כָּלֶה
𐤊𐤋𐤄
kâleh
H3616 adjective
SILEX Entry
Definition
Faint, wasting, languishing, or waning—referring particularly to physical or emotional decline, the state of gradually being consumed, spent, or brought to an end. The term often denotes the experience of wasting away due to illness, grief, longing, or deprivation, and can also refer to the outcome of being utterly exhausted or spent.
Semantic Range
wasting away, pining, failing (physically or emotionally), languishing, being spent or consumed, perishing
Root / Etymology
Derived from the root כלה (k-l-h), which means 'to complete, finish, bring to an end, consume, perish.' The noun כָּלֶה (kâleh) is a formation indicating a person or state characterized by 'being at the end,' i.e., failing or wasting away. Its meaning as a participial noun reflects a process or state of depletion.
Historical & Contextual Notes
In the Hebrew Bible, כָּלֶה is a rare word, attested most notably in Leviticus 26:39, where it expresses the condition of wasting away (physically or emotionally) as a result of guilt or suffering. The term’s force is primarily descriptive of severe and ongoing decline—whether corporeal (physical illness, famine), psychological (despondency, yearning), or existential (the experience of dying). It is distinct from related terms like דַּוָּי (davvay, 'afflicted, sick') in that it highlights progressive reduction, an approaching end, or total consumption rather than mere weakness or sickness. English translations render כָּלֶה variously as 'pine away,' 'waste away,' 'fail,' but these sometimes miss the nuance of a continuous process leading to nullity. In later Hebrew periods, more common terms came to express similar ideas. No theological import should be attached; its use is concrete, not doctrinal.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
from כָּלָה; pining; fail.
Bantu Hebrew
No Bantu Hebrew comparisons have been submitted for this word yet.
+ Add Bantu Hebrew WordRoot Family
כלה (k-l-h) — finish, bring to an end, consume, perish
| Strong's | Lemma | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|
| H3615 | כָּלָה | I will bring to completion |
| H3617 | כָּלָה | completion |
| H3618 | כַּלָּה | completed woman |
| H3622 | כְּלוּהַי | Yah Completes |
| H3623 | כְּלוּלָה | your bridehood-completions |
Word Forms
1 distinct form
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H3616-01 |
וְ/כָל֥וֹת | vekhalot | HC/Aafpa |
and fail | and wasting-away ones | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
1 total occurrence
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H3616-01 |
Deuteronomy 28:32 | וְ/כָל֥וֹת | vekhalot | HC/Aafpa |
and fail | and wasting-away ones |