What does חָמַל (ḥāmal) mean in the Bible?
This Hebrew verb can describe having compassion or sparing someone or something. The surrounding action shows whether the sparing is merciful or self-serving.
Hebrew · H2550
חָמַל
To commiserate ; by implication, to spare
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חָמַלH2550
Pronunciationḥāmal
What does חָמַל (ḥāmal) mean in the Bible?
This Hebrew verb can describe having compassion or sparing someone or something. The surrounding action shows whether the sparing is merciful or self-serving.
Reader summary
Full entry for חָמַל (H2550) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H2550?
The BSB source-word alignment has 41 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include mercy (5), pity (4), spare (4), . . . (3), compassion (2).
Where does חָמַל (ḥāmal) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Exodus 2:6. Its strongest book concentrations include Ezekiel (8), Jeremiah (5), 1 Samuel (4), Job (4).
What This Word Actually Means
This Hebrew verb can describe having compassion or sparing someone or something. The surrounding action shows whether the sparing is merciful or self-serving. Pharaoh's daughter has compassion on a crying Hebrew child in Exodus 2:6. In Nathan's story in Second Samuel 12, the rich man spares his own flock by taking a poor man's beloved lamb. Sparing a possession is not the same thing as showing pity toward the vulnerable.
First Samuel 15:9 describes Saul and his troops sparing Agag and the best livestock within an account that judges Saul's disobedience. The reader must retain that particular narrative setting without making it permission for present violence. Second Chronicles 36:15 identifies compassion in God's repeated sending of messengers, and Malachi 3:17 speaks of His sparing those who fear Him. Across these passages, attention belongs on who is spared, what motivates the action, and what the text says about its outcome. The verb is not an automatic endorsement of every act called lenient.
source_lexiconPassage contextPastoral application
How the Bible Uses It
Compassion for a threatened child, self-serving protection of property, disobedient sparing, repeated divine warning, and promised divine care show why the object and purpose of sparing matter.
- Exod.2.6
When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the little boy was crying. So she had compassion on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew children.”
Pharaoh's daughter recognizes the crying child as Hebrew and has compassion on him. The scene follows Pharaoh's decree against Hebrew boys, so her response attends to a threatened child across that imposed divide.
- 2Sam.12.4
Now a traveler came to the rich man, who refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest.”
The rich man refrains from using his own animals and instead takes the poor man's lamb. The story exposes sparing oneself at another's cost, and David's response explicitly names the absence of pity.
- 1Sam.15.9
Saul and his troops spared Agag, along with the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs, and the best of everything else. They were unwilling to devote them to destruction, but they devoted to destruction all that was despised and worthless.
Saul's selective sparing of Agag and valuable livestock is followed by the Lord's verdict that Saul has not carried out His instructions. The narrative's particular judgment is not a mandate for modern readers to reproduce violence.
- 2Chr.36.15
Again and again the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to His people through His messengers because He had compassion on them and on His dwelling place.
God's repeated sending of messengers is attributed to compassion for His people and dwelling place. Their rejection and the following judgment prevent compassion from being reduced to indifference toward persistent evil.
- Mal.3.17
“They will be Mine,” says the Lord of Hosts, “on the day when I prepare My treasured possession. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.
The Lord promises to spare those who fear Him as a man spares a serving son. The image belongs to the promised distinction between those who serve God and those who do not.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itmercy5×Job 16:13, Job 27:22, Proverbs 6:34, Jeremiah 13:14
pity4×2 Samuel 12:6, Lamentations 2:2, Lamentations 2:17, Lamentations 3:43
spare4×Deuteronomy 13:8, 1 Samuel 15:3, Jeremiah 50:14, Jeremiah 51:3
. . .3×2 Samuel 12:4, Job 6:10, Isaiah 30:14
compassion2×Lamentations 2:21, Zechariah 11:5
spared2×1 Samuel 15:9, 2 Samuel 21:7
will I spare them2×Ezekiel 8:18, Ezekiel 9:10
will I spare you2×Ezekiel 7:4, Ezekiel 7:9
and He spared1×Joel 2:18
And I will spare1×Malachi 3:17
But I had concern1×Ezekiel 36:21
even spares1×Isaiah 9:19
have compassion1×Zechariah 11:6
He had compassion1×2 Chronicles 36:15
or spare anyone1×Ezekiel 9:5
out of compassion1×Ezekiel 16:5
show pity1×Jeremiah 21:7
So she had compassion1×Exodus 2:6
spare you1×Ezekiel 5:11
spares1×Malachi 3:17
sparing1×2 Chronicles 36:17
they spared1×1 Samuel 15:15
though he cannot bear1×Job 20:13
will have pity1×Jeremiah 15:5
you have had compassion1×1 Samuel 23:21
Show sample aligned rows
Exodus 2:6וַתַּחְמֹ֣לtoSo she had compassionConjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singularDeuteronomy 13:8תַחְמֹ֥לtospareVerb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular1 Samuel 15:3תַחְמֹ֖לtospareVerb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular1 Samuel 15:9וַיַּחְמֹל֩tosparedConjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular1 Samuel 15:15חָמַ֤לtothey sparedVerb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular1 Samuel 23:21חֲמַלְתֶּ֖םtoyou have had compassionVerb - Qal - Perfect - second person masculine plural2 Samuel 12:4וַיַּחְמֹ֗לto. . .Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular2 Samuel 12:6חָמָֽל׃topityVerb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular2 Samuel 21:7וַיַּחְמֹ֣לtosparedConjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular2 Chronicles 36:15חָמַ֥לtoHe had compassionVerb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowExodus 2:6
Aligned rows41
Books represented15
Exodus1Deuteronomy11 Samuel42 Samuel32 Chronicles2Job4Proverbs1Isaiah2Jeremiah5Lamentations4Ezekiel8Joel1Habakkuk1Zechariah2Malachi2
Source forms
אֶחְמ֑וֹל2x’eḥ·mō·wlEzekiel 7:4, Ezekiel 7:9
אֶחְמֹ֑ל2x’eḥ·mōlEzekiel 8:18, Ezekiel 9:10
יַחְמ֑וֹל2xyaḥ·mō·wlJob 6:10, Job 16:13
יַחְמֹ֣ל2xyaḥ·mōlJob 20:13, Malachi 3:17
יַחְמֹ֑ל2xyaḥ·mōlJob 27:22, Isaiah 30:14
אֶחְמ֧וֹל1x’eḥ·mō·wlJeremiah 13:14
אֶחְמ֥וֹל1x’eḥ·mō·wlZechariah 11:6
אֶחְמֽוֹל׃1x’eḥ·mō·wlEzekiel 5:11
Parsing patterns
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular11xJob 6:10, Job 16:13, Job 20:13, Job 27:22
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - first person common singular7xJeremiah 13:14, Ezekiel 5:11, Ezekiel 7:4, Ezekiel 7:9
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular6x1 Samuel 15:15, 2 Samuel 12:6, 2 Chronicles 36:15, 2 Chronicles 36:17
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular4x1 Samuel 15:9, 2 Samuel 12:4, 2 Samuel 21:7, Joel 2:18
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine plural3xJeremiah 50:14, Jeremiah 51:3, Ezekiel 9:5
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular2xDeuteronomy 13:8, 1 Samuel 15:3
Verb - Qal - Perfect - second person masculine singular2xLamentations 2:21, Lamentations 3:43
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - first person common singular1xMalachi 3:17
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Ask who benefits from restraint and who bears its cost before praising a decision as compassionate.
- Offer practical care for threatened people without asking them to minimize the danger in order to celebrate the help.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that sparing one's resources always expresses pity; Nathan's story exposes the opposite when the poor man's lamb is taken.
- Do not claim that this word authorizes a modern violent command; Saul's narrative belongs to its particular stated setting.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Compassion that moves one to spare or withhold deserved judgment; mercy in action rather than sentiment
Strong'sH2550
Lexical occurrences41 versesWord forms1 form33 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study linkExodus 2:1-10Source Gloss
to commiserate ; by implication, to spare
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Compassion that moves one to spare or withhold deserved judgment; mercy in action rather than sentiment
to commiserate; by implication, to spare BDB: spare Usage: have compassion, (have) pity, spare.
Grammatical Forms
How the stem changes the meaning of this verb across the biblical text.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Form groups1Aligned forms33
Qalbasic active stem — the word in its most common, direct sense33×
ImperfectHab 1:17 · Isa 30:14 · Jer 15:5 · Jer 21:7 · Job 6:10 · Job 16:13 · Job 20:13 · Job 27:22 · Mal 3:17 · Prov 6:34 · Zech 11:5 · Ezek 5:11 · Ezek 7:4 · Ezek 7:9 · Ezek 8:18 · Ezek 9:1022×
Perfect1Sam 15:15 · 2Chr 36:15 · 2Chr 36:17 · 2Sam 12:6 · Lam 2:2 · Lam 2:17 · Lam 2:21 · Lam 3:43 · 1Sam 23:219×
JussiveEzek 9:5 · Jer 50:142×
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Pharaoh's daughter has compassion on Hebrew baby Moses, sparing his life from decree
Showing 1 selected witness from 41 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
חָמַל is a primitive root - no further derivation.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Exodus 2:6 names the child's crying and Pharaoh's daughter's compassion. She recognizes him as one of the Hebrew children, so the narrative does not present her response as ignorance of the distinction enforced by her father's decree. The vulnerable child becomes the focus of care even within that threatening setting.
This scene can train attention toward the person whose need is easily obscured by social distance or inherited hostility. It should not make compassion merely an admirable feeling: the following conversation arranges care for the child. Nor should the application erase the wider danger or suggest that one compassionate act makes an oppressive situation harmless. The passage shows a concrete response within danger. A teacher can invite listeners to notice whose vulnerability they have learned to overlook and what appropriate care would require, without inventing a promise that every such act removes every threat.
Anchor passage
Exod.2.6
Doctrinal connections
- Exodus 1:22 and 2:5-8 place compassion for the child within the threat created by Pharaoh's decree.
- Second Samuel 12:2-6 exposes sparing one's own property at a poor neighbor's expense as a lack of pity.
- First Samuel 15:9-11 judges Saul's selective sparing within his particular commission, keeping obedience and the stated context together.
- Second Chronicles 36:15-17 shows repeated compassionate warning followed by the consequences of rejected words and messengers.
- Malachi 3:16-18 grounds promised sparing in the Lord's recognition of those who fear Him and honor His name.
- Luke 10:33-35 joins the Samaritan's compassion to approaching, bandaging, transporting, and arranging care for an injured person.
Compassion and sparing overlap in these uses, but sparing can concern possessions as well as people. Neither withholding an action nor preserving something is automatically merciful. The actor, object, and surrounding evaluation distinguish pity from self-serving restraint.
From Old to New Testament
Luke 10:33-35 describes the Samaritan's compassion becoming practical care for the injured traveler. It provides a thematic comparison with Pharaoh's daughter's response to the child. The Greek wording and narrative situation differ, and neither story promises that every danger disappears as soon as care begins.
Book contextPastoral application