חור ḥāwar – to be white
Semantic Fields:
Colours
Author(s):
John E. Hartley
First published: 2026-05-20
Citation: John E. Hartley, חור ḥāwar – to be white,
Semantics of Ancient Hebrew Database (sahd-online.com), 2026
Introduction
Grammatical type: verb.
Occurrences: 2x HB (0/2/0); 0x Sir; 0x Qum; 0x Inscr. (Total: 2x)
- Nebiim: Isa 19:9 (1QIsaa; see entry חורי); 29:22.
A.1 In Isa 19:9 in place of MT 1 חוֹרָֽיQIsaa reads חורו. Unfortunately the text of 4QIsac (4Q163 11.2.1) is fragmented here. KB3 points 1QIsaa חָוֵֽרוּ (‘erbleichen’, i.e., ‘they have grown pale’; KB3, p. 287a). Kaiser, Clements, and Wildberger accept this reading (Kaiser 1974:98; Wildberger 1978:701; Clements 1980:168). Even prior to the discovery of 1QIsaa several scholars, including Marti and Gray (Marti 1900:153; G.B. Gray 1912:326-28), proposed that the Heb. should read חורו. DCH offers the pointing יֶחֱוָרוּ, ‘they will become white, pale’ (DCH, vol. 3, p. 178b). On the other hand, the glosses in the LXX, βύσσον, and the Vg, subtilia, indicate that these translators read the Heb. as a noun, likely חורי from the root חור, i.e., ‘a finely woven white fabric’. Several commentators as Oswalt and Watts follow the MT as offering an intelligible reading (Oswalt 1986:365, on the basis of the LXX; Watts 2005:307 n. 19.c).
A.2 In Isa 24:6 1QIsaa reads חורו, ‘they are pale’, for MT חָרוּ, ‘they are scorched’ (from חרר, ‘be scorched, glow’; DCH, vol. 3, p. 322b). According to Wildberger, the sense conveyed by the verb in 1QIsaa is too weak for this context (Wildberger 1978:914-15). He takes it from II חרה, cognate of Arab. ‘abnehmen’ and gives the gloss ‘sie schwinden dahin’. Another way to gain a solution for the MT is to find a root that parallels נשׁאר. KB3 sets forth two proposals: II חוּר cognate of Arab. ḥwr (‘weniger werden’; KB3, p. 287a) or II חָרָה ‘schwinden, an Zahl gering werden’, cognate of Arab. ḥarāy (‘abnehmen’; KB3, p. 337b). Wildberger, followed by Watts, accepts the latter possibility and offers the gloss ‘sie schwinden dahin’ (Wildberger 1978:914-15; Watts 2005:374-75; cf. G.B. Gray 1912:411). Without strong textual support, it is best to follow the MT.
7. Conclusion
A.1 חור, ‘be white, whiten’, is a verbal form of a Sem. root that was available to early speakers of Heb. It was displaced by the root לבן in Early BHeb. It reappears in LBHeb., possibly under the influence of Aram. In the two occurrences of this lexeme in BHeb., it is used metaphorically for deep despair. In Isa 29:22, פנה חור means literally ‘a face turns pale’. In the emended text of Isa 19:9 the verb is used with the same significance of describing deep shame, but without פנה. Note: also consider the entries לָבַן ,לָבָן, and לֹבֶן for the colour ‘white’ in Heb.
For this entry, see further John E. Hartley, The Semantics of Ancient Hebrew Colour Lexemes (2010), 80-83 (Printed publications).
Bibliography
For the abbreviations see the List of Abbreviations.