cha.laq describes making something smooth, especially smooth speech that can accompany flattery or deceit.

The most visible use concerns making speech smooth: the term occurs with a foreign woman’s words, a smooth tongue, flattery, and deceitful words. It also describes smoothing a crafted object, while Hosea 10:2 applies smoothness to a heart; in two psalm verses the APB does not isolate the term’s contribution.

1. Making speech smooth or flattering · dominant

   In Proverbs 2:16 and Proverbs 7:5, the Hiphil perfect form is used of a foreign woman and her words; the APB renders that clause with words she has “made smooth.” In Proverbs 28:23 and Proverbs 29:5, Hiphil participles occur in sayings contrasting rebuke with a “smooth tongue” and describing a man who “flatters his neighbor”; Psalm 36:3 places the Hiphil perfect form in a verse whose APB speaks of evil and deceitful words.

   Proverbs 2:16Proverbs 7:5Proverbs 28:23Proverbs 29:5Psalm 36:3
2. Smoothing crafted material · rare

   In Isaiah 41:7, the Hiphil active participle construct identifies the worker in the artisan scene; the APB renders him as “the one smoothing with the hammer” as the work is strengthened with nails.

   Isaiah 41:7
3. Smoothness applied beyond speech · occasional

   In Hosea 10:2, the Qal perfect form is used with “their heart,” and the APB renders the clause, “He has made their heart smooth.” Psalm 55:22 and Psalm 5:10 contain Qal and Hiphil forms respectively, but the supplied APB wording does not make this term’s specific contribution identifiable in those verses.

   Hosea 10:2Psalm 55:22Psalm 5:10

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB explicitly uses “smooth” or “smoothing” in Hosea 10:2, Isaiah 41:7, Proverbs 2:16, Proverbs 7:5, and Proverbs 28:23, while Proverbs 29:5 has “flatters.” In Psalm 36:3, Psalm 55:22, and Psalm 5:10, the translation does not clearly isolate the term, so its English wording cannot be treated as a direct rendering.