Lexical Summary
chabal: To bind, pledge, destroy, ruin
Original Word:חֲבַל
Part of Speech:Noun Masculine
Transliteration:chabal
Pronunciation:khaw-bal'
Phonetic Spelling:(khab-al')
KJV: damage, hurt
NASB:damage, harm, injury
Word Origin:[(Aramaic) fromH225 (אוּת - consent)5]
1. harm (personal or pecuniary)
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
damage, hurt
(Aramaic) fromchabal; harm (personal or pecuniary) -- damage, hurt.
see HEBREWchabal
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin(Aramaic) from
chabalDefinitiona hurt, injury
NASB Translationdamage (1), harm (1), injury (1).
Brown-Driver-Briggs
6:24 ; — absolute
Daniel 3:25;
Daniel 6:24, compare RÉS
362A 2; emphatic
Ezra 4:22.
Topical Lexicon
Semantic Emphasisחֲבַל carries the idea of deliberate harm—material loss inEzra 4:22; bodily injury inDaniel 3:25 andDaniel 6:23. The contexts show a spectrum from economic sabotage to physical damage, always highlighting the contrast between human intent and divine overruling.
Occurrences in Canonical Narrative
•Ezra 4:22 situates the term in an imperial memorandum: “See that you do not neglect this matter. Why allow this threat to increase and the damage to the kings?”. Here חֲבַל warns of political-economic loss if Jerusalem’s walls are rebuilt.
•Daniel 3:25 presents Nebuchadnezzar’s astonishment: “Look! I see four men, unbound and unharmed, walking around in the fire—and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!”. The verb appears negatively—“unharmed”—underscoring miraculous preservation.
•Daniel 6:23 records the sequel in the lions’ den: “When Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.”. Again, harm is divinely averted.
Historical Setting
All three occurrences fall within the Persian period. Imperial edicts in Ezra reflect bureaucratic anxiety over rebellion. Daniel’s court tales reveal life-and-death stakes for covenant believers in a pluralistic empire. The shared Aramaic milieu emphasizes foreign domination, yet highlights God’s sovereignty amid exile.
Theological Themes
1. Divine Protection: Both Daniel passages declare that faithfulness can nullify intended harm. The fiery furnace and lions’ den echoPsalm 91:10—“no harm will befall you”—demonstrating the consistency of God’s protective character.
2. Human Opposition:Ezra 4:22 portrays political powers ready to inflict damage on God’s work, anticipatingActs 4:17, where authorities again attempt to halt gospel advance.
3. Sovereign Restraint: Each text shows that harm occurs only as far as God permits. The same verb that threatens Jerusalem is negated for the faithful in Daniel, illustratingRomans 8:31 in narrative form—“If God is for us, who can be against us?”
Implications for Faith and Practice
• Confidence in Exposed Places: Believers operating under hostile systems can trust that no ultimate harm will reach them outside God’s will.
• Vigilance in Leadership: The Persian officials’ nervousness over “damage to the kings” reminds church leaders to weigh the earthly consequences of ministry decisions while never compromising divine directives.
• Integrity under Pressure: Daniel’s blamelessness (“no wound was found on him”) models ethical steadfastness that silences adversaries.
Homiletical Insights
• Textual Bridge: Contrast Ezra’s threatened harm with Daniel’s prevented harm to demonstrate the difference faith makes.
• Christological Foreshadowing: The fourth figure in the furnace prefigures Christ’s incarnational presence with the persecuted church (Matthew 28:20).
• Gospel Application: Harm directed at God’s people ultimately fell on Jesus (Isaiah 53:5), assuring believers of eternal safety even if temporal harm occurs.
Related Biblical Motifs
Damage to the king’s interests (Ezra) mirrors the economic fears behind the silversmith riot inActs 19:27. Physical preservation in Daniel parallels Paul’s snakebite inActs 28:5. Together these texts reinforce the principle that God both permits and restrains harm to accomplish redemptive purposes.
Forms and Transliterations
וַחֲבָ֖ל וחבל חֲבָל֙ חֲבָלָ֔א חבל חבלא chaVal chavaLa ḥă·ḇā·lā ḥă·ḇāl ḥăḇāl ḥăḇālā vachaVal wa·ḥă·ḇāl waḥăḇāl
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