2484. chelyah

Lexical Summary

chelyah: Ornament, jewel

Original Word: חֶלְיָה
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: chelyah
Pronunciation: khel-yaw'
Phonetic Spelling: (khel-yaw')
KJV: jewel
NASB: jewelry
Word Origin: [feminine of H2481 (חֲלִי - jewels)]

1. a trinket

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

jewel

Feminine of chaliy; a trinket -- jewel.

see HEBREW chaliy

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
from the same as chali
Definition
jewelry
NASB Translation
jewelry (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs

[חֶלְיָה] noun feminine jewelry, נִזְמָהּ וְחֶלְיָתָהּ Hosea 2:15 (see Now Che).

Topical Lexicon

Definition and Context

חֶלְיָה refers to a personal ornament or item of jewelry. Its single biblical appearance occurs within a prophetic indictment, turning an object normally associated with beauty into a symbol of unfaithfulness.

Occurrence in Hosea 2:13

“I will punish her for the days of the Baals to whom she burned incense; she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and pursued her lovers, but forgot Me,” declares the LORD. (Hosea 2:13)

Here the jewelry (חֶלְיָה) represents apostate Israel’s deliberate self-adornment to entice false gods, underscoring the covenant breach that accompanies idolatry.

Adornment and Spiritual Infidelity

1. Jewelry in itself is not condemned; Rebekah’s nose ring and bracelets (Genesis 24:22, 30) or the priestly breastpiece (Exodus 28:15-21) show legitimate uses.
2. When ornaments become instruments of seduction toward idolatry or immorality, they incur divine censure (Exodus 33:4-6; Isaiah 3:16-24). חֶלְיָה stands as a concise emblem of this misuse: Israel “pursued her lovers, but forgot Me.”
3. The prophet employs marital imagery; just as a wife who adorns herself for paramours violates her vows, so Israel’s Baal worship violates the Sinai covenant.

Historical and Cultural Background

Personal jewelry functioned as wealth, identity marker, and dowry. In Canaanite religion, women adorned themselves for fertility rites connected with Baal cults. Hosea addresses eighth-century northern Israel, where prosperity under Jeroboam II fostered luxury and syncretism. חֶלְיָה thus evokes both affluence and the lure of surrounding pagan practice.

Prophetic Warning and Call to Repentance

The removal or destruction of ornaments often accompanies renewal:
• Jacob buried foreign gods and earrings at Shechem (Genesis 35:2-4).
• After the golden calf, Israel stripped off ornaments while mourning (Exodus 33:4-6).

Hosea 2 moves from judgment (verses 13-14) to restoration (verses 16-23), indicating that the same people once adorned for idolatry will later be betrothed to the LORD “in faithfulness, and you will know the LORD” (Hosea 2:20). Repentance entails discarding objects that facilitated unfaithfulness.

Theological Themes

• Covenant Fidelity: Ornamentation becomes a test of loyalty; true beauty flows from obedience (Psalm 29:2).
• Holiness versus Worldliness: חֶלְיָה highlights the tension between external glamour and internal devotion (1 Peter 3:3-4).
• Divine Jealousy and Grace: God’s punishment (verse 13) is remedial, preparing for renewed betrothal.
• Typology: Israel’s misuse of jewelry foreshadows the church’s temptation to court worldly admiration (James 4:4) yet also anticipates the New Jerusalem “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Revelation 21:2).

Intercanonical Connections

Parallel prophetic language:
• Isaiah 61:10 – righteous adornment.
• Ezekiel 16:10-19 – Jerusalem’s ornaments turned to idols.

New Testament resonance:
• 2 Corinthians 11:2 – Paul’s godly jealousy for a pure bride.
• Revelation 19:7-8 – the Bride’s garments are “the righteous acts of the saints.”

Ministry Implications

1. Personal sanctification: Believers evaluate adornments and possessions, asking whether they honor Christ or court idolatry.
2. Corporate worship: Churches guard against spectacle that distracts from God’s glory.
3. Discipleship: Hosea 2:13 provides a vivid illustration when teaching on repentance, holiness, and covenant faithfulness.
4. Counseling: The verse aids discussions on relational fidelity, using Israel’s account to frame marital and spiritual counseling.

Further Study Suggestions

• Conduct a thematic study of “ornament(s)” across Scripture to observe the shift from blessing to judgment to eschatological glory.
• Compare Hosea’s imagery with Ezekiel 16 for a fuller portrait of adornment and unfaithfulness.
• Explore cultural backgrounds of Near Eastern jewelry to enrich understanding of prophetic symbols.

Forms and Transliterations

וְחֶלְיָתָ֔הּ וחליתה vechelyaTah wə·ḥel·yā·ṯāh wəḥelyāṯāh

Englishman's Concordance

Hosea 2:13
HEB: וַתַּ֤עַד נִזְמָהּ֙ וְחֶלְיָתָ֔הּ וַתֵּ֖לֶךְ אַחֲרֵ֣י
NAS: herself with her earrings and jewelry, And follow
KJV: herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went
INT: and adorn her earrings and jewelry along after

1 Occurrence

Strong's Hebrew 2484
1 Occurrence

wə·ḥel·yā·ṯāh — 1 Occ.