Strong’s H2556 · Hebrew

חָמֵץ
châmêts
khaw-mates'

Definition

to be pungent; i.e. in taste (sour, i.e. literally fermented, or figuratively, harsh), in color (dazzling)

Etymology

a primitive root;

Where the KJV renders it

  • cruel (man)
  • dyed
  • be grieved
  • leavened

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.