Strong’s H2557 · Hebrew

חָמֵץ
châmêts
khaw-mates'

Definition

ferment, (figuratively) extortion

Etymology

from H2556 (חָמֵץ);

Where the KJV renders it

  • leaven
  • leavened (bread)

Every distinct English word the King James Version uses to translate this Hebrew term. The variety shows what readers in English receive across many different surface words — the same underlying word, scattered across the English Bible under different names.

What the first audience heard

A deep-dive treatment of this word is in the works. The featured chapter above carries the long form of what this word meant to its first audience.