חֻלְדָּה
𐤇𐤋𐤃𐤄
Chuledah
H2468 noun
SILEX Entry
Definition
Personal name: Huldah. Refers to a prophetess active in Jerusalem during the reign of King Josiah. The form is feminine and used exclusively as a proper noun for this individual.
Semantic Range
personal name (Huldah); related to animal term (mole, weasel, by root association)
Root / Etymology
From the root ח–ל–ד (חֹלֶד), possibly meaning 'weasel' or 'mole,' but here functioning as a proper name in feminine form. The feminine ending -ה (heh) is added to the nominal base.
Historical & Contextual Notes
חֻלְדָּה refers exclusively to Huldah the prophetess (2 Kings 22:14; 2 Chronicles 34:22). She is one of the few women given the title 'prophetess' in the Hebrew Bible and played a significant role during Josiah's reform. Although the base noun חֹלֶד means 'mole' or a small burrowing animal, this association has no certain bearing on the personal name. The use of animal names as personal names is attested elsewhere in ancient Israel and the Near East. Later translation traditions often transliterate as 'Huldah,' sometimes anachronistically referring to her as a 'Jewess' or 'Jewish prophetess,' but historically, she should be understood as an Israelite woman of Jerusalem in the late monarchic period (late 7th c. BCE). The name occurs only in reference to this individual, and the semantic range is limited to the personal name.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
feminine of חֹלֶד; Chuldah, an Israelitess; Huldah.
Bantu Hebrew
No Bantu Hebrew comparisons have been submitted for this word yet.
+ Add Bantu Hebrew WordRoot Family
חלד (ḥ-l-d) — to slip away, to glide, to last; mole, weasel
| Strong's | Lemma | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|
| H2465 | חֶלֶד | fleeting life-span |
| H2466 | חֵלֶד | Heled |
| H2467 | חֹלֶד | the slinking-weasel |
| H2469 | חֶלְדַּי | Cheldai |
Word Forms
1 distinct form
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H2468-01 |
חֻלְדָּ֨ה | chuledah | HNp |
Huldah | Huldah | 2 |
Occurrences in Scripture
2 total occurrences
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H2468-01 |
2 Kings 22:14 | חֻלְדָּ֨ה | chuledah | HNp |
Huldah | Huldah |
H2468-01 |
2 Chronicles 34:22 | חֻלְדָּ֨ה | chuledah | HNp |
Huldah | Huldah |