Lexical Summary chemeth: Bottle, skin, wineskin Original Word: חֵמֶת Strong's Exhaustive Concordance bottle From the same as chowmah; a skin bottle (as tied up) -- bottle. see HEBREW chowmah NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Originfrom an unused word Definition a water skin NASB Translation skin (3). Brown-Driver-Briggs חֵ֫מֶת, חֶ֑מֶת noun [masculine] waterskin (Late Hebrew id.) — הַחֶ֑מֶת Genesis 21:15; הַחֵ֫מֶת Genesis 21:19; וְחֵ֨מַת ַמיִם Genesis 21:14 (see Di), [Habakkuk 2:5 חֲמָתְךָ see חֵמָה]. Topical Lexicon Material and Cultural Background חֵמֶת denotes a leather bag or skin sewn from goat or sheep hide and used to store liquids, chiefly water or wine. In the dry climates of the Ancient Near East such skins were indispensable for travel. The pliable material expanded as the contents fermented (cf. Matthew 9:17) and could be slung over the shoulder, hung in a dwelling, or poured out in measured amounts. A full skin might weigh thirty-five to forty pounds, enough to sustain a small family on a short journey. Occurrences in Genesis 21 (Verses 14, 15, 19) When Abraham sent Hagar away, Scripture twice stresses that he gave her a חֵמֶת of water (Genesis 21:14, 15). The waterskin becomes the only visible provision for the Egyptian bondwoman and her son. Its rapid depletion in the Wilderness of Beersheba dramatizes their helplessness apart from divine intervention. After the skin runs dry and Hagar sets Ishmael under a shrub to die, “God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink” (Genesis 21:19). The narrative thus turns the everyday object into a witness of God’s compassion: though human resources fail, the LORD supplies a hidden well and refills the emptied vessel. For pastoral ministry the episode encourages believers to place limited earthly means—money, strength, insight—into the Lord’s hands while trusting Him to replenish what runs out in desert seasons (Philippians 4:19). Prophetic Usage in Hosea 7:5 Hosea rebukes Israel’s leaders: “On the day of our king the princes become inflamed with wine, and the king joins hands with the mockers” (Hosea 7:5). The underlying term חֵמֶת depicts the vessel—or perhaps the seething contents—whose fermented heat stupefies the court. The contrast with Genesis is stark. There the skin carried life-sustaining water; here it conveys intoxicating wine that dulls moral judgment. Hosea thus employs the word to expose political corruption: the national leadership treats covenant obligations as lightly as a drinking party, forgetting the God who formed the nation (Hosea 8:14). Woe Oracle in Habakkuk 2:15 “Woe to him who gives his neighbor drink, pouring out your wineskin and even making him drunk so that you can gaze on his nakedness!” (Habakkuk 2:15). The prophet aims his fifth woe at the Chaldeans, whose imperial policy uses alcohol—symbolized by the חֵמֶת—to degrade subject peoples for exploitation and shame. The skin becomes a tool of oppression, a means of stripping away dignity. The following verse announces divine retribution: the exploiter will himself drink the “cup in the LORD’S right hand” (Habakkuk 2:16). The image anticipates the biblical principle that those who corrupt others will face a more bitter draught of judgment (Revelation 18:6). Theological Themes 1. Human limitation and divine sufficiency: an empty חֵמֶת beside a dying boy contrasts with a refilled חֵמֶת after God’s intervention. Practical Ministry Insights • Provision: Encourage believers to present their “skins” of limited resources to God, confident He can open unseen wells. Related Biblical Imagery New wineskins (Matthew 9:17) highlight the need for renewed structures to contain the gospel’s fermenting power. Water jars at Cana (John 2:6-10) underscore Christ’s authority over both water and wine, transforming ordinary vessels into channels of glory. Each image, like the חֵמֶת, points to the greater provision found in the Messiah, “the fountain of living water” (Jeremiah 17:13). Forms and Transliterations הַחֵ֑מֶת הַחֵ֙מֶת֙ החמת וְחֵ֨מַת וחמת חֲמַ֣ת חֲמָתְךָ֖ חמת חמתך chaMat chamateCha ha·ḥê·meṯ ḥă·mā·ṯə·ḵā ḥă·maṯ haChemet haḥêmeṯ ḥămaṯ ḥămāṯəḵā veChemat wə·ḥê·maṯ wəḥêmaṯLinks Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel TextsEnglishman's Concordance Genesis 21:14 HEB: וַיִּֽקַּֽח־ לֶחֶם֩ וְחֵ֨מַת מַ֜יִם וַיִּתֵּ֣ן NAS: bread and a skin of water KJV: bread, and a bottle of water, INT: and took bread skin of water and gave Genesis 21:15 Genesis 21:19 Hosea 7:5 Habakkuk 2:15 5 Occurrences |
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