---
title: חָמֵץ — be sour · The Tanakh dictionary
description: חָמֵץ (2556), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 4 times: be sour. BDB 1906: vb. be sour, leavened. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# חָמֵץ

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«חָמֵץ» in the Tanakh dictionary: **be sour** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

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**Used:** 4 times · **Key:** 2556 · **BDB:** חָמֵץ

### Glosses

it.was.leavened (2); it (1); it.was.embittered (1)

### Meaning (OSHB)

be sour [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1495/2556/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

vb. be sour, leavened [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1495/2556/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** vb. be sour, leavened (NH id., Pi. Hiph. make sour, leaven; Arabic حَمُضَ be sour; Aramaic חֲמַע be sour, leavened, ܚܡܰܥ, be leavened)— Pf. חָמֵץ Ex 12:39; Impf. יֶחְמָ֑ץ Ex 12:34; Inf. sf. חֻמְצָתוֹ Ho 7:4;—be leavened, of dough (בָּצֵק), Ex 12:34, 39 (E), cf. Ho 7:4. be soured, embittered, ψ 73:21 (‖ כִּלְיוֹתַי אֶשְׁתּוֹנָן).

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 4 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (7 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 0 with the glosses (7 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «חָמֵץ» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1495/2556/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Psalms 73:21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.73.21/)

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כִּ֭י יִתְחַמֵּ֣ץ לְבָבִ֑י וְ֝כִלְיוֹתַ֗י אֶשְׁתּוֹנָֽן׃

*Word for word:* (dm) it.was.embittered heart my and kidneys my I.was.pierced

*JPS 1917:* For my heart was in a ferment, and I was pricked in my reins.

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[Hosea 7:4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/HOS.7.4/)

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כֻּלָּם֙ מְנָ֣אֲפִ֔ים כְּמ֣וֹ תַנּ֔וּר בֹּעֵ֖רָה מֵֽאֹפֶ֑ה יִשְׁבּ֣וֹת מֵעִ֔יר מִלּ֥וּשׁ בָּצֵ֖ק עַד־חֻמְצָתֽוֹ׃

*Word for word:* of.them all \[are\].adulterers like an.oven \[which\].burns from a.baker \[who\].he.ceases stirring.up from kneading \[the\].dough until it is.leavened

*JPS 1917:* They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth to stir from the kneading of the dough until it be leavened.

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