H2640 H2640
lack, want, deficiency
A noun expressing want or deficiency, appearing in contexts of severe deprivation. Deuteronomy uses it twice to describe the extreme conditions of siege warfare, when people lack everything necessary for survival. Amos employs it in the striking phrase 'cleanness of teeth,' meaning famine—the lack of food to stain one's teeth. The term emphasizes not mere scarcity but complete absence of basic necessities. It describes conditions of desperate need and total deprivation.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Complete lack or want of basic necessities. Deuteronomy 28:48, 57 portray siege conditions with 'lack of everything,' including food and basic provisions, driving people to cannibalism. Amos 4:6 uses the euphemistic 'lack of bread' (literally 'cleanness of teeth') to describe famine God sent as a wake-up call. The consistent translations (Spanish escasez/falta, French pauvreté, English lack) emphasize severe deprivation rather than mild shortage. 3×
AR["فِي-عَوَزِ-", "وَ-نُقْصانَ", "وَبِ-عَوَزِ"]·ben["অভাবে", "এবং-অভাব", "এবং-অভাবে"]·DE["in-lack-von-", "und-Mangel", "und-in-lack-von"]·EN["and-in-lack-of", "and-lack-of", "in-lack-of-"]·FR["dans-lack-de-", "et-dans-lack-de", "et-pauvreté"]·heb["ב-חוסר-", "ו-ב-חוסר", "ו-חוֹסר"]·HI["और-अभाव", "और-कमी", "कमी-में-"]·ID["dan-dalam-kekurangan", "dan-kekurangan", "karena-kekurangan-"]·IT["[וחסר]", "e-in-lack-di", "in-lack-di-"]·jav["ing-kiranging-", "lan-mawi-kirang", "roti"]·KO["(전)-부족함-에서", "그리고-부족", "그리고-부족함으로"]·PT["e-com-falta-de", "e-falta-de", "por-falta-de-"]·RU["в-недостатке-", "и-в-недостатке", "и-недостаток"]·ES["en-escasez-de", "y-en-falta-de", "y-falta-de"]·SW["kwa-ukosefu-", "na-kwa-ukosefu", "na-upungufu-wa"]·TR["eksikliğinde-", "ve-eksiklikte", "ve-eksikliğini"]·urd["اور-کمی", "اور-کمی-میں", "کمی-سے"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† חֹ֫סֶר n.[m.] want, lack (Lag BN 144)—only cstr. ח׳ לֶחֶס Am 4:6; ח׳ כֹּל Dt 28:48, 57.