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הֵלֶךְ

𐤄𐤋𐤊

hêlek

H1982 noun

SILEX Entry

Root הלך to go, walk, travel, move

Definition

Noun denoting a journey or act of going, and by extension a traveller, someone engaged in a journey; in poetic or figurative language, may describe the passing or flowing of something (such as water or a procession) as a journey.

Semantic Range

journey, act of going, traveller, wayfarer, procession, flowing, movement (literal or metaphorical)

Root / Etymology

Derived from the root הלך, which means 'to go, walk, travel.' הֵלֶךְ is a noun formation from this root, originally denoting the act of going or the journey itself, and later extending to the person engaged in going—a traveller. The root refers more broadly to movement from place to place.

Historical & Contextual Notes

הֵלֶךְ occurs rarely in the Hebrew Bible and is typically found in poetry or figurative passages. In texts such as Job 21:29, the word refers to wayfarers or travellers as those possessing knowledge through wide experience. Elsewhere, it may describe the act of traveling or journeying itself. The sense of 'flowing' emerges especially in poetic texts, where movement of water or a procession is likened to a journey. Later translation traditions at times focus on the 'wayfarer/traveller' sense, but modern scholarship notes the broader conceptual movement or process that the word can evoke, depending on context. The term is not the standard word for 'traveller' in Biblical Hebrew; more common are terms like אֹרֵחַ (oreach). English translations often render הֵלֶךְ as 'traveller,' but sometimes as 'way' or 'course,' particularly in metaphorical usage. There is no evidence that the term carried particular social or ethnic connotations in the biblical period.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from הָלַךְ; properly, a journey, i.e. (by implication) a wayfarer; also a flowing; [idiom] dropped, traveller.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

הלך (h-l-k) — to go, walk, travel, move

Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H1946 הוּךְ to go
H1973 הָלְאָה further on
H1978 הָלִיךְ my steps
H1979 הֲלִיכָה in their journeying
H1980 הָלַךְ I walk about

Word Forms

1 distinct form

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
H1982-01 הֵ֣לֶךְ helekhe HNcmsc flowing journey 2

Occurrences in Scripture

2 total occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
H1982-01 1 Samuel 14:26 הֵ֣לֶךְ helekhe HNcmsc flowing journey
H1982-01 2 Samuel 12:4 הֵלֶךְ֮ helekhe HNcmsa traveler journey
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