חמר ḥ-m-r – to foam (?)
Semantic Fields:
Colours
Author(s):
John E. Hartley
First published: 2026-05-20
Citation: John E. Hartley, חמר ḥ-m-r – to foam (?),
Semantics of Ancient Hebrew Database (sahd-online.com), 2026
Introduction
Grammatical type: verb.
Occurrences: 3x HB (0/0/3); 1x Sir; 0x Qum; 0x Inscr. (Total: 4x).
- Ketubim: Job 16:16; Lam 1:20; 2:11;
- Sira: 4.2/3
- Qere/Ketiv: For Job 16:16 there is a K פני חמרמרה and a Q פני הֳמַרְמְרוּ. Dhorme takes the Q as a correction of the K since the subject is pl. (Dhorme 1967:238). In support of the K he cites the rule that a verb having a 3 m.pl. subject that is the name of a thing may stand in the 3 f.sg. (GKC, §145k). Gordis, however, interprets the K to be an old 3 f.pl. pf., a form that still exists in Arab. qatalā and in certain dialects of Aram. qetala (Gordis 1978:177-78). In that case the K takes פָּנִים as f.; a similar example is found in Rabbinic Heb. (e.g., m’Abot 1.15: בסבר פנים יפות). But GKC states that this latter position lacks sufficient support (GKC, §44m).
7. Conclusion
A.1 An explanation that satisfactorily accounts for the different nuances conveyed by חמרמר in its three occurrences plus the singular occurrence of החמיר in Sir 4.2 has not been attained. It is possible that different roots, namely III חמר, ‘boil, burn, glow’, and II חמר, ‘foam, ferment’, the root for חֶמֶר, ‘wine’, are attested. Lexemes from the latter root may allude to either the process of fermentation or the colour of wine, according to Brenner (1982:132). However, in its three occurrences חמרמר primarily describes painful conditions caused by irritations in areas of the body, namely the face or the bowels. Thus III חמר is not a colour lexeme.
For this entry, see further John E. Hartley, The Semantics of Ancient Hebrew Colour Lexemes (2010), 218-222 (Printed publications).
Bibliography
For the abbreviations see the List of Abbreviations.
Athalya Brenner, Colour Terms in the Old Testament (JSOTSup, 21), Sheffield: JSOT Press.