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הָלַךְ

𐤄𐤋𐤊

hâlak

H1980 verb

SILEX Entry

Definition

To go from place to place, to proceed on foot, to move along a path; by extension, to conduct oneself or behave in a certain way. As a primary verb of movement, הָלַךְ commonly refers to literal walking or traveling, but also encompasses figurative senses such as living or behaving ("to walk in the ways of"), following a certain course of action, or experiencing ongoing change or progression. The term can denote movement in a physical, moral, or existential sense, depending on the context.

Semantic Range

to physically walk, to travel or journey, to depart, to move along, to go about, to go forth, to behave or conduct oneself, to follow a way or path (literal or figurative), to experience change or progress, to be accustomed or frequenting, to disappear or pass away, to lead (by walking ahead), to spread, to move continually

Root / Etymology

From the root הלך, which primarily means 'to go, to walk, to move.' The root conveys the idea of forward or continued motion, and gives rise to several derived forms referring to travel, conduct, and life course.

Historical & Contextual Notes

הָלַךְ is one of the most common verbs in Biblical Hebrew and functions across all major periods of Israelite literature, from narrative accounts of physical journeying (e.g., Abraham, Moses) to wisdom and prophetic literature where it is used metaphorically of behavior, life conduct, or spiritual orientation (e.g., 'walking in the ways of Yhwh'). It may be intensified or used with prepositions to specify direction, manner, or purpose of movement. The verb can be used impersonally or with various subjects, animate and inanimate. In post-exilic and later Hebrew texts, continued and figurative uses (such as moral or existential 'walking') become increasingly prominent. English translations typically render it as 'walk,' 'go,' 'move,' or 'depart,' but these may fail to convey the term’s full figurative depth. Related roots (e.g., יָלַךְ) have overlapping but sometimes more restricted usage. In Medieval and modern Hebrew, הָלַךְ primarily denotes 'to walk' or 'to go,' but many idiomatic senses persist.

Translation Consistency

primary "walk" 400 occurrences

Halak most commonly denotes literal walking or going on foot and is frequently used figuratively (e.g., "walk in the ways of"). "Walk" is the natural, common English verb that covers both the primary physical sense and the typical moral/behavioral senses, and it matches the most frequent English renderings in the corpus, ensuring consistent, natural translation across forms.

Alternatives (111 occurrences):
"go" (44x) "going" (20x) "went" (13x) "gone" (7x) "walkers of" (2x) "coming" (1x) "increasing" (1x) "all will go" (1x) "who had gone" (1x) "boundary went" (1x) "did you go" (1x) "going about" (1x) "going away" (1x) "walk, you (plural)" (1x) "moving about" (1x) "flowing" (1x) "which goes away" (1x) "keeps going" (1x) "proceed" (1x) "passing" (1x) "ran" (1x) "led along" (1x) "goes about" (1x) "goes" (1x) "go about" (1x) "passes away" (1x) "went about" (1x) "spreading" (1x) "becoming greater" (1x) "us go" (1x)

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

akin to יָלַךְ; a primitive root; to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively); (all) along, apace, behave (self), come, (on) continually, be conversant, depart, [phrase] be eased, enter, exercise (self), [phrase] follow, forth, forward, get, go (about, abroad, along, away, forward, on, out, up and down), [phrase] greater, grow, be wont to haunt, lead, march, [idiom] more and more, move (self), needs, on, pass (away), be at the point, quite, run (along), [phrase] send, speedily, spread, still, surely, [phrase] tale-bearer, [phrase] travel(-ler), walk (abroad, on, to and fro, up and down, to places), wander, wax, (way-) faring man, [idiom] be weak, whirl.

Bantu Hebrew

No Bantu Hebrew comparisons have been recorded for this word yet.

Root Family

הלך (h-l-k) — to go, to walk, to move, to proceed

Root הלך to go, to walk, to move, to proceed
Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H1946 הוּךְ to go
H1973 הָלְאָה further on
H1978 הָלִיךְ my steps
H1979 הֲלִיכָה in their journeying
H1981 הֲלַךְ those causing to go

Word Forms

94 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2 Occurrences
H1980-35 הוֹלֵ֣ךְ holekhe HVqrmsa going the one walking the one walking 86
H1980-11 הָלַ֥ךְ halakhe HVqp3ms went he walked he walked 59
H1980-20 הָל֣וֹךְ halokhe HVqa going going walking 46
H1980-19 הָלְכ֖וּ halekhu HVqp3cp went they walked they walked 39
H1980-08 הַ/הֹ֣לְכִ֔ים haholekhim HTd/Vqrmpa who walk the ones walking the ones walking 17
H1980-38 הוֹלְכִ֖ים holekhim HVqrmpa going walking ones walking ones 15
H1980-06 הַֽ/הֹלֵ֖ךְ haholekhe HTd/Vqrmsa who goes the one who walks the one who walks 14
H1980-13 הָלַ֔כְתָּ halakheta HVqp2ms you went you walked you walked 13
H1980-71 וְ/הָלָֽכְתָּ vehalakheta HC/Vqq2ms and go and you walked and you walked 11
H1980-76 וְ/הָלְכ֖וּ vehalekhu HC/Vqq3cp and they went and they went and they will go 10

Occurrences in Scripture

511 occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2
H1980-06 Genesis 2:14 הַֽ/הֹלֵ֖ךְ haholekhe HTd/Vqrmsa which goes the one who walks the one who walks
H1980-53 Genesis 3:8 מִתְהַלֵּ֥ךְ mitehalekhe HVtrmsa walking walking about walking about
H1980-66 Genesis 5:22 וַ/יִּתְהַלֵּ֨ךְ vayitehalekhe HC/Vtw3ms walked and he walked about and he walked about
H1980-66 Genesis 5:24 וַ/יִּתְהַלֵּ֥ךְ vayitehalekhe HC/Vtw3ms walked and he walked about and he walked about
H1980-30 Genesis 6:9 הִֽתְהַלֶּךְ hitehalekhe HVtp3ms walked he walked about he walked about
H1980-20 Genesis 8:3 הָל֣וֹךְ halokhe HVqa continually going walking
H1980-20 Genesis 8:5 הָל֣וֹךְ halokhe HVqa going going walking
H1980-20 Genesis 12:9 הָל֥וֹךְ halokhe HVqa going on going walking
H1980-06 Genesis 13:5 הַ/הֹלֵ֖ךְ haholekhe HTd/Vqrmsa who was going the one who walks the one who walks
H1980-30 Genesis 13:17 הִתְהַלֵּ֣ךְ hitehalekhe HVtv2ms walk he walked about walk about
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