to destroy
cha.val describes causing ruin or damage, and in confessional settings acting wrongly or failing an obligation.
The attested uses chiefly concern bringing about ruin, damage, or a broken condition, whether directed at the earth, vineyards, the poor, or a person under a burden. A smaller group occurs in statements of wrongdoing, including failure to fulfill a vow and confession of corrupt conduct.
Senses in use
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Causing ruin, damage, or brokenness · dominant
Piel forms occur in destructive settings: in Isaiah 13:5 the APB renders the clause as coming “to destroy all the earth,” while Isaiah 32:7 places the infinitive in a plot “to ruin the poor and afflicted.” In Isaiah 54:16 the infinitive is associated with a destroyer causing ruin, and Song of Songs 2:15 uses an active participle for foxes that “spoil the vineyards.” Passive forms also occur where a yoke is “broken” in Isaiah 10:27 and where a person who despises a word is “destroyed by it” in Proverbs 13:13.
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Acting wrongly or failing an obligation · common
In Ecclesiastes 5:5, the sequential perfect occurs in the warning about making a vow and not fulfilling it. Job 34:31 places the first-person imperfect in the statement “I will not offend again,” while Nehemiah 1:7 includes the forms in a confession that the speakers “have acted corruptly” and have not kept the commanded requirements.
In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB presents the destructive contexts with terms such as “destroy,” “ruin,” “broken,” and “spoil,” while the confessional contexts use “offend,” “acted corruptly,” and failure to fulfill. These are renderings of the surrounding clauses rather than fixed equivalents in every occurrence.