חָזַקchâzaq
be or grow firm, strong, strengthen
Pronunciation: khaw-zak' · Hebrew/Aramaic (Old Testament) · H2388
Meanings
Qal
I. be or grow strong
1.
a. of physical strength (Judges 7:11; 2 Samuel 2:7; 2 Samuel 16:21)
b. of people, army (Deuteronomy 11:8; Joshua 17:13; Judges 1:28)
c. of royal power (2 Samuel 3:1; 2 Chronicles 26:15; 2 Chronicles 26:16)
d. prevail over, upon (2 Samuel 24:4; 1 Chronicles 21:4)
e. of bonds (Isaiah 28:22)
f. of sound of trumpet (Exodus 19:19; Exodus 19:16)
2. be firm, fast
a. be caught fast (2 Samuel 18:9)
b. be firm, secure (2 Kings 14:5; 2 Chronicles 25:3)
c. be firm (Deuteronomy 31:6; Deuteronomy 31:7; Deuteronomy 31:23)
d. hold firmly to, devote oneself to (2 Chronicles 31:4)
e. be firm, firmly refrain (Deuteronomy 12:23; 1 Chronicles 28:7)
3. press, be urgent (Exodus 12:33; Ezekiel 3:14)
4. in bad sense
a. grow stout, rigid, hard (Exodus 7:13; Exodus 7:22; Exodus 8:15)
b. be severe, grievous (2 Kings 3:26; Genesis 41:56; Genesis 41:57)
II. transitive only לֹא חֲזֶקוֺ (2 Chronicles 28:20)
Pi`el
1. make strong, (physically)
b. restore to strength, to health (Daniel 10:18; Daniel 10:19; Ezekiel 34:4)
c. making strong, fortifying, repair (Isaiah 41:7; Jeremiah 10:4; Isaiah 54:4)
2. strengthen the hands (accusative) of any one, i.e. sustain, encourage (opposed to רִפָּה) (Judges 9:24; Jeremiah 23:14; Ezekiel 13:22)
3. make strong, = bold, encourage (Deuteronomy 1:38; Deuteronomy 3:28; 2 Samuel 11:5)
4. make firm
a. and with thy sash, will I make him firm (Isaiah 22:21)
b. make firm, fixed (Psalms 64:6)
5. make rigid, hard, i.e. perverse, obstinate, harden (the heart of any one) (Exodus 4:21; Exodus 10:20; Exodus 10:27)
Hiph`il
1.
a. make strong, strengthen (Jeremiah 51:12)
b. make firm (2 Kings 15:19)
c. display strength (2 Chronicles 26:8; Daniel 11:32)
2. make severe (2 Samuel 11:25)
3. followed by יד = support (Ezekiel 16:49; Ezekiel 30:25; Ezekiel 30:24)
4. = repair (Nehemiah 3:4; Nehemiah 3:1-200; Ezekiel 27:9)
5. prevail (Daniel 11:7; Job 18:9; 2 Kings 4:8)
6. especially take or keep hold of, seize, grasp
a. take hold, seize, catch (Genesis 19:4; Genesis 21:18; Exodus 4:4)
b. have, keep hold of (Judges 16:26; 2 Samuel 3:29; Jeremiah 50:33)
c. hold up, sustain, support (Leviticus 25:35; Isaiah 42:6; Isaiah 45:1)
d. hold, contain (2 Chronicles 4:5)
Hithpa`el
1. strengthen oneself, figurative = take courage (2 Samuel 3:6; 1 Kings 20:22; 2 Chronicles 1:1)
2. put forth strength, use one's strength (Genesis 48:2; Numbers 13:20; Judges 20:22)
3. withstand, followed by לִפְנֵי (2 Chronicles 13:7; 2 Chronicles 13:8)
4. hold strongly with, followed by עִם (1 Chronicles 11:10; Daniel 10:21; 2 Chronicles 16:9)
Same root
- חָזָקchâzâq · H2389strong (usu. in a bad sense, hard, bold, violent)
- חָזֵקchâzêq · H2390powerful
- חֵזֶקchêzeq · H2391help
- חֹזֶקchôzeq · H2392power
- חִזְקִיChizqîy · H2395Chizki, an Israelite
- חִזְקִיָּהChizqîyâh · H2396Chizkijah, a king of Judah, also the name of two other Israelites
- יְחֶזְקֵאלYᵉchezqêʼl · H3168Jechezkel, the name of two Israelites
- נָשַׁקnâshaq · H5401to kiss, literally or figuratively (touch); also (as a mode of attachment), to equip with weapons
Where it appears
Appears 291 times in the Bible.
- Genesis 19:16 When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city, for the Lord was merciful.
- Genesis 21:18 Go to him and comfort him, for I will make a great nation from his descendants.”
- Genesis 41:56 So with severe famine everywhere, Joseph opened up the storehouses and distributed grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe throughout the land of Egypt.
- Genesis 41:57 And people from all around came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph because the famine was severe throughout the world.
- Genesis 47:20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. All the Egyptians sold him their fields because the famine was so severe, and soon all the land belonged to Pharaoh.
- Genesis 48:2 When Joseph arrived, Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to see you.” So Jacob gathered his strength and sat up in his bed.
See every passage
- Genesis 19:16, 21:18, 41:56, 41:57, 47:20, 48:2
- Exodus 4:4, 4:21, 7:13, 7:22, 8:19, 9:2, 9:12, 9:35, 10:20, 10:27, 11:10, 12:33, 14:4, 14:8, 14:17
- Leviticus 25:35
- Numbers 13:20
- Deuteronomy 1:38, 3:28, 11:8, 12:23, 22:25, 25:11, 31:6, 31:7, 31:23
- Joshua 1:6, 1:7, 1:9, 1:18, 10:25, 11:20, 17:13, 23:6
- Judges 1:28, 3:12, 7:8, 7:11, 7:20, 9:24, 16:26, 16:28, 19:4, 19:25, 19:29, 20:22
- 1 Samuel 4:9, 15:27, 17:35, 17:50, 23:16, 30:6
- 2 Samuel 1:11, 2:7, 2:16, 3:6, 3:29, 10:11, 10:12, 11:25, 13:11, 13:14, 13:28, 15:5, 16:21, 18:9, 24:4
- 1 Kings 1:50, 2:2, 2:28, 9:9, 16:22, 20:22, 20:23, 20:25
- 2 Kings 2:12, 3:26, 4:8, 4:27, 12:5, 12:6, 12:7, 12:8, 12:12, 12:14, 14:5, 15:19, 22:5, 22:6, 25:3
- 1 Chronicles 11:10, 19:12, 19:13, 21:4, 22:13, 26:27, 28:7, 28:10, 28:20, 29:12
- 2 Chronicles 1:1, 4:5, 7:22, 8:3, 11:11, 11:12, 11:17, 12:13, 13:7, 13:8, 13:21, 15:7, 15:8, 16:9, 17:1, 19:11, 21:4, 23:1, 24:5, 24:12, 25:3, 25:8, 25:11, 26:8, 26:9, 26:15, 27:5, 27:6, 28:15, 28:20, 29:3, 29:34, 31:4, 32:5, 32:7, 34:8, 34:10, 35:2
- Ezra 1:6, 6:22, 7:28, 9:12, 10:4
- Nehemiah 2:18, 3:4, 3:5, 3:6, 3:7, 3:8, 3:9, 3:10, 3:11, 3:12, 3:13, 3:14, 3:15, 3:16, 3:17, 3:18, 3:19, 3:20, 3:21, 3:22, 3:23, 3:24, 3:27, 3:28, 3:29, 3:30, 3:31, 3:32, 4:16, 4:17, 4:21, 5:16, 6:9, 10:29
- Job 2:3, 2:9, 4:3, 8:15, 8:20, 18:9, 27:6
- Psalms 27:14, 31:24, 35:2, 64:5, 147:13
- Proverbs 3:18, 4:13, 7:13, 26:17
- Isaiah 4:1, 22:21, 27:5, 28:22, 33:23, 35:3, 35:4, 39:1, 41:6, 41:7, 41:9, 41:13, 42:6, 45:1, 51:18, 54:2, 56:2, 56:4, 56:6, 64:7
- Jeremiah 5:3, 6:23, 6:24, 8:5, 8:21, 10:4, 20:7, 23:14, 31:32, 49:24, 50:33, 50:42, 50:43, 51:12, 52:6
- Ezekiel 3:14, 7:13, 13:22, 16:49, 22:14, 27:9, 27:27, 30:21, 30:24, 30:25, 34:4, 34:16
- Daniel 10:18, 10:19, 10:21, 11:1, 11:5, 11:6, 11:7, 11:21, 11:32
- Hosea 7:15
- Micah 4:9, 7:18
- Nahum 2:1, 3:14
- Haggai 2:4
- Zechariah 8:9, 8:13, 8:23, 14:13
- Malachi 3:13
Source: Brown, Driver and Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain; markup by unfoldingWord, CC BY (github.com/unfoldingWord/Brown-Driver-Briggs-Enhanced).