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Hebrew

To divide

חָלַקStrong’s H2505

chalaq (cha-laq)

Appears in 64 verses of the Old Testament

In short

Chalaq is the Hebrew word usually translated “it will be divided”, “had assigned” and “distributed”. It appears in 64 verses of the Old Testament.

“Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.”
Daniel 11:39 KJV
Meaning
  1. To divide, share, plunder, allot, apportion, assign(Qal) · (Niphal) · (Piel) · (Pual) to be divided · (Hiphil) to receive a portion or part · (Hithpael) to divide among themselves
  2. To be smooth, slippery, deceitful(Qal) to be smooth, slippery · (Hiphil)
How it's translated
  • it will be divided 5
  • he had assigned 2
  • and he distributed 2
  • and he divided them 2
  • and they divided them 2
  • he will divide up 2
  • i will divide up 2
  • she makes smooth 2

Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.

Where it's used most
  • Joshua 7
  • Psalms 7
  • Proverbs 7
  • 1 Chronicles 5
  • Isaiah 5
  • Job 4

25 books in all.

Related words
Explore in Scripture
All 64 verses, by book
Exodus 1
15:9
Deuteronomy 2
4:1929:26
Judges 1
5:30
1 Samuel 1
30:24
2 Samuel 2
6:1919:29
1 Kings 2
16:2118:6
1 Chronicles 5
16:323:624:324:424:5
2 Chronicles 2
23:1828:21
Nehemiah 2
9:2213:13
Jeremiah 1
37:12
Lamentations 1
4:16
Ezekiel 2
5:147:21
Daniel 1
11:39
Hosea 1
10:2
Joel 1
3:2
Amos 1
7:17
Micah 1
2:4
Zechariah 1
14:1
Hebrew dictionary

חָלַק chalaq · to divide

1) to divide, share, plunder, allot, apportion, assign 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to divide, apportion 1a2) to assign, distribute 1a3) to assign, impart 1a4) to share 1a5) to divide up, plunder 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to divide oneself 1b2) to be divided 1b3) to assign, distribute 1c) (Piel) 1c1) to divide, apportion 1c2) to assign, distribute 1c3) to scatter 1d) (Pual) to be divided 1e) (Hiphil) to receive a portion or part 1f) (Hithpael) to divide among themselves

חָלַק chalaq · to smooth

1) to be smooth, slippery, deceitful 1a) (Qal) to be smooth, slippery 1b) (Hiphil) 1b1) to be smooth 1b2) to flatter

From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

How the English word “divide” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.

DIVIDE, verb transitive

[Latin, to part. See the latter words.]

  1. To part or separate an entire thing; to part a thing into two or more pieces.“DIVIDE the living child in two” 1 Kings 3:25
  2. To cause to be separate; to keep apart by a partition or by an imaginary line or limit.“Let the firmament divide the waters from the waters” Genesis 1:6
  3. To make partition of, among a number.“Ye shall divide the land by lot” Numbers 33:54
  4. To open; to cleave.
All definitions and other forms of “divide”
  1. To disunite in opinion or interest; to make discordant.“There shall be five in one house divided, three against two--” Luke 12:52
  2. To distribute; to separate and bestow in parts or shares.“And he divided to them his living” Luke 15:12
  3. To make dividends; to apportion the interest or profits of stock among proprietors; as, the bank divides six per cent.
  4. To separate into two parts, for ascertaining opinions for and against a measure; as, to divide a legislative house, in voting.

DIVIDE, verb intransitive

  1. To part; to open; to cleave.
  2. To break friendship; as, brothers divide
  3. To vote by the division of a legislative house into two parts.

Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.

Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Hebrew, not from any one translation.