AN ANALYSIS OF THE HEBREW WORD HĀLAK (הָלַךְ) IN GENESIS 5:24: THE MEANING OF “WALKING WITH GOD” FROM A HEBREW LINGUISTIC PERSPECTIVE
Keywords:
hālak, Genesis 5:24, Hebrew lexicography, frame semantics, lexical-theological analysisAbstract
The semantic force of hālak (הָלַךְ) in Genesis 5:24 remains unresolved because lexica list multiple glosses without specifying which sense governs this occurrence, and existing scholarship analyzes morphological, collocational, comparative, and reception-historical evidence in isolation. This study addresses that fragmentation by proposing the Integrative Lexical-Theological Analysis (ILTA) framework, a four-stage model moving from morphological and stem analysis, through collocational and distributional analysis, to comparative Semitic evidence, and finally reception-historical verification. The study is qualitative and exegetical with a corpus-linguistic component, drawing on componential analysis, frame semantics, and lexical semantics, and adopting a moderate contextualist position in which semantic force is determined by the interaction of morphological form, collocational profile, and canonical trajectory. Applied to the hitpael occurrences of hālak with a divine object, the framework yields a determinate semantic profile distinguishing relational-covenantal usage from physical-locomotive usage and clarifies the boundary between hālak and its near-synonyms. The novelty lies in specifying the sequence of analytical operations and the criteria for moving between stages, transforming lexical-theological analysis from an intuitive art into a replicable instrument. The contribution is methodological and substantive, offering a model for biblical lexicography, theological interpretation, and translation practice. Quantitative corpus statistics beyond the Hebrew Bible were unavailable, and reception-historical evidence is treated as corroborative rather than determinative.
References
Acquaviva, P. (2022). Word meaning: a linguistic dimension of conceptualization. Synthese, 200(5). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-022-03910-9
Adi Setya Putra, Y., Panjaitan, F. (2026). TAKLUKKAN DAN BERKUASA ATAS BUMI: EKSPLOITASI ATAU PENGELOLAAN?TAFSIR KEJADIAN 1:28 DARI PERSPEKTIF SIMBOLISME HURUF IBRANI. MARSAHALA: Journal of Religious and Cultural Studies, 2(1), 39-50. https://doi.org/10.64099/3chmpe80
Amar, I. (2025). Form, Content, and Meaning in Leviticus 24:10–23: A Diachronic Analysis. The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, 25. https://doi.org/10.5508/jhs29685
Anev, D. (2026). Between Social Stigma and Theological Meaning: A Comparative Analysis of Shame in Hebrew and Akkadian Texts. European Hebrew Journal, 1(2), 285-295. https://doi.org/10.67469/ehj2026.1.2.12
Araújo, G. (2022). Evil in Genesis. Pesquisas em Teologia, 5(10), 367-369. https://doi.org/10.46859/pucrio.acad.pqteo.2595-9409.2022v5n10p367
Brumwell, D. (2023). Book Review: Evil in Genesis. A Contextual Analysis of Hebrew Lexemes for Evil in the Book of Genesis. The Downside Review, 141(2), 48-49. https://doi.org/10.1177/00125806221138158
Brumwell, D. (2026). Book Review: John A. Cook,
The Biblical Hebrew Verb. A Linguistic Introduction
CookJohn A., The Biblical Hebrew Verb. A Linguistic Introduction, Baker Academic: Grand Rapids, MI, 2024; 332 pp., £26.99 (pbck): ISBN: 978-1-5409-6112-9. The Downside Review, . https://doi.org/10.1177/00125806261418561
Chelouche, N. (2025). Theorizing Hebrew typeface design: Rafael Frank and Josef Kaplan’s modernization of
Meruba letterforms, 1908–1916. Journal of Modern Jewish Studies, 24(3-4), 728-754. https://doi.org/10.1080/14725886.2025.2515417
Chia, P. (2023). The mysterious Hebrew word שׂרקים in Zechariah 1:8. Verbum et Ecclesia, 44(1). https://doi.org/10.4102/ve.v44i1.2764
Chia, P. (2025). Cracking the Mystery of the Hebrew Word ›vehutzav
Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 137(3), 418-428. https://doi.org/10.1515/zaw-2025-3005
Chia, P. (2025). The enigmatic Hebrew word ‘אפים ’ in 1 Samuel 1:5. HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies, . https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v81i1.10656
Condrea, V. (2023). Models of Word Order in Biblical Hebrew. Vetus Testamentum, 74(4-5), 511-530. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685330-bja10149
Condren, J. (2025). The End of Desire: On the Meaning of תשׁוקה in the Hebrew Scriptures and the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, 24. https://doi.org/10.5508/jhs29657
Cornell, C. (2022). The Life of God in the Hebrew Bible. Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel, 11(4), 308-328. https://doi.org/10.1628/hebai-2022-0038
Debourse, C., Rhyder, J. (2025). Ritual Textualization in the Priestly Traditions of the Hebrew Bible and Late Babylonian Priestly Literature. The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, 24. https://doi.org/10.5508/jhs29673
Doron, O. (2024). Hebrew nonverbal sentences wear reconstruction on their sleeve. Semantics and Linguistic Theory, , 775-794. https://doi.org/10.3765/y9wawx46
Dubinsky, S. (2025). Finding ‘language’ in the Hebrew Bible. Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America, 10(1), 5877. https://doi.org/10.3765/plsa.v10i1.5877
Faro, I. (2024). Defining Evil from the Hebrew Text of Genesis. New Blackfriars, 105(6), 594-609. https://doi.org/10.1017/nbf.2024.50
Fesenko, I. (2025). Quantitative Analysis of English Literature from 1395 (Chaucer) to 2015 (Bowen). Linguistic Cues to Social Meaning, . https://doi.org/10.23999/j.lcsm.2025.4
Geva, Y. (2023). The forms and functions of ‘naming interrogatives’ in Hebrew word searches. Journal of Pragmatics, 208, 33-52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2023.01.012
Handelsman, N., Bat-El, O. (2022). Phonological effects on word order: AB constructions in Hebrew. Phonological Data and Analysis, 4(2), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.3765/pda.v4art2.61
Havel, B. (2025). Od Filistejaca do Palestinaca. Crkva u svijetu, 60(3), 579-611. https://doi.org/10.34075/cs.60.3.5
Homrighausen, J. (2023). Unrolling the Scroll, Revealing God: Esther Scrolls as Symbols and Ritual Objects. Hebrew Studies, 64(1), 57-81. https://doi.org/10.1353/hbr.2023.a912650
Jacobowitz-Efron, L. (2024). The Linguistic Provenance of the Hebrew King Arthur (1279) Reassessed. Journal of the International Arthurian Society, 12(1), 62-86. https://doi.org/10.1515/jias-2024-0003
Jallon, A., Rivals, F., Hovers, E., Rabinovich, R. (2025). Assessing seasonality and mobility from a fragmented faunal assemblage: the case of Amud Cave (Israel). Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 17(5). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-025-02231-5
Johnson, B. (2025). Moses and God: Where Characterization Meets Theology. Hebrew Studies, 66(1), 11-26. https://doi.org/10.1353/hbr.2025.a976427
Joosten, J. (2025). Some Dynamics of Word Order in Biblical Hebrew. Orientalia Suecana, 74, 114-135. https://doi.org/10.33063/os.v74.716
Jumayeva, F. (2024). DEVELOPMENT OF THE MEANING OF THE WORD, SEMIC ANALYSIS. Current Research Journal of Philological Sciences, 5(4), 140-149. https://doi.org/10.37547/ajps/volume04issue04-24
Kanasiro, A. (2024). A God of Mockery? Revisiting the “Omnipotence Effect” in Numbers 22:21–35. The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, 24, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.5508/jhs29609
Kantor, B. (2022). Recitation and Performance in Late Antique Hebrew. Dead Sea Discoveries, 29(3), 342-365. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685179-02903003
Kantor, B. (2025). The Origins of “In the Beginning . . .”: Genesis 1:1 in Light of the Biblical Hebrew Reading Traditions. Journal of Biblical Literature, 144(4), 601-636. https://doi.org/10.15699/jbl.1444.2025.2
Keefer, A. (2025). The Thought-Scene: A Literary Convention of Hebrew Narrative. The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, 24. https://doi.org/10.5508/jhs29665
Kimchi, I., Schroeder, S., Siegelman, N. (2025). Quantifying word informativeness and its impact on eye-movement reading behavior: Cross-linguistic variability and individual differences. Behavior Research Methods, 57(12). https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-025-02878-x
Lahoud, H., Share, D., Shechter, A. (2023). A developmental study of eye movements in Hebrew word reading: the effects of word familiarity, word length, and reading proficiency. Frontiers in Psychology, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1052755
Lascurain, M. (2026). A Primer of Biblical Hebrew Poetry: An Essential Guide for Reading and Analysis by David Emanuel (review). Hebrew Higher Education, 28(1), 283-285. https://doi.org/10.1353/hhe.2026.a992593
Maschler, Y., Polak-Yitzhaki, H. (2026). That’s what I need: A multimodal study of Hebrew ‘Reversed Pseudo-Clefts’. Linguistic Typology at the Crossroads, 5(2), 123-160. https://doi.org/10.60923/issn.2785-0943/21325
McAffee, M. (2025). The Sale of Joseph in Genesis 37:18–26: Narrative Cohesion and Coherence. The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, 24. https://doi.org/10.5508/jhs29634
Medvedev, V. (2022). Extracts from the comparative description of linguistic images in the phraseological systems of Hebrew and Yiddish. RESEARCH RESULT Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, . https://doi.org/10.18413/2313-8912-2022-8-2-0-3
Moe, D. (2025). Locations of God: Political Theology in the Hebrew Bible, written by Mark G. Brett. International Journal of Public Theology, 19(3), 459-461. https://doi.org/10.1163/15697320-20250014
Moser, T. (2024). Hendiatris? An Analysis of Triverbal Serial Verb Constructions in Biblical Hebrew Narrative. Hebrew Studies, 65(1), 131-149. https://doi.org/10.1353/hbr.2024.a945128
Nardi, E. (2025). The role of Hebrew in the linguistic repertoire of Jewish milieux in the Hellenistic and early Roman period: new insights from the New Testament. Journal of Semitic Studies, 70(1), 87-105. https://doi.org/10.1093/jss/fgae030
Notarius, T. (2023). Passive Voice in Ugaritic and Biblical Hebrew in the Historical Linguistic Perspective. Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 135(1), 71-85. https://doi.org/10.1515/zaw-2023-1005
Notarius, T. (2024). Corrigendum to: Passive Voice in Ugaritic and Biblical Hebrew in the Historical Linguistic Perspective. Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 136(1), 164-164. https://doi.org/10.1515/zaw-2024-9999
Olivero, V. (2023). Diachrony and the Meaning of the Preposition בֵּין in Ancient Hebrew. Hebrew Studies, 64(1), 151-159. https://doi.org/10.1353/hbr.2023.a912654
Peilstöcker, M., Sass, B. (2026). A Hebrew Seal from Jaffa and the Hebrew Script in
the Post-First Temple Period. 'Atiqot, 42(1). https://doi.org/10.70967/2948-040x.2470
Rahmayani, F. (2022). LINGUISTIC CORPUS BASED ANALYSIS: COLLOCATION OF WORD MEANING “ACUTE” IN THE CORPUS COVID-19. Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, , 26-33. https://doi.org/10.56943/jmr.v1i1.27
Reiser, D. (2025). Sacred Speech and Written Word: Hebrew–Yiddish Diglossia in Hasidic Homiletics. Religions, 16(2), 191. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16020191
Rendsburg, G. (2025). Diglossia in Ancient Hebrew. Religions, 16(5), 576. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050576
Rinehart, S., Long, J. (2022). Population responses of omnivorous arthropods to plant alternative resources suppress prey populations: A meta‐analysis. Ecology, 103(5). https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3623
Robar, E. (2025). Bo Isaksson, The Verb in Classical Hebrew: The Linguistic Reality behind the Consecutive Tenses. Journal of Semitic Studies, 70(2), e32-e35. https://doi.org/10.1093/jss/fgaf021
Rösel, M. (2024). Naming God in Early Judaism: Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek, written by Anthony Meyer. Novum Testamentum, 66(4), 541-545. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685365-12341741
Sabah Shamki, S. (2024). The Spoken Hebrew Language A Linguistic Study According to Selected Phonological and Morphological Aspects. JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE STUDIES, 8(5), 84-104. https://doi.org/10.25130/lang.8.5.5
Samsudin, S., Abdullah, N. (2024). PERBANDINGAN PENTERJEMAHAN METAFORA DARI PERSPEKTIF MAKNA LEKSIKAL DAN KONTEKS. International Journal of Arabic, Linguistic and Literature, 5(5), 34-48. https://doi.org/10.53840/ijalal.v1i1.27
Scheumann, J. (2026). Beyond Word Recognition: Expanding Vocabulary. Hebrew Higher Education, 28(1), 121-132. https://doi.org/10.1353/hhe.2026.a992612
Schiff, R., Sasson, A. (2026). The dynamics of RAN and cognitive-linguistic skills in vowelized and unvowelized Hebrew word reading among children with reading difficulties. Annals of Dyslexia, . https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-026-00370-5
Scholz, S. (2025). The Bible as “Men’s” Word? Feminism and the Translation of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. lectio difficilior, . https://doi.org/10.36950/ld.01.2010.12930
Schüle, A. (2022). The God of Life – or: God as Life?. Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel, 11(4), 329-351. https://doi.org/10.1628/hebai-2022-0039
Screnock, J. (2025). On Emphasis and Exegesis. Vetus Testamentum, , 1-30. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685330-bja10222
Sender, D. (2024). Three Early Linguistic Layers in Haredi Hebrew. Journal of Semitic Studies, 69(2), 1011-1035. https://doi.org/10.1093/jss/fgae015
Shafran, R., Stavans, A. (2023). In/directness in requests and refusals in EFL by multilinguals with L1 Hebrew or Arabic: A linguistic and textual perspective. Journal of Pragmatics, 211, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2023.04.002
Siegismund, K. (2023). Ulf Bergström, Aspect, Communicative Appeal, and Temporal Meaning in Biblical Hebrew Verbal Forms. Journal of Semitic Studies, 68(2), e27-e30. https://doi.org/10.1093/jss/fgad020
Siloni, T. (2026). Syntactic variation in contemporary Hebrew: From participial to tensed relatives. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory, 44(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11049-025-09691-3
Sitanggang, H. (2022). Evocative Translation and Theology of the Hebrew לְרוּחַ הַיּוֹםin Genesis 3:8. Jurnal Koinonia, 14(2), 86-99. https://doi.org/10.35974/koinonia.v14i2.3073
Southwood, K. (2024). Return Migration and the Meaning of Home and Belonging in the Hebrew Bible. Religions, 15(12), 1513. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15121513
Stern, R. (2024). The Letters of the Geonim as a Source of Epistolary Linguistic Forms in Modern Hebrew. Journal of Jewish Languages, 12(1), 96-125. https://doi.org/10.1163/22134638-bja10045
Strawn, B. (2024). Ancient Near Eastern Iconography and the Hebrew Bible. Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel, 13(1), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1628/hebai-2024-0002
Sun, X. (2022). From Linguistic Perspective On the Meaning and Form of Language. International Journal of Science, Engineering and Management, 9(5), 34-36. https://doi.org/10.36647/ijsem/09.05.a004
Targoński, M. (2026). The Meaning of the Verb דאה in Biblical Hebrew. Vetus Testamentum, , 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685330-bja10253
Thiede, B. (2024). Taking Biblical Authors at Their Word: On Scholarly Ethics, Sexual Violence, and Rape Culture in the Hebrew Bible. Journal of Biblical Literature, 143(2), 185-205. https://doi.org/10.15699/jbl.1432.2024.1
Tooman, W. (2022). Locations of God: Political Theology in the Hebrew Bible. By Mark G. Brett. The Journal of Theological Studies, 73(1), 262-265. https://doi.org/10.1093/jts/flac036
Unknown Author (2022). Some Linguistic Phenomena in Al-Adawi and Al-Basul’s Hebrew Translations of the Holy Quran: A Critical Study. Journal of the Faculties of Arts, 19(2), 423-452. https://doi.org/10.51405/19.2.5
Unknown Author (2022). Supplemental Material for The Contribution of Consonants and Vowels to Auditory Word Recognition Is Shaped by Language-Specific Properties: Evidence From Hebrew. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, . https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0001000.supp
Unknown Author (2023). Image, Word, Land. Hebrew Studies, 64(1), 255-268. https://doi.org/10.1353/hbr.2023.a912661
Unknown Author (2023). Targum Canticles and Linguistic Complexity. Hebrew Studies, 64(1), 289-303. https://doi.org/10.1353/hbr.2023.a912664
Unknown Author (2025). The Biblical Hebrew Verb : An Inconsistent linguistic Introduction?. Hebrew Studies, 66(1), 171-185. https://doi.org/10.1353/hbr.2025.a976435
Unknown Author (2026). The Biblical Hebrew Verb: A Linguistic Introduction by John A. Cook (review). The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 88(2), 369-371. https://doi.org/10.1353/cbq.2026.a990704
Uusimäki, E. (2022). An Intersectional Perspective on Female Mobility in the Hebrew Bible. Vetus Testamentum, 72(4-5), 745-768. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685330-bja10084
Van Wolde, E. (2026). Towards a New Understanding of the Image of God in Genesis 1:26-27: An Analysis of the Constructions of the Verb ברא in the Hebrew Bible. The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, 26. https://doi.org/10.5508/jhs29692
Zhang, T. (2025). An Analysis of Hebrew Poetry with the Example of <i>The Song of Songs </i>from the Perspective of Hegel Aesthetics. Studies on Religion and Philosophy, 1(2), 25-32. https://doi.org/10.71204/x71vy124
ياسين المعضادي, أ. (2023). Linguistic, historical, and religious connotations of the term "Hebrew" in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic sources. JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE STUDIES, 6(2), 237-254. https://doi.org/10.25130/jls.6.2.20
