the Fourth Week after Easter
free while helping to build churches and support pastors in Uganda.
Click here to learn more!
Bible Dictionaries
Walk
Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words
or A. Verb.
Hâlak (הָלַךְ, Strong's #1980), “to go, walk, behave.” This verb appears in most Semitic languages (although it has a different meaning in Arabic). It is attested in all periods of Hebrew. Old Testament Hebrew attests it about 1,550 times, while the Aramaic uses it a few times.
Essentially, this root refers to movement without any suggestion of direction in the sense of going, whether of man (Gen. 9:23), beasts (Gen. 3:14), or inanimate objects (Gen. 2:14— the first occurrence of the word). In cases other than men (where it means “to walk”) hâlak may be translated “to go.” It is used sometimes with a special emphasis on the end or goal of the action in mind; men are but flesh, “a wind that passeth [goes] away, and cometh not again” (Ps. 78:39). Applied to human existence the word suggests “going to one’s death,” as in Gen. 15:2, when Abraham says: “O Lord God, what wilt thou give me, since I am [going to my death] childless …?” (NASB). This verb can also be used of one’s behavior, or the way one “walks in life.” So he who “walks” uprightly shall be blessed of God (Isa. 33:15). This does not refer to walking upright on one’s feet but to living a righteous life.
This root is used in various other special ways. It may be used to emphasize that a certain thing occurred; Jacob went and got the kid his mother requested, in other words, he actually did the action (Gen. 27:14). In Gen. 8:3 the waters of the flood steadily receded from the surface of the earth. Sometimes this verb implies movement away from, as in Gen. 18:33, when the Lord “departed” from Abraham.
God is said to “walk” or “go in three senses. First, there are certain cases where He assumed some kind of physical form. For example, Adam and Eve heard the sound of God “walking” to and fro in the garden of Eden (Gen. 3:8). He “walks” on the clouds (Ps. 104:3) or in the heavens (Job 22:14); these are probably anthropomorphisms (God is spoken of as if He had bodily parts). Even more often God is said to accompany His people (Exod. 33:14), to go to redeem (deliver) them from Egypt (2 Sam. 7:23), and to come to save them (Ps. 80:2). The idea of God’s “going” (“walking”) before His people in the pillars of fire and cloud (Exod. 13:21) leads to the idea that His people must “walk” behind Him (Deut. 13:5). Quite often the people are said to have “walked” or to be warned against “walking behind” foreign gods (Deut. 4:3). Thus, the rather concrete idea of following God through the wilderness moves to “walking behind” Him spiritually. Some scholars suggest that “walking behind” pagan gods (or even the true God) arose from the pagan worship where the god was carried before the people as they entered the sanctuary. Men may also “walk … after the imagination of their evil heart,” or act stubbornly (Jer. 3:17). The pious followed or practiced God’s commands; they “walked” in righteousness (Isa. 33:15), in humility (Mic. 6:8), and in integrity (Ps. 15:2). They also “walk with God” (Gen. 5:22), and they live in His presence, and “walk before” Him (Gen. 17:1), in the sense of living responsibly before Him.
B. Nouns.
Hălı̂ykâh (הֲלִיכָה, Strong's #1979), “course; doings; traveling company; caravan; procession.” This noun occurs 6 times in the Old Testament. This word conveys several nuances. In Nah. 2:5 hălı̂ykâh refers to a “course”: “He shall recount his worthies: they shall stumble in their walk.…” The word means “doings” in Prov. 31:27. It may also mean “traveling-company” or “caravan as in Job 6:19 or a “procession as in Ps. 68:24.
Several other related nouns occur infrequently. Mahalak, which appears 5 times, means “passage” (Ezek. 42:4) and “journey” (Neh. 2:6). Helek occurs twice and means a “visitor” (2 Sam. 12:4). Halik appears once with the meaning “steps” (Job 29:6). Tahalukot occurs once to mean “procession,” specifically a thanksgiving procession (Neh. 12:31).
These files are public domain.
Vines, W. E., M. A. Entry for 'Walk'. Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/vot/w/walk.html. 1940.
