Lexical Summary chelah: Sickness, disease Original Word: חֶלְאָה Strong's Exhaustive Concordance scum From chala'; properly, disease; hence, rust -- scum. see HEBREW chala' NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Originfrom an unused word Definition rust NASB Translation rust (5). Brown-Driver-Briggs I. [חֶלְאָה] noun feminine rust (perhaps as filth see above) — חֶלְאָתָהּ Ezekiel 24:6,12 + Ezekiel 24:11; Ezekiel 24:12 (strike out Co internal grounds) + Ezekiel 24:6 חֶלְאָתָהֿ (compare Ges§ 91, 1; R. 2) rust on metal pot, symbol of impurity of Jerusalem. Topical Lexicon OverviewThe noun חֶלְאָה appears only in Ezekiel 24, where it is rendered by the Berean Standard Bible as “corrosion” or “rust.” The prophet’s parable of the boiling pot employs the imagery of stubborn corrosion on a bronze cauldron to expose Jerusalem’s entrenched guilt and to announce the certainty of divine judgment. Context in Ezekiel 24 1. Siege setting (Ezekiel 24:1–2). On the very day Nebuchadnezzar began the siege of Jerusalem, Ezekiel is commanded to dramatize the city’s fate. Theological Significance • Persistent defilement. The unremovable corrosion pictures sin that has permeated every layer of Jerusalem’s civic and religious life (compare Isaiah 1:22; Micah 3:10–11). Historical Impact The fulfillment came in 586 B.C. when Babylon destroyed the city and temple. The corrosion motif underscored that the catastrophe was not random political misfortune but the outworking of divine justice foretold by the prophets. Ministry Applications • Preaching on hidden sin. Like corrosion concealed beneath a polished exterior, unconfessed transgression eventually surfaces under the heat of God’s scrutiny (Hebrews 4:13). Christological Perspective Jesus Christ fulfills the prophetic hope by providing the once-for-all means of cleansing. His blood “purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:7), accomplishing what the fire of judgment could only prefigure. Believers are therefore urged to “cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit” (2 Corinthians 7:1), living lives that display the reality of the gospel’s refining power. Summary חֶלְאָה, though confined to a single chapter, vividly communicates the depth of human corruption, the inevitability of divine judgment, and the necessity of a cleansing only God can accomplish. The stubborn rust on Jerusalem’s cauldron warns every generation that holiness cannot coexist with hidden iniquity, while pointing forward to the perfect purification secured in the Savior. Forms and Transliterations וְחֶ֨לְאָתָ֔הּ וחלאתה חֶלְאָתָ֔הּ חֶלְאָתָ֣ה חֶלְאָתָֽהּ׃ חלאתה חלאתה׃ chelaTah ḥel’āṯāh ḥel·’ā·ṯāh veChelaTah wə·ḥel·’ā·ṯāh wəḥel’āṯāhLinks Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel TextsEnglishman's Concordance Ezekiel 24:6 HEB: סִ֚יר אֲשֶׁ֣ר חֶלְאָתָ֣ה בָ֔הּ וְחֶ֨לְאָתָ֔הּ NAS: in which there is rust And whose rust KJV: to the pot whose scum [is] therein, and whose scum INT: to the pot which is rust rust Without Ezekiel 24:6 Ezekiel 24:11 Ezekiel 24:12 Ezekiel 24:12 5 Occurrences |