What does חָמָס (chamas) mean in the Bible?
חָמָס names violence, wrong, or injurious conduct. Its uses include physical harm, oppressive or unjust action, and wrongdoing that damages persons or communities.
Hebrew · H2555
חָמָס
Violence ; by implication, wrong ; by metonymy unjust gain
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חָמָס H2555
Pronunciation chamas
What does חָמָס (chamas) mean in the Bible?
חָמָס names violence, wrong, or injurious conduct. Its uses include physical harm, oppressive or unjust action, and wrongdoing that damages persons or communities.
Reader summary
Full entry for חָמָס (H2555) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H2555?
The BSB source-word alignment has 60 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include violence (16), of violence (14), because of the violence (3), with violence (3), a violent (2).
Where does חָמָס (chamas) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 6:11. Its strongest book concentrations include Psalms (14), Proverbs (7), Ezekiel (6), Habakkuk (6).
What This Word Actually Means
חָמָס names violence, wrong, or injurious conduct. Its uses include physical harm, oppressive or unjust action, and wrongdoing that damages persons or communities. The local Hebrew index currently counts about 60 occurrences. The word’s range is broader than physical force, but interpreters should identify the kind of harm from the passage rather than treating every associated sin as a direct lexical sense.
Genesis 6:11-13 repeats חָמָס in its diagnosis of an earth that was corrupt and filled with violence. The flood narrative presents this violence as a central feature of pervasive human corruption and as part of the stated ground for judgment. Habakkuk 1:2-4 turns the noun into the prophet’s cry as he sees violence, wrongdoing, strife, and failed justice. The Lord’s answer does not promise immediate relief; the book calls the righteous to faithful endurance while divine judgment approaches.
Psalm 11:5 states that the Lord hates the wicked person who loves violence. Micah 6:12 places violence among the rich alongside lies and deceit, while Obadiah 10 names the violence done to Jacob as the ground of Edom’s shame. These texts show physical, social, and covenantal harm without making every dishonest transaction a lexical synonym for חָמָס.
Malachi 2:16 contains חָמָס in a difficult Hebrew construction concerning a garment covered with violence and marital treachery. Because translations differ over the verse’s subject and wording, it should support a cautious account of harm within covenant betrayal, not an unqualified quotation such as “I hate divorce.”
For teaching, חָמָס helps the church name violence and injurious wrong honestly, lament before God, protect those harmed, and await his just judgment. Application to modern systems or disputes requires further moral reasoning and must not be reduced to a lexical shortcut.
Lexical sourcelocal_artifactPassage contextBook contextCanonical paralleltextual_variantPastoral application
How the Bible Uses It
The current local Hebrew index represents about 60 H2555 occurrences. Genesis 6:11-13 uses it in the diagnosis of the corrupt earth before the flood, and Habakkuk 1:2-4 makes it the prophet’s cry amid failed justice. Psalm 11:5 condemns the lover of violence, Micah 6:12 places violence alongside lies among the rich, and Obadiah 10 names violence against Jacob. Together these passages show injurious wrong in personal, social, and national settings.
- Gen.6.11
Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and full of violence.
Chamas as the ground of the flood: 'ha-aretz nishchatah lifnei ha-Elohim va-timale ha-aretz chamas (the earth was corrupt before God and the earth was filled with chamas).' The double statement (v. 11 and v. 13: 'the earth is filled with chamas through them') frames chamas not as one sin among many but as the diagnostic condition of the whole earth before the flood.
The connection of chamas to 'corrupt' (shachat — to destroy, corrupt, mar) anticipates the flood: what destroys (shachat) the earth's moral fabric is what will be destroyed (shachat) by the waters. The same root is used for both moral corruption and the flood-destruction.
- Hab.1.2
How long, O Lord, must I call for help but You do not hear, or cry out to You, “Violence!” but You do not save?
The prophetic complaint about unanswered chamas: 'ez'aq eleikha chamas ve-lo toshia (I cry to you chamas/violence and you do not save).' Habakkuk 1:2-4 is the most theologically sophisticated complaint about the apparent passivity of YHWH in the face of violence. Chamas is the content of the prophet's cry — not merely 'help me' but 'violence!' as the cry to the judge who sees injustice.
YHWH's response (v. 5-11) announces the Babylonian judgment — which then raises the second complaint (v. 12-17): how can YHWH use an even more violent nation to judge Israel's violence? The final answer (2:2-4: 'write the vision... the righteous shall live by his faith/faithfulness') grounds the response to unanswered chamas in the certainty of YHWH's coming justice and the call to faithful waiting.
- Ps.11.5
The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked; His soul hates the lover of violence.
YHWH's soul hates the chamas-lover: 'YHWH tsaddiq yivchon, ve-rasha ve-ohev chamas sane nafesh (YHWH tests the righteous, but the wicked and one who loves chamas his soul hates).' The oholev chamas (one who loves violence) is the object of YHWH's nafesh-hatred — the most intense form of divine disapproval. The context (Ps 11:4-6) is YHWH's righteous judgeship: 'his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of men' (v.
4). The chamas-lover is not hidden from YHWH's testing gaze; the violence done in secret is seen and hated.
- Mic.6.12
For the wealthy of the city are full of violence, and its residents speak lies; their tongues are deceitful in their mouths.
Micah 6:12 says the city’s rich are full of חָמָס and that its inhabitants speak lies. The surrounding indictment also mentions wicked scales and deceptive weights. These wrongs belong to the same covenant lawsuit, but the verse does not make every dishonest scale a lexical definition of חָמָס. The context supports a social and economic setting for the violence while preserving the terms used for each charge.
- Obad.1.10
Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame and cut off forever.
Chamas done to a covenant-brother: Obadiah names the violence done to Jacob as the ground for Edom's shame and judgment. Obadiah's oracle against Edom is the prophetic application of the principle that chamas done to a covenant-community (Jacob) brings judgment on the perpetrator. The Edom-Jacob enmity (Jacob and Esau as brothers) makes the chamas of Edom's gloating over Jerusalem's fall a fratricidal covenant-violation.
The punishment is precisely calibrated: as you did, it shall be done to you (Obad 15: 'as you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head').
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It violence 16× Genesis 6:13, Job 16:17, Job 19:7, Psalms 27:12
of violence 14× Genesis 6:11, Genesis 49:5, 1 Chronicles 12:17, Psalms 11:5
because of the violence 3× Ezekiel 12:19, Joel 3:19, Obadiah 1:10
with violence 3× Ezekiel 8:17, Ezekiel 28:16, Zephaniah 1:9
a violent 2× Proverbs 3:31, Proverbs 16:29
and violence 2× Psalms 72:14, Habakkuk 1:3
and your violence 2× Habakkuk 2:8, Habakkuk 2:17
from violent 2× 2 Samuel 22:49, Psalms 18:48
your violence 2× Ezekiel 45:9, Habakkuk 2:17
{will} violence 1× Isaiah 60:18
a false 1× Deuteronomy 19:16
a malicious 1× Exodus 23:1
and from the violence 1× Jonah 3:8
and his violence 1× Psalms 7:16
from violence 1× 2 Samuel 22:3
Hostile 1× Psalms 35:11
in order that the crime 1× Judges 9:24
is violence 1× Proverbs 13:2
May the violence done to me 1× Jeremiah 51:35
May the wrong done to me 1× Genesis 16:5
on violence 1× Habakkuk 1:9
Their violence 1× Ezekiel 7:11
with vicious 1× Psalms 25:19
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 6:11 חָמָֽס׃ to of violence Noun - masculine singular Genesis 6:13 חָמָ֖ס to violence Noun - masculine singular Genesis 16:5 חֲמָסִ֣י to May the wrong done to me Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular Genesis 49:5 חָמָ֖ס to of violence Noun - masculine singular Exodus 23:1 חָמָֽס׃ס to a malicious Noun - masculine singular Deuteronomy 19:16 חָמָ֖ס to a false Noun - masculine singular Judges 9:24 חֲמַ֖ס to in order that the crime Noun - masculine singular construct 2 Samuel 22:3 מֵחָמָ֖ס to from violence Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular 2 Samuel 22:49 חֲמָסִ֖ים to from violent Noun - masculine plural 1 Chronicles 12:17 חָמָס֙ to of violence Noun - masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Genesis 6:11
Aligned rows 60
Books represented 20
Genesis 4 Exodus 1 Deuteronomy 1 Judges 1 2 Samuel 2 1 Chronicles 1 Job 2 Psalms 14 Proverbs 7 Isaiah 3 Jeremiah 4 Ezekiel 6 Joel 1 Amos 2 Obadiah 1 Jonah 1 Micah 1 Habakkuk 6 Zephaniah 1 Malachi 1
Source forms
חָמָֽס׃ 8x ḥā·mās Genesis 6:11, Psalms 27:12, Psalms 74:20, Proverbs 10:6
חָמָ֖ס 7x ḥā·mās Genesis 6:13, Genesis 49:5, Deuteronomy 19:16, Psalms 55:9
חָמָ֣ס 5x ḥā·mās Job 16:17, Psalms 25:19, Proverbs 26:6, Isaiah 53:9
חָמָ֥ס 5x ḥā·mās Psalms 73:6, Psalms 140:11, Jeremiah 20:8, Amos 3:10
חָמָס֙ 3x ḥā·mās 1 Chronicles 12:17, Isaiah 60:18, Malachi 2:16
חָמָ֑ס 3x ḥā·mās Psalms 11:5, Psalms 35:11, Proverbs 3:31
חֲמָסִ֣ים 3x ḥă·mā·sîm Psalms 140:1, Psalms 140:4, Proverbs 4:17
וַחֲמַס־ 2x wa·ḥă·mas- Habakkuk 2:8, Habakkuk 2:17
Parsing patterns
Noun - masculine singular 38x Genesis 6:11, Genesis 6:13, Genesis 49:5, Exodus 23:1
Noun - masculine plural 4x 2 Samuel 22:49, Psalms 140:1, Psalms 140:4, Proverbs 4:17
Noun - masculine singular construct 3x Judges 9:24, Psalms 58:2, Habakkuk 2:17
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular construct 3x Ezekiel 12:19, Joel 3:19, Obadiah 1:10
Article | Noun - masculine singular 2x Ezekiel 7:11, Jonah 3:8
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular 2x Jeremiah 51:46, Habakkuk 1:3
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct 2x Habakkuk 2:8, Habakkuk 2:17
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular 2x Genesis 16:5, Jeremiah 51:35
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- When the prophets name violence (chamas) as a covenant violation, they include systemic oppression and economic exploitation, not only physical harm. Biblical concern for justice requires attention to these broader expressions of chamas.
- Habakkuk's lament over violence shows that honest prayer about injustice is legitimate — you do not have to pretend social evil is not real in order to be faithful.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that chamas only refers to physical violence — the prophetic and legal uses show it encompasses the full range of wrongdoing that destroys the social fabric.
- Do not use chamas texts to sanction any particular political platform without engaging the biblical specificity of what the prophets condemn and what they envision as just community life.
Evidence Summary
Revelation
Hebrew word. Violence rooted in injustice and exploitation; the wrong that produces unjust gain through force and oppression.
Source Gloss
violence ; by implication, wrong ; by metonymy unjust gain
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Violence rooted in injustice and exploitation; the wrong that produces unjust gain through force and oppression.
violence; by implication, wrong; by metonymy unjust gain BDB: violence Usage: cruel(-ty), damage, false, injustice, × oppressor, unrighteous, violence (against, done), violent (dealing), wrong.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Old Testament Witnesses
violence, wrongdoing, or destructive injustice
violence, wrongdoing, or destructive injustice
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 60 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
חָמָס is built from this root:
חָמַס H2554
Why This Word Matters
The term reveals the destructive motives hidden beneath the speech of the wicked. Proverbs 10:11
The word reveals the destructive motives hidden within wicked speech. Proverbs 10:6
Canonical Themes
Revelation
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
חָמָס names violence or injurious wrong and gives teachers a scriptural vocabulary for harm that corrupts communal life. Genesis 6 places it within the earth’s pervasive corruption before the flood. Habakkuk cries out because violence, strife, and distorted justice appear unanswered. Psalm 11 assures sufferers that the Lord sees and hates the love of violence.
Habakkuk is especially valuable pastorally because it permits lament without pretending that judgment always arrives on the sufferer’s schedule. The book moves through complaint, the announcement of Babylonian judgment, a second complaint about Babylon’s wickedness, the call to faithful endurance, and a concluding prayer of trust. That whole movement should govern the application; Habakkuk 2:4 is not merely a slogan attached to the noun חָמָס.
The word’s broader social uses allow teachers to address more than visible assault, but applications to exploitation, institutions, or public policy must be established from the full passages and wider biblical ethics. Lexical range alone cannot decide a contemporary case.
Anchor passage
Gen.6.11
Doctrinal connections
- Gen 6:11 — chamas fills the antediluvian earth; the flood as YHWH's response to covenant-collapse
- Hab 1:2-3 — the prophetic cry of unanswered chamas; Hab 2:4 as the faithful-waiting answer
- Ps 11:5 — YHWH's soul hates the chamas-lover; divine moral seriousness about violence
- Mic 6:12 — chamas of economic exploitation; unjust scales are chamas
- Obad 10 — chamas against a covenant-brother brings covenant-judgment
- H8416 Tehillah — tehillah (praise) is the counter-reality to chamas; Hab 3 is the tehillah that precedes deliverance
חָמָס (chamas, H2555) is a noun that BDB classifies as covering violence in its broadest sense: physical assault, legal injustice, false witness, economic exploitation, and covenant-treachery. The ish chamas (man of violence, Ps 18:48, 2 Sam 22:49, Prov 3:31) is a recurring formula for a specific type of enemy characterized by violent wrongdoing. The verb חָמַס (chamas, H2554) means to treat violently or wrongfully (Gen 16:5 — Sarai says to Abraham 'may the Lord judge between me and you' after he gives Hagar to her — the verb is chamas in the sense of 'wrong done to me'; Hab 2:8 — 'for the violence done to Lebanon').
In NT Greek, the closest heir is adikia (G93 — unrighteousness/injustice, used in Luke 13:27, Acts 1:18, Rom 1:18, 1 Cor 13:6) and bia (G970 — force, violence, Acts 5:26, 21:35, 27:41) — but neither fully captures chamas's combination of moral wrong and physical force. The NT's treatment of violence as a systemic moral problem (Rev 6:10 — the souls under the altar: 'how long before you judge and avenge our blood?')
Echoes Habakkuk's chamas-complaint in the eschatological register.
From Old to New Testament
Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, and Hebrews 10:38 quote Habakkuk 2:4 within their own arguments about faith, justification, and endurance. Their use of the verse should be read first from those New Testament contexts and then related back to Habakkuk’s call for faithfulness amid violence and coming judgment. Revelation 6:9-11 likewise gives persecuted saints a “how long” lament and tells them to rest a little longer, providing a meaningful canonical parallel to prophetic lament.
It is an analogy within the canon, not proof that Revelation is translating חָמָס or that every lament receives an identical answer. Romans 1:18 also announces God’s wrath against human ungodliness and unrighteousness, but its Greek vocabulary and argument should not be presented as a direct lexical echo of Genesis 6.
Passage contextCanonical parallelBook contextPastoral applicationEditorial synthesis
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain