To spare
חָמַלStrong’s H2550chamal (cha-mal)
Appears in 40 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Chamal is the Hebrew word usually translated “show pity”, “had compassion” and “has compassion”. It appears in 40 verses of the Old Testament.
“Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be the LORD; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not.”
Meaning
- (Qal) to spare, pity, have compassion on
How it's translated
- i will show pity 6
- and he had compassion 3
- he had compassion 2
- he has compassion 2
- he will show pity 2
- he will have compassion 2
- you spare 2
- he has spared 2
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Ezekiel 8
- Jeremiah 5
- 1 Samuel 4
- Job 4
- Lamentations 4
- 2 Samuel 3
15 books in all.
Related words
Explore in Scripture
- Zechariah 11:6In contextFor I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour’s hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.
- Exodus 2:6And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews’ children.
- Deuteronomy 13:8Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:
- 1 Samuel 15:3Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
- 1 Samuel 15:9But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
- 1 Samuel 15:15And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.
All 40 verses, by book
Hebrew dictionary
חָמַל chamal · to spare
(Qal) to spare, pity, have compassion on
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “spare” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
SPARE, verb transitive
[It seems to be from the same root as Latin parco.]
- To use frugally; not to be profuse; not to waste.
- To save or withhold from any particular use or occupation.
- To part with without much inconvenience; to do without.
- To omit; to forbear.
All definitions and other forms of “spare”
- To use tenderly; to treat with pity and forbearance; to forbear to afflict, punish or destroy. spare us, good Lord. dim sadness did not spare celestial visages.
- Not to take when in one's power; to forbear to destroy; as, to spare the life of a prisoner.
- To grant; to allow; to indulge.
- TO forbear to inflict of impose. spare my sight the pain of seeing what a world of tears it cost you.
SPARE, verb intransitive
- TO live frugally; to be parsimonious.
- To forbear; to be scrupulous.
- To be frugal; not to be profuse.
- To use mercy or forbearance; to forgive to be tender.
SPARE, adjective
- Seanty; parsimonious; not abundant; as a spare diet.
- That can be dispensed with; not wanted; superfluous.
- Lean; wanting flesh; meager; thin.
- Slow. [Not in use.]
SPARE, noun
Parsimony; frugal use. [Not in use.]
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.