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Hebrew verb · H2637

חָסֵר

chaserkhaw-sare'

to lack

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

Concordance spelling: châçêr

Word page · Part of the concordance, one page for every word of the Hebrew and Greek text. Strong's H2637is this word's number in James Strong's 1890 index of the King James Bible.

  • 12 of 39
    Old Testament books
  • 19
    spellings

The definition in full

Strong's key (1890) · H2637

to lack; by implication, to fail, want, lessen

The King James renders it: be abated, bereave, decrease, (cause to) fail, (have) lack, make lower, want.

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

chaser is rendered "to lack". It stands 23 times in the Hebrew text, across twelve books.

  • Three of the uses stand in Genesis, more than in any other book.
  • Its first use in canonical order opens the ledger below.Genesis 8:3The waters receded steadily from the earth, and after 150 days the waters had gone down.
  • The Greek text spells it nineteen different ways.

The first use

The waters receded steadily from the earth, and after 150 days the waters had gone down.

Genesis 8:3וַיַּחְסְר֣וּ

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

Where the word stands

The word stands in twelve of the 39 Old Testament books.

The other 27 Old Testament books never use the word.

What the word means

Each meaning, and the words it is translated by

How the Greek text is glossed, word by word

  • it will be lacking2
  • and decreasing1
  • and depriving1
  • and they decreased1
  • and you have made lack him1
  • he deprives1
  • he had a lack1
  • he lacks1
  • he will lack1
  • I lack1
  • is lacking1
  • it be lacking1

and 10 more, 23 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.

חָסֵרchaserlackingUses17

Other numbers on this spelling

Strong gave these words the same spelling and different numbers, so the site counts and defines them apart.

All 23, in canonical order

Every use, in order

Every use, grouped by book, with its verse.

19 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

  • יֶחְסַ֖ר3
  • חָסֵ֑ר2
  • יֶחְסָֽר׃2
  • אֶחְסָֽר׃1
  • הֶחְסִ֑יר1
  • וְחָס֔וֹר1
  • וַיַּחְסְר֣וּ1
  • וּמְחַסֵּ֤ר1
  • וַתְּחַסְּרֵ֣הוּ1
  • חָסֵ֑רוּ1
  • חָסַ֣רְנוּ1
  • חָסַ֖רְתָּ1

and 7 more spellings in the ledger below.

The grammar of each form

  • verb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singular3HVqi3ms
  • verb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person feminine singular2HVqi3fs
  • verb · simple (qal), jussive (“let him”) · 3rd person masculine singular2HVqj3ms
  • verb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singular2HVqp3ms
  • conjunction (“and”) + verb · intensive (piel), participle · masculine singular1HC/Vprmsa
  • Hc/Vpw2ms/Sp3ms1Hc/Vpw2ms/Sp3ms
  • conjunction (“and”) + verb · simple (qal), infinitive absolute1HC/Vqaa
  • Hc/Vqw3mp1Hc/Vqw3mp
  • verb · causative (hiphil), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singular1HVhi3ms
  • verb · causative (hiphil), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singular1HVhp3ms
  • verb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 1st person common singular1HVqi1cs
  • verb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 2nd person masculine singular1HVqi2ms

Genesis

three uses
  • The waters receded steadily from the earth, and after 150 days the waters had gone down.

    Genesis 8:3

    • וַיַּחְסְר֣וּvaiyachseruHc/Vqw3mptagged: and they decreased
  • And the waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.

    Genesis 8:5

    • וְחָס֔וֹרvechasorconjunction (“and”) + verb · simple (qal), infinitive absolutetagged: and decreasing
  • suppose the fifty righteous ones lack five. Will You destroy the whole city for the lack of five?” He replied, “If I find forty-five there, I will not destroy it.”

    Genesis 18:28

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

Exodus

one use
  • When they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much had no excess, and he who gathered little had no shortfall. Each one gathered as much as he needed to eat.

    Exodus 16:18

    • הֶחְסִ֑ירhechsirverb · causative (hiphil), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: he had a lack

Deuteronomy

three uses
  • Indeed, the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. The LORD your God has been with you these forty years, and you have lacked nothing.

    Deuteronomy 2:7

    • חָסַ֖רְתָּchasartaverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 2nd person masculine singulartagged: you have lacked
  • a land where you will eat food without scarcity, where you will lack nothing; a land whose rocks are iron and whose hills are ready to be mined for copper.

    Deuteronomy 8:9

    • תֶחְסַ֥רtechsarverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 2nd person masculine singulartagged: you will lack
  • Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him whatever he needs.

    Deuteronomy 15:8

    • יֶחְסַ֖רyechsarverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: it will be lacking

1 Kings

two uses
  • for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be exhausted and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain upon the face of the earth.’”

    1 Kings 17:14

    • תֶחְסָ֑רtechsarverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person feminine singulartagged: it will be lacking
  • The jar of flour was not exhausted and the jug of oil did not run dry, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through Elijah.

    1 Kings 17:16

    • חָסֵ֑רchaserverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: it was lacking

Nehemiah

one use
  • For forty years You sustained them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.

    Nehemiah 9:21

    • חָסֵ֑רוּchaseruverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person common pluraltagged: they were lacking

Psalms

three uses
  • You made him a little lower than the angels; You crowned him with glory and honor.

    Psalms 8:5

    • וַתְּחַסְּרֵ֣הוּvatechaserehuHc/Vpw2ms/Sp3mstagged: and you have made lack him
  • The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

    Psalms 23:1

    • אֶחְסָֽר׃ʾechsarverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 1st person common singulartagged: I lack
  • Young lions go lacking and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

    Psalms 34:10

    • יַחְסְר֥וּyachseruverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine pluraltagged: they lack

Proverbs

two uses
  • A righteous man eats to his heart’s content, but the stomach of the wicked is empty.

    Proverbs 13:25

    • תֶּחְסָֽר׃ פtechsarverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person feminine singulartagged: it is lacking
  • The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he lacks nothing of value.

    Proverbs 31:11

    • יֶחְסָֽר׃yechsarverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: he lacks

Ecclesiastes

three uses
  • There is a man all alone, without even a son or brother. And though there is no end to his labor, his eyes are still not content with his wealth: “For whom do I toil and bereave my soul of enjoyment?” This too is futile—a miserable task.

    Ecclesiastes 4:8

    • וּמְחַסֵּ֤רumechaserconjunction (“and”) + verb · intensive (piel), participle · masculine singulartagged: and depriving
  • Let your garments always be white, and never spare the oil for your head.

    Ecclesiastes 9:8

    • יֶחְסָֽר׃yechsarverb · simple (qal), jussive (“let him”) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: it be lacking
  • Even as the fool walks along the road, his sense is lacking, and he shows everyone that he is a fool.

    Ecclesiastes 10:3

    • חָסֵ֑רchaserverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: is lacking

Song of Solomon

one use
  • Your navel is a rounded goblet; it never lacks blended wine. Your waist is a mound of wheat encircled by the lilies.

    Song of Solomon 7:2

    • יֶחְסַ֖רyechsarverb · simple (qal), jussive (“let him”) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: it lack

Isaiah

two uses
  • For a fool speaks foolishness; his mind plots iniquity. He practices ungodliness and speaks falsely about the LORD; he leaves the hungry empty and deprives the thirsty of drink.

    Isaiah 32:6

    • יַחְסִֽיר׃yachsirverb · causative (hiphil), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: he deprives
  • The captive will soon be freed; he will not die in the dungeon, and his bread will not be lacking.

    Isaiah 51:14

    • יֶחְסַ֖רyechsarverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: he will lack

Jeremiah

one use
  • But from the time we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been perishing by sword and famine.”

    Jeremiah 44:18

    • חָסַ֣רְנוּchasarnuverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 1st person common pluraltagged: we have lacked

Ezekiel

one use
  • So they will lack food and water; they will be appalled at the sight of one another wasting away in their iniquity.

    Ezekiel 4:17

    • יַחְסְר֖וּyachseruverb · simple (qal), jussive (“let him”) · 3rd person masculine pluraltagged: they may lack

The letters

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 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 →