas","orang-orang-yang-tertikam","orang-terbunuh","orang-yang-Engkau-lukai","orang-yang-terluka","orang-yang-terluka,","orang-yang-terluka-mati","seperti-orang-yang-tertikam","yang-terbunuh","yang-terluka"]·IT["sono-il-slain","trafitto","ucciso","ucciso-di","wounded-ones"]·jav["ingkang-dipun-pejahi","ingkang-tatu","kados-tiyang-tatu","korban","tatu-ipun","tiyang-ingkang-Panjenengan-tatu","tiyang-tatu","tiyang-tatun","tiyang-tatunipun"]·KO["부상자-처럼","부상자들","상해-입은-자-들-을","주-의-찔린-자-들-의","죽은-자들","죽임-당한-자가","죽임-당한-자의","죽임을-당한-자가","죽임을-당한-자의","찔린-자들의"]·PT["como-traspassado","ferido","feridos","feridos-de","teus-feridos","traspassado"]·RU["как-раненые","повергла","поражённых","пронзённые","проникающий","раненого","раненые","раненый","раненых","раненых-Твоих"]·ES["atravesado","como-herido","el-herido","herido","heridos","heridos-de","los-heridos","tus-heridos"]·SW["aliyejeruhiwa","kama-waliojeruhiwa","wa-muuawa","waliojeruhiwa","waliokufa","waliouawa","ya-uliowajeruhi"]·TR["yaraladıkların","yaralı","yaralı-gibi","yaralılar","yaralıları","yaralıların","yaralının","öldürülen","öldürülenler"]·urd["تیرے-زخمیوں-کا","زخمی","زخمی-کی-طرح","زخمی-کے","زخمیوں-کی","مردے","مقتول"]
3. corpse, carcass — A small cluster (about 5 occurrences in Deut 21:1-6 and Ps 89:10) shifts the focus from the event of killing to the resulting physical remains—the corpse or carcass. Korean 시체 ('corpse') and English 'carcass' in the gloss evidence support this reading. In the Deuteronomy passage, the legal procedure concerns what to do with a found body, making the physical-object sense primary. Psalm 89:10 (Rahab crushed 'like a corpse') similarly emphasizes the inert, defeated body. 5×
AR["الْقَتِيلِ","قَتِيلٌ","كَالْقَتِيلِ"]·ben["নিহত","সেই-নিহতের","হতের-মতো"]·DE["der-erschlagen-eins","erschlagen-eins","wie-ein-carcass"]·EN["like-a-carcass","slain-one","the-slain-one"]·FR["comme-blessé","le-mis-à-mort-un","mis-à-mort-un"]·heb["ה-חלל","חלל","כ-חלל"]·HI["जैसे-हता","मारा-हुआ","मारे-हुए","मारे-हुए-के"]·ID["mayat","seperti-orang-terbunuh"]·IT["il-ucciso-uno","trafitto","ucciso-uno"]·jav["kados-bangké","tiyang-pejah"]·KO["시체","시체가","죽임-당한-자-처럼"]·PT["como-um-traspassado","morto","o-morto"]·RU["-убитого","-убитому","как-убитого","убитый"]·ES["caído","como-traspasado","el-caído"]·SW["kama-aliyeuawa","mfu"]·TR["kılınmış-gibi","ölü","ölünün","ölüye"]·urd["جیسے-مقتول","لاش","لاش-کے"]
Related Senses
H7200 1. Qal: to see, perceive (1257×)G4771 2. you (singular address) (1077×)H8085 1. Qal: hear, perceive aurally (921×)H0859a 1. you (2nd person masculine singular pronoun) (743×)H0398 1. eat (consume food) (697×)H4191 1. die (Qal: natural/general death) (645×)G3708 1. see, perceive visually (419×)G0191 1. hear, perceive sound (360×)H???? 3. (352×)H1818 1. blood (physical substance) (327×)H4421 1. war, battle, armed conflict (319×)H0341 1. enemy, adversary, foe (284×)G3708 2. behold, look (exclamatory) (256×)H7272 1. foot (body part) (236×)H8354 1. drink, consume liquid (209×)H1320 1. body, physical being (207×)H3205 1. Qal active: bear/give birth (female subject) (204×)H3205 2. Qal active: beget/father (male subject) (198×)H2421 1. Qal: live, be alive (177×)H8085 2. Qal: listen, heed, pay attention (172×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
I. חָלָל90 n.m. pierced, ח׳ abs. Dt. 21:1 + 25 times; cstr. חֲלַל Nu 19:16; pl. חֲלָלִים Nu 23:24 + 28 times; cstr. חַלְלֵי Is 22:2 + 21 times; sf. חֲלָלֶיךָ ψ 69:27, etc. + 11 times sfs.;— 1. pierced, fatally wounded ψ 69:27 Je 51:52 Ez 26:15; 30:24 La 2:12 Jb 24:12. 2. slain Nu 19:18; 31:8, 19 (P), etc.; sg. coll. 2 S 23:8, 18 = 1 Ch 11:11, 20 Ez 6:7; 30:11, etc., but usually pl. Gn 34:27 1 S…