be weak: weak
cha.lah describes becoming ill or otherwise weakened, including loss of strength and weakness inflicted by injury.
The term most often marks a person or animal as ill or physically debilitated; the supplied verses also show loss of strength or endurance, a deliberately assumed weak condition, and weakness or injury brought about by another action.
Senses in use
-
Being ill or physically debilitated · dominant
Qal perfects and active participles describe people as physically unwell: in 2 Kings 13:14 the APB renders Elisha as becoming weak with the sickness from which he would die, while 1 Kings 17:17 describes the woman's son becoming weak until no breath remained. The participial form also identifies sick animals brought as offerings in Malachi 1:8.
-
Losing strength or becoming exhausted · common
The term can describe diminished strength apart from an ordinary sickness report. In Judges 16:7 the APB renders Samson's anticipated condition after binding as becoming weak and like any other man; in Daniel 8:27 Daniel is overcome and weak for days after the vision. Isaiah 57:10 contrasts continued effort with not becoming weak.
-
Assuming a weak condition · occasional
In the Amnon narrative, Hithpael forms occur within instructions to lie on the bed and become weak before the king visits. In 2 Samuel 13:5 the APB renders the imperative as “become weak,” and 2 Samuel 13:6 then reports that Amnon lay down and became weak as part of the request for Tamar to bring food.
-
Weakness or injury brought about · occasional
Non-Qal forms place the weakness in a caused or inflicted setting. In 1 Kings 22:34, after being struck by an arrow, the king says he is wounded in the APB; in Micah 6:13 the APB renders the divine action as making the audience weak by striking them. Proverbs 13:12 likewise presents delayed hope as weakening the heart.
In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB variously presents the condition with “became weak,” “ill,” “sick,” and “wounded,” and it renders caused weakness with phrases such as “made you weak” and “weakens the heart.” These renderings show the verse contexts rather than fixed English equivalents for each form.