Strong’s H2489 · Hebrew

חֵלְכָא
chêlᵉkâʼ
khay-lek-aw'

Definition

a wretch, i.e. unfortunate

Etymology

or חֵלְכָה; apparently from an unused root probably meaning to be dark or (figuratively) unhappy;

Where the KJV renders it

  • poor

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.