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Hebrew verb · H2492

חָלַם

chalamkhaw-lam'

be healthy; to dream

29 uses in the Hebrew text, one for each word STEP Bible has tagged with this key

Concordance spelling: châlam

Word page · Part of the concordance, one page for every word of the Hebrew and Greek text. Strong's H2492is this word's number in James Strong's 1890 index of the King James Bible.

  • 9 of 39
    Old Testament books
  • 28
    spellings
  • 2
    meanings

The definition in full

Strong's key (1890) · H2492

properly, to bind firmly, i.e. (by implication) to be (causatively to make) plump; also (through the figurative sense of dumbness) to dream

The King James renders it: (cause to) dream(-er), be in good liking, recover.

James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), public domain. Strong indexed the King James text, and this site quotes his entry as that index.

Summary

chalam is rendered "be healthy; to dream". It stands 29 times in the Hebrew text, across nine books.

  • Fourteen of the uses stand in Genesis, more than in any other book.
  • The lexicon lists two meanings for it, beginning with "be healthy".
  • Its first use in canonical order opens the ledger below.Genesis 28:12And Jacob had a dream about a ladder that rested on the earth with its top reaching up to heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down the ladder.
  • The Greek text spells it twenty-eight different ways.

The first use

And Jacob had a dream about a ladder that rested on the earth with its top reaching up to heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down the ladder.

Genesis 28:12וַֽיַּחֲלֹ֗ם

The first use, in the order of the Old Testament's books.

Where the word stands

Fourteen of the word's twenty-nine uses are in Genesis.

The other 30 Old Testament books never use the word.

What the word means

The word carries two meanings: be healthy, and to dream.

Each meaning, and the words it is translated by

The English STEP Bible gives each use, word by word, and how many times.
be healthyStrong's entry ATagged aslisted under the tableWhereGenesis 28:12And Jacob had a dream about a ladder that rested on the earth with its top reaching up to…
to dreamStrong's entry BTagged aslisted under the tableWherein the ledger below

How the Greek text is glossed, word by word

  • I have dreamed7
  • and he dreamed4
  • dreamer of2
  • dreaming2
  • he dreams2
  • we dreamed2
  • a dreamer of1
  • and may you restore to health me1
  • and they dreamed1
  • and we dreamed1
  • he dreamed1
  • he had dreamed1

and 4 more, 29 uses in all

The words built on the same word-part

Each word below begins with the same letters this one begins with. A shared word-part shows a family. It does not settle what any one of them means, so each word carries its own uses on its own page. Scholars call that shared part the stem.

חָלַלchalalto boreUses143
חָלַקchalaqto divideUses65
חָלַץchalatsto rescueUses44
חָלַףchalaphto passUses28
חָלַשׁchalashto weakenUses3
חָלַטchalatto catchUses1

The words it stands beside

All 29, in canonical order

Every use, in order

Every use, grouped by book, with its verse.

28 spellings and their grammar

STEP Bible tags every word of the Hebrew and Greek text with its spelling and its grammar. Both lists below count the rows printed underneath, written out in English, with the code beside each one as it was tagged.

How it is spelled

  • חָלָֽמְתִּי׃2
  • וַֽיַּחֲלֹ֗ם1
  • וַיַּחֲלֹ֤ם1
  • וַיַּחֲלֹ֥ם1
  • וַֽיַּחֲלֹ֖ם1
  • וַיַּֽחַלְמוּ֩1
  • וַנַּֽחַלְמָ֥ה1
  • וְתַחֲלִימֵ֖נִי1
  • חוֹלֵ֥ם1
  • חָלַ֖ם1
  • חָלַ֥ם1
  • חֹלֵ֔ם1

and 16 more spellings in the ledger below.

The grammar of each form

  • verb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 1st person common singular7HVqp1cs
  • Hc/Vqw3ms4Hc/Vqw3ms
  • verb · simple (qal), participle · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)3HVqrmsc
  • verb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singular2HVqi3ms
  • verb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 1st person common plural2HVqp1cp
  • verb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singular2HVqp3ms
  • HC/Vhu2ms/Sp1bs1HC/Vhu2ms/Sp1bs
  • Hc/Vqw1cp/Sh1Hc/Vqw1cp/Sh
  • Hc/Vqw3mp1Hc/Vqw3mp
  • preposition + verb · simple (qal), participle · masculine plural1HR/Vqrmpa
  • verb · causative (hiphil), participle · masculine plural1HVhrmpa
  • verb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine plural1HVqi3mp

Genesis

fourteen uses
  • And Jacob had a dream about a ladder that rested on the earth with its top reaching up to heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down the ladder.

    Genesis 28:12

    • וַֽיַּחֲלֹ֗םvaiyachalomHc/Vqw3mstagged: and he dreamed
  • Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.

    Genesis 37:5

    • וַיַּחֲלֹ֤םvaiyachalomHc/Vqw3mstagged: and he dreamed
  • He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had:

    Genesis 37:6

    • חָלָֽמְתִּי׃chalametiverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 1st person common singulartagged: I have dreamed
  • Then Joseph had another dream and told it to his brothers. “Look,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”

    Genesis 37:9

    • וַיַּחֲלֹ֥םvaiyachalomHc/Vqw3mstagged: and he dreamed
    • חָלַ֤מְתִּֽיchalamtiverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 1st person common singulartagged: I have dreamed
  • He told his father and brothers, but his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream that you have had? Will your mother and brothers and I actually come and bow down to the ground before you?”

    Genesis 37:10

    • חָלָ֑מְתָּchalametaverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 2nd person masculine singulartagged: you have dreamed
  • both of these men—the Egyptian king’s cupbearer and baker, who were being held in the prison—had a dream on the same night, and each dream had its own meaning.

    Genesis 40:5

    • וַיַּֽחַלְמוּ֩vaiyachalmuHc/Vqw3mptagged: and they dreamed
  • “We both had dreams,” they replied, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”

    Genesis 40:8

    • חָלַ֔מְנוּchalamnuverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 1st person common pluraltagged: we dreamed
  • After two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing beside the Nile,

    Genesis 41:1

    • חֹלֵ֔םcholemverb · simple (qal), participle · masculine singulartagged: dreaming
  • but he fell back asleep and dreamed a second time: Seven heads of grain, plump and ripe, came up on one stalk.

    Genesis 41:5

    • וַֽיַּחֲלֹ֖םvaiyachalomHc/Vqw3mstagged: and he dreamed
  • One night both the chief baker and I had dreams, and each dream had its own meaning.

    Genesis 41:11

    • וַנַּֽחַלְמָ֥הvanachalmahHc/Vqw1cp/Shtagged: and we dreamed
    • חָלָֽמְנוּ׃chalamenuverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 1st person common pluraltagged: we dreamed
  • Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”

    Genesis 41:15

    • חָלַ֔מְתִּיchalamtiverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 1st person common singulartagged: I have dreamed
  • Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said, “You are spies! You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.”

    Genesis 42:9

    • חָלַ֖םchalamverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: he had dreamed

Deuteronomy

three uses
  • If a prophet or dreamer of dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you,

    Deuteronomy 13:1

    • חֹלֵ֣םcholemverb · simple (qal), participle · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: a dreamer of
  • you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. For the LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

    Deuteronomy 13:3

    • חוֹלֵ֥םcholemverb · simple (qal), participle · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: dreamer of
  • Such a prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he has advocated rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way in which the LORD your God has commanded you to walk. So you must purge the evil from among you.

    Deuteronomy 13:5

    • חֹלֵם֩cholemverb · simple (qal), participle · masculine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: dreamer of

Judges

one use
  • And as Gideon arrived, a man was telling his friend about a dream. “Behold, I had a dream,” he said, “and I saw a loaf of barley bread come tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent so hard that the tent overturned and collapsed.”

    Judges 7:13

    • חָלַ֗מְתִּיchalamtiverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 1st person common singulartagged: I have dreamed

Job

one use
  • Their young ones thrive and grow up in the open field; they leave and do not return.

    Job 39:4

    • יַחְלְמ֣וּyachlemuverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine pluraltagged: they become strong

Psalms

one use
  • When the LORD restored the captives of Zion, we were like dreamers.

    Psalms 126:1

    • כְּחֹלְמִֽים׃kecholemimpreposition + verb · simple (qal), participle · masculine pluraltagged: like dream

Isaiah

three uses
  • as when a hungry man dreams he is eating, then awakens still hungry; as when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking, then awakens faint and parched. So will it be for all the many nations who go to battle against Mount Zion.

    Isaiah 29:8

    • יַחֲלֹ֨םyachalomverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: he dreams
    • יַחֲלֹ֤םyachalomverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: he dreams
  • O Lord, by such things men live, and in all of them my spirit finds life. You have restored me to health and have let me live.

    Isaiah 38:16

    • וְתַחֲלִימֵ֖נִיvetachalimeniHC/Vhu2ms/Sp1bstagged: and may you restore to health me

Jeremiah

three uses
  • “I have heard the sayings of the prophets who prophesy lies in My name: ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’

    Jeremiah 23:25

    • חָלַ֖מְתִּיchalamtiverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 1st person common singulartagged: I have dreamed
    • חָלָֽמְתִּי׃chalametiverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 1st person common singulartagged: I have dreamed
  • For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Do not be deceived by the prophets and diviners among you, and do not listen to the dreams you elicit from them.

    Jeremiah 29:8

    • מַחְלְמִֽים׃machlemimverb · causative (hiphil), participle · masculine pluraltagged: dreaming

Daniel

two uses
  • In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams that troubled his spirit, and sleep escaped him.

    Daniel 2:1

    • חָלַ֥םchalamverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: he dreamed
  • he said to them, “I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to understand it.”

    Daniel 2:3

    • חָלָ֑מְתִּיchalametiverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 1st person common singulartagged: I have dreamed

Joel

one use
  • And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

    Joel 2:28

    • יַחֲלֹמ֔וּןyachalomunverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine plural + paragogic nuntagged: they will dream

The letters

Gematria 78· 638 mispar gadol

Where it leads

How the numbers are counted

Every count on this page comes from STEP Bible's tagged Hebrew and Greek text, the same text the ledger prints. A use is counted once each time the tagging marks a word with this key.

Spellings are counted as the Greek text spells them, with the sentence's own punctuation taken off the word first, so a form that ends a clause is not counted as a second spelling.

The words it stands beside are the nouns, verbs and adjectives immediately before or after it, counted in every verse where the word stands. The article, the conjunctions and the prepositions are left out, because they stand beside every word.

The family is read from the lexicon by the stem the two words share, with the accents off, and a person or a place named on the stem is left out.

Hebrew and Greek text, word tagging and grammar: STEP Bible (www.STEPBible.org), Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0. Their grammar codes are written out in English here and shown as tagged beside each one.

Meaning and senses: STEP Bible TBESH gloss (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary key: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890, public domain). English verse text: Berean Standard Bible (public domain, 2023).

Revised 2026-09-05. Every cited work, the sources registry →