Word

חֵךְ

chêk · H2441 · Hebrew · 18 occurrences

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Meanings

palate

Upper part of mouth cavity; part of human body

Examples
Job 29:10 The voices of the prominent people were hushed, And their tongues stuck to their palates.
Psalm 137:6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth If I do not remember you, If I do not exalt Jerusalem Above my chief joy.
Lamentations 4:4 The tongue of the infant clings To the roof of its mouth because of thirst; The children ask for bread, But no one breaks it for them.
mouth

The mouth cavity, a part of the human body that plays an important role in actions like speaking, blowing, kissing, biting, tasting, and chewing

Examples
Job 6:30 “Is there injustice on my tongue? Does my palate not discern disasters?
Job 12:11 “Does the ear not put words to the test, As the palate tastes its food?
Job 20:13 Though he desires it and will not let it go, But holds it in his mouth,
mouth > speech, words

Action by which humans utter words; associated with the palate

Examples
Proverbs 5:3 For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, And her speech is smoother than oil;
Song of Solomon 5:16 “His mouth is full of sweetness. And he is wholly desirable. This is my beloved and this is my friend, You daughters of Jerusalem.”
Song of Solomon 7:9 And your mouth like the best wine!” “It goes down smoothly for my beloved, Flowing gently through the lips of those who are asleep.
taste

Process by which humans discover the flavor of food; associated with the palate

Examples
Proverbs 24:13 My son, eat honey, for it is good; Yes, the honey from the comb is sweet to your taste;
Song of Solomon 2:3 “Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, So is my beloved among the young men. In his shade I took great delight and sat down, And his fruit was sweet to my taste.
Literally: process of discovering the flavor of an event; hence: process by which humans come to a better understanding and evaluation of a certain event (taste > evaluation (of someone's words))

Examples
Psalm 119:103 How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
mouth > kissing, kisses

Action by which humans press their lips on someone else's lips or any other part of that person's body

Examples
Song of Solomon 5:16 “His mouth is full of sweetness. And he is wholly desirable. This is my beloved and this is my friend, You daughters of Jerusalem.”
Song of Solomon 7:9 And your mouth like the best wine!” “It goes down smoothly for my beloved, Flowing gently through the lips of those who are asleep.

How it’s used In 5 roles

Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.

the word studied the word it goes with

Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive

16 occurrences in 6 groups

יmy 7
ךָyour 3
הוּhis 3
ךְyour 1
הּher 1
הֶםtheir 1

What it doesIt is the subject

5 occurrences in 4 groups

טָעַםto taste, to eat 2
הָגָהto utter, to meditate, to moan 1
חָטָאto sin 1
בִּיןto understand, to discern 1

What it is said to bePredicate

3 occurrences in 3 groups

חָלָקsmooth 1
יַיִןwine 1
מַמְתַּקsweet wine 1

After prepositionsPrepositional phrases

9 occurrences in 4 groups

לto/for 7
אֵלto, toward 5
בin/on/with 2
עַלon, upon, over, against 1

In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive

1 occurrences in 1 groups

תָּוֶךְmiddle 1

When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.

MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.

In the other Testament 1 word

λάρυγξ lárynx · G2995 · throat: Greek λάρυγξ denotes the throat/larynx anatomically, serving as the LXX rendering for Hebrew חֵךְ (roof of mouth/palate) in contexts where the oral/throat cavity is referenced as the locus of speech or taste, reflecting overlapping semantic domains in anatomical discourse despite the distinct primary referents.

Semantic domains 4 entries

Speak002004001009008: The noun names the palate as the organ of speech, as Job asks whether there is injustice on his tongue and whether his "palate" cannot discern what is calamitous (Job 6:30).
Taste002004001008: The word's more basic sense is the palate as the organ of taste, as "the palate tastes its food" just as the ear tests words (Job 12:11).
Know002004002007: The palate's discernment of taste and speech extends to a capacity for judgment and understanding, testing and knowing what is sound.
Impact002001001024: The word is used of a wicked man who "holds" evil in his mouth and will not let it go, food that turns to venom and brings harm once swallowed (Job 20:13-14).

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H2441. chek חֵךְ noun masculine palate, roof of mouth, gums (Late Hebrew id.; Aramaic…

H2441. chek
חֵךְ noun masculine palate, roof of mouth, gums (Late Hebrew id.; Aramaic חִכָּא Arabic palate, roof of mouth, jaws, lower part of mouth, lower jaw of horse, mouth, etc. Lane659 Dozyi. 332); — absolute ׳ח Job 12:11; Job 34:3; suffix חִכִּי Pro 8:7 Pro 8:6t., חִכְּךָ Hos 8:1, חִכֶּ֑ךָ Eze 3:26; Pro 24:13; chiefly in poetry, especially Wisdom Literature: — חִכֵךְ Cant 7:10, חִכּוֺ Lam 4:4 Lam 4:2t., חִכָּהּ Pro 5:3, חִכָּם Job 29:10; — palate, roof of mouth:
a. שֹׁפָר אֶלחִֿכְּךָ Hos 8:1 a trumpet to thy palate! (or gums; as in English, to thy lips); often with לָשׁוֺן, tongue clings (דבק) to חך, expression for speechlessness Eze 3:26; Job 29:10, as imprecation Psa 137:6; for the parching of extreme thirst Lam 4:4 (בַּצָּמָא), compare Psa 22:16 כֹּחִי כַּחֶרֶשׂ יָבֵּשׁ ᵑ0 read חִכִּי for כחי see Checritical note (|| מַלְקוֺחָ֑י מֻדְבָּק לְשׁוֺנִי).
b. as organ of speech Pro 5:3; Pro 8:7 (both || שְׂפָתַיִם), Job 31:30; Job 33:2 בְחִכִּי לְשׁוֺנִי דִּבְּרָה (|| פִי מָּתַחְתִּי).
c. as organ of taste Job 12:11; Job 34:3, לְחִכִּי מָתוֺק מִּרְיוֺ Son 2:3 his fruit was sweet to my palate, Pro 24:13 (implied simile of wisdom as sweet to the soul); figurative of God's words as sweet ׳לְח Psa 119:103 (|| מִּי); of taste as distinguishing misfortunes Job 6:30 (|| לָשׁוֺן; > others of speech); of keeping wickedness ח ׳בְּתוֺךְ Job 20:18 (|| לָשׁוֺן תַּחַת), i.e. delighting in and prolonging the taste of it.
d. nearly = mouth, as an element in personal sweetness and beauty Son 5:16; Son 7:10.

Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain

Topical studies with this word 4 entries

Impact2 occurrences Taste2 occurrences Speak3 occurrences Know1 occurrence

Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.

Sources

eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0