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# חֶבֶל

Biblical Hebrew · Strong's H2256

**cord** — used 48 times in the Hebrew Bible. Below: its meanings with their sources, MACULA's glosses, and 2 verses word for word and in JPS 1917.

## Meaning

### OpenScriptures lexical index

cord [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1495/2256/#m1)

### Brown–Driver–Briggs 1906

חֶ֫בֶל: n.m. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1495/2256/#m2)

**The whole BDB entry:** n.m. Jos 2:14 f. †Zp 2:6 (but v. infr.) cord, territory, band; ח׳ abs. Jos 2:15 +; cstr. Dt 3:4 +, חֵ֫בֶל Jos 19:29; sf. חַבְלוֹ Jb 18:10; pl. חֲבָלִים 2 S 8:2 + 10 times + Ez 47:13 Jb 21:7 v. infr.; cstr. חַבְלֵי Jos 17:5 + 5 times; חֶבְלֵי ψ 116:3 + 4 times + ψ 18:5 (read משׁברי v. infr.); sf. חֲבָלָ֑יִךְ Is 33:23; חֲבָלָיו Is 33:20;— cord, rope, by which men were lowered Jos 2:15 (JE), Je 38:6, 11, 12, 13, or stones dragged 2 S 17:13; of tents Is 33:20; tackling of ship v 23; for binding Ez 27:24 Jb 40:25 Est 1:6; symbol of captivity or subjection 1 K 20:31, 32; fig. of snare for wicked Jb 18:10 (‖ מַלְכֻּדְתּוֹ), set by wicked ψ 140:6 (‖ פַּח); ψ 119:61 cords of wicked men have surrounded me; of wicked held בחבלי חַטָּאתוֹ Pr 5:22; ח׳ הַשָּׁ֑וְא Is 5:18 cords (ropes) of wickedness (‖ כַּעֲבוֹת הָעֲגָלָה); of cords of distress (עֹ֑נִי) Jb 36:8 (‖ זִקִּים); so חֶבְלֵי מָוֶת (prob.) ψ 116:3, חֶבְלֵי שׁאוֹל ψ 18:6 = 2 S 22:6 (‖ מוֹקְשֵׁי מָוֶת);—for חֶבְלֵי מות ψ 18:5 read מִשְׁבְּרֵי, v. 2 S 22:5 and ‖ נַחֲלֵי בְלִיַּעַל, De Che Bae; to draw בְּחַבְלֵי אָדָם Ho 11:4 (i.e. humanely, kindly); of cord of life חֶבֶל הַכֶּסֶף Ec 12:6. measuring-cord, line ח׳ מִדָּה Zc 2:5; so ח׳ alone 2 S 8:2(×3) Am 7:17 Mi 2:5 ψ 78:55; fig. (of favoured life) ψ 16:6; in gen. of one’s portion, fortune Jb 21:17 according to 𝔗 Thes Add. Ew Di al., but חֵבֶל. Thence measured portion, lot, part, region, ח׳ נַחֲלָה inherited portion Dt 32:9 1 Ch 16:18 = ψ 105:11; also ח׳ alone Jos 17:5, 14; 19:9 Ez 47:13 (חבלים; 𝔙 𝔗 read as dual, v. Ew Sm Da al.; Co del. on intern. grounds); of particular regions ח׳ אַרְגֹּב Dt 3:4, 13, 14 1 K 4:13; ח׳ אַכְזִיב Jos 19:29 (si vera l., v. WMMAsien 194); ח׳ הַיָּם Zp 2:5; also v 6, but היתה ח׳ here dub.; Sta proposes 2 fs. הָיִת, and del. ח׳ הים; without היס, v 7. band, company of prophets 1 S 10:5, 10.—ii. חֶבֶל v. sub ii. חָבַל.

Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 46 of its verses cited, 0 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (9 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (10 candidates)

## Glosses

MACULA's English glosses of the word in the text, with how often each is used: ropes (11); the region (6); cords (5).

## In the verses

[2 Samuel 22:6](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/2SA.22.6/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/2SA.22.6/#tree)

חֶבְלֵ֥י שְׁא֖וֹל סַבֻּ֑נִי קִדְּמֻ֖נִי מֹֽקְשֵׁי־מָֽוֶת׃

*Word for word:* the.cords of.Sheol they surrounded.me they confronted.me snares of.death

*JPS 1917:* The cords of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of Death confronted me.

[Psalms 18:6](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.18.6/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.18.6/#tree)

חֶבְלֵ֣י שְׁא֣וֹל סְבָב֑וּנִי קִ֝דְּמ֗וּנִי מ֣וֹקְשֵׁי מָֽוֶת׃

*Word for word:* the.cords of.Sheol they surrounded.me they confronted.me snares of.death

*JPS 1917:* The cords of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of Death confronted me.

## On Mova

- [This word in the Tanakh dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/2256.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of its meanings](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1495/2256/): every English meaning parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.

Sources. The words, their counts, glosses and the word-for-word renderings: MACULA Hebrew (the Westminster Leningrad Codex; Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0). Meanings: the OpenScriptures lexical index (CC BY 4.0), Brown–Driver–Briggs 1906 and Jastrow 1903 (public domain, via Sefaria); Targum Onkelos from Sefaria (public domain). Translation: JPS 1917 (public domain, from eBible.org).