Abarim Publications' online Biblical Hebrew Dictionary
הלם
The verb הלם (halam) means to hammer or smite. It occurs less than a dozen times: of striking an anvil (Isaiah 41:7) or destroying carved works (Psalm 74:6) or uppity generals (Judges 5:26), or clusters of vines (Isaiah 16:8). It's used to describe a righteous person correcting someone (Psalm 141:5) or the hammering of horses' hoofs (Judges 5:22), and once quite literally getting hammered from wine (Isaiah 28:1).
This verb's derivations are:
- The feminine noun הלמות (halmut), meaning hammer or mallet (Judges 5:26 only).
- The feminine noun יהלם (yahalom), denoting some kind of precious gem. We don't know exactly which gem this word denotes (jasper has been proposed but that's just a guess). All we know it that it was known as smasher, or it will hammer (or it will require hammering, possibly because it's so hard). This stone is mentioned three times, twice in reference to the high priest's breast plate (Exodus 28:18 and 39:11) and once in reference to the king of Tyre's covering (Ezekiel 28:13).
- The feminine plural noun מהלמות (mahalumot), meaning strokes or blows. It occurs twice, both times referring to blows exchanged between humans (Proverbs 18:6, 19:29).