---
title: חֵן — favour · The Tanakh dictionary
description: חֵן (2580), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 69 times: favour. BDB 1906: n.m. favour, grace. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# חֵן

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«חֵן» in the Tanakh dictionary: **favour** — 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:** 69 times · **Key:** 2580 · **BDB:** חֵן²

### Glosses

favor (52); grace (5); of.grace (5)

### Meaning (OSHB)

favour [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1495/2580/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

n.m. favour, grace [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1495/2580/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** n.m. ψ 45:3 favour, grace;—ח׳ Gn 6:8 + 67 times; sf. חִנּוֹ Gn 39:21;— favour, grace, elegance: of form and appearance, of a woman ‖ יֹ֑פִי Pr 31:30; אֵשֶׁת חֵן Pr 11:16; זונה טובת חן Na 3:4; of a doe Pr 5:19; precious stone אבן חן Pr 17:8; of ornaments Pr 1:9 = 4:9, 3:22. of speech, lips ψ 45:3 Pr 22:11; words Ec 10:12. favour, acceptance: with men Pr 13:15; 22:1; Ec 9:11. with God Zc 4:7(×2); 12:10; chiefly in phrases: מצא חן בעיני find favour in the eyes of: (1) men Gn 30:27; 32:6; 33:8, 10, 15; 34:11; 39:4; 47:25, 29; 50:4 Nu 32:5 (all J); Dt 24:1; Ru 2:2, 10, 13; 1 S 1:18; 16:22; 20:3, 29; 25:8; 27:5; 2 S 14:22; 16:4; 1 K 11:19; Est 5:8; 7:3; (2) of God Gn 6:8; 18:3; 19:19; Ex 33:12, 13(×2), 16, 17; 34:9 Nu 11:11, 15 (all J); Ju 6:17; 2 S 15:25; Pr 3:4; abs. מצא חן (with man) Pr 28:23; (with God) Je 31:2; מצא חן לפניו Est 8:5 (i.e. of the king); נתן חן בעיני give favour in the eyes of (1) man Gn 39:21; Ex 3:21; 11:3; 12:36 (J); abs. נתן חן of man ψ 84:12; (2) of God Pr 3:34; נשׂא חֵן בְּעֵינֵי obtain favour in the eyes of Est 2:15; of the king 5:2; so וַתִּשָּׂא־חֵן וָחֶסֶד לְפָנָיו Est 2:17.

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 66 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (5 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 0 with the glosses (3 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «חֵן» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1495/2580/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Genesis 6:8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/GEN.6.8/)

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וְנֹ֕חַ מָ֥צָא חֵ֖ן בְּעֵינֵ֥י יְהוָֽה׃פ

*Word for word:* and Noah he.found favor in the.eyes of.Yahweh

*JPS 1917:* But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

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[Proverbs 11:16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PRO.11.16/)

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אֵֽשֶׁת־חֵ֭ן תִּתְמֹ֣ךְ כָּב֑וֹד וְ֝עָרִיצִ֗ים יִתְמְכוּ־עֹֽשֶׁר׃

*Word for word:* a.woman of.grace she.lays.hold.of honor and ruthless.\[people\] they.take.hold.of wealth

*JPS 1917:* A gracious woman obtaineth honour; and strong men obtain riches.

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