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# חֵמָר

Biblical Hebrew · Strong's H2564

**bitumen** — used 3 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

bitumen [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1495/2564/#m1)

### Brown–Driver–Briggs 1906

חֵמָר: bitumen, asphalt [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1495/2564/#m2)

**The whole BDB entry:** n.\[m.\] bitumen, asphalt (from I. חמר according to OBlauZMG 1869, 279, bitumen as seething, swelling up; Thes MV, from IV. חמר, with ref. to reddish-brown colour)—חֵמָר Gn 11:3 + 2 times; used for cement in building Babel Gn 11:3 (J); abounding in vale of Siddim בֶּאֱרֹת בֶּאֱרֹת ח׳ Gn 14:10; used in coating Moses’ ‘ark’ of bulrushes Ex 2:3 (E; ‖ זָ֑פֶת).

Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 3 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (14 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (12 candidates)

## Glosses

MACULA's English glosses of the word in the text, with how often each is used: bitumen (2); of bitumen (1).

## In the verses

[Genesis 14:10](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/GEN.14.10/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/GEN.14.10/#tree)

וְעֵ֣מֶק הַשִׂדִּ֗יםבֶּֽאֱרֹ֤ת בֶּאֱרֹת֙ חֵמָ֔ר וַיָּנֻ֛סוּ מֶֽלֶךְ־סְדֹ֥ם וַעֲמֹרָ֖ה וַיִּפְּלוּ־שָׁ֑מָּה וְהַנִּשְׁאָרִ֖ים הֶ֥רָה נָּֽסוּ׃

*Word for word:* and the.valley of.(the) Siddim \[was\].pits pits of.bitumen and they.fled the.king of.Sodom and Gomorrah and they.fell to (to) and \[those who\].survived the.hill.country to they.fled

*JPS 1917:* Now the vale of Siddim was full of slime pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell there, and they that remained fled to the mountain.

[Genesis 11:3](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/GEN.11.3/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/GEN.11.3/#tree)

וַיֹּאמְר֞וּ אִ֣ישׁ אֶל־רֵעֵ֗הוּ הָ֚בָה נִלְבְּנָ֣ה לְבֵנִ֔ים וְנִשְׂרְפָ֖ה לִשְׂרֵפָ֑ה וַתְּהִ֨י לָהֶ֤ם הַלְּבֵנָה֙ לְאָ֔בֶן וְהַ֣חֵמָ֔ר הָיָ֥ה לָהֶ֖ם לַחֹֽמֶר׃

*Word for word:* and they.said each to neighbor his give let.us.make.bricks bricks and let.us.burn.\[them\] to burning and it.became for them (the) brick to stone and (the) bitumen it.became for them to (the) mortar

*JPS 1917:* And they said one to another: 'Come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly.' And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.

## On Mova

- [This word in the Tanakh dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/2564.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of its meanings](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1495/2564/): 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).