H2555 H2555
Violence, brutality, or destructive aggression; also moral wrong, injustice, or malicious harm done to another person.
The Hebrew חָמָס covers a spectrum from raw physical brutality to subtler forms of injustice and moral wrong. When God sees the earth filled with חָמָס before the Flood (Gen 6:11), the word encompasses the full corruption of human conduct. Yet when Hagar wrongs Sarah (Gen 16:5), or when a malicious witness rises against someone (Deut 19:16), the physical dimension recedes and the ethical violation takes center stage. Spanish 'violencia' and German 'Gewalt' map well onto the physical sense, while the moral dimension sometimes requires different vocabulary -- a breadth the Hebrew holds in a single term.
Senses
1. violence, physical brutality — Physical violence, brutal force, or destructive aggression directed against persons, property, or the social order. This dominant sense covers 56 occurrences and is the term's primary semantic weight. Spanish 'violencia,' French 'violence,' and German 'Gewalt/Gewalttat' consistently render this concrete dimension. The antediluvian world filled with violence (Gen 6:11, 13), the bloodshed of Shechem (Judg 9:24), and the Chaldean campaigns of destruction (Hab 1:9; 2:8, 17) all exemplify raw, physical חָמָס. 56×
AR["الظُّلْمِ","العُنْفِ","ظُلمًا","ظُلْم","ظُلْمًا","ظُلْمٌ","ظُلْمٍ","عُنفَ","عُنْفًا","عُنْفٌ"]·ben["অত্যাচার","সহিংসতা","হিংসা","হিংসাকে","হিংসায়","হিংসার","হিংসার।","হিংস্রা"]·DE["Gewalt","[חמס]","mit-Gewalttat","violence"]·EN["Violence","craves-violence","violence"]·FR["[חמס]","violence"]·heb["חמס"]·HI["हिंसा","हिंसा-को","हिंसा-से","हिनस-से"]·ID["Kekerasan","kekerasan"]·IT["[חמס]","violence","violenza"]·jav["'Panganiaya","kakerasan","kasar","kekerasan","panganiaya","pangrisakan","sami-ngadili","siya-siya"]·KO["포력-을","포력-이다","폭력","폭력-과","폭력-을","폭력-의","폭력-이","폭력과","폭력으로","폭력을","폭력이","폭력이라고"]·PT["Violência","a-violência","de-violência","violência"]·RU["насилие","насилием","насилия"]·ES["Violencia","violencia","violencia-de"]·SW["ni-ukatili","udhalimu","ukatili","ya-udhalimu"]·TR["siddet","zorbalık","zorbalığı","zulüm","şiddet","şiddeti","şiddetin"]·urd["تَشَدُّد","ظلم","ظلم-سے","ظلم-کا","ظُلم","نقصان"]
2. wrong, injustice, malice — Moral wrongdoing, injustice, or malicious harm, emphasizing ethical and legal culpability rather than brute physical force. Across 4 occurrences, translations diverge: English shifts to 'wrong' or 'malicious,' while Spanish and French sometimes retain 'violencia/violence,' underreporting the semantic shift. Hagar's mistreatment of Sarah (Gen 16:5, where Sarah says 'my wrong be upon you'), a malicious witness in court (Deut 19:16), and Jeremiah's cry for justice against Babylon (Jer 51:35) all foreground the injustice rather than the physicality. 4×
AR["ظُلْم","ظُلْمٍ","ظُلْمِي"]·ben["অন্যায়","অন্যায়-আমার","আমার-সহিংসতা","সহিংসতার"]·DE["[חמסי]","malicious","mein-Unrecht","violence-von"]·EN["malicious","my-violence","my-wrong","violence-of"]·FR["malicious","mon-wrong","violence","violence-de"]·heb["חמס","חמסי","חמסי-י"]·HI["अन्याय","मेर-अन्यय","मेरा-अन्याय","हिंसा-का"]·ID["jahat","kekerasan","kekerasan-terhadapku","ketidakadilan-ku"]·IT["malicious","mio-wrong","violence-di","violenza"]·jav["kaniaya-kula","kekerasan-ku","panganiaya","sereng"]·KO["내-해를","폭력-이","폭력의","폭력이-나의"]·PT["Minha-violência","Violência-minha","de-violência","violência-de"]·RU["Насилие-моё","насилие","насилия","обида-моя"]·ES["de-violencia","mi-violencia","violencia-de"]·SW["Dhuluma-yangu","Udhalimu-wangu","ukatili","wa-udhalimu"]·TR["haksızlığım","şiddet","şiddetim"]·urd["ظالم","ظلم","ظلم-میرا","میرا-ظلم"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† חָמָס n.m. ψ 7:17 violence, wrong—abs. ח׳ Gn 6:11 + 44 times; cstr. חֲמַס Ju 9:24 + 7 times; sf. חֲמָסִי Gn 16:5; Je 51:35 (in both = wrong done to me); חֲמָסוֹ ψ 7:17; pl. חֲמָסִים 2 S 22:49 + 3 times;—violence specif. of physical violence Ju 9:24; 2 S 22:3 (not ‖ ψ 18:3), Ob10, Hb 1:9; Je 51:35 (of Chaldeans), Hb 2:8, 17(×2) Jo 4:19 ψ 72:14; but also wrong, incl. injurious language, harsh…