חָכַם
châkam · H2449 · Hebrew · 27 occurrences
Meanings
-
to be able, to be skillful, to be wise, to be intelligent
State or process by which humans, deities, and animals possess or gain a certain level of wisdom, intelligence, or proficiency
ExamplesDeuteronomy 32:29 “If only they were wise and they understood this; If only they would discern their future!
Proverbs 6:6 Go to the ant, you lazy one, Observe its ways and be wise,
Proverbs 8:33 “Listen to instruction and be wise, And do not neglect it.
-
to act wisely
Action by which humans act in accordance to a certain level of wisdom, intelligence, or proficiency
ExamplesExodus 1:10 “Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, otherwise they will multiply, and in the event of war, they will also join those who hate us, and fight against us and depart from the land.”
Ecclesiastes 7:16 Do not be excessively righteous, and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself?
-
to teach, to instruct, to make wise
Causative action by which humans or deities cause (other) humans to possess or gain a certain level of wisdom, intelligence, or proficiency
ExamplesJob 35:11 Who teaches us more than the animals of the earth And makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?’
Psalm 19:7 The Law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
Psalm 105:22 To imprison his high officials at will, That he might teach his elders wisdom.
How it’s used In 4 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Who or what does itSubject
25 occurrences in 14 groups
- Not stated: you (one person) 7
- Not stated: he, she or it 5
- Other words · 12 groups that occur once or twice (13) 13
What it acts on, or what is saidObject
4 occurrences in 4 groups
- זָקֵןelder, old 1
- פְּתִיsimpleton 1
- נִיme 1
- נוּus 1
With prepositionsPrepositional phrases
8 occurrences in 8 groups
- מִןfrom+ אֹיֵבenemy 1
- מִןfrom+ עוֹףbirds, fowls, winged insects 1
- תַּחַתunder, below, instead of+ שֶׁמֶשׁsun 1
- בin/on/with+ אַחֲרִיתend, future, latter part 1
- בin/on/with+ עָנַשׁto fine 1
- לto/for+ מָהwhat?, why? 1
With adverbsAdverbs
6 occurrences in 5 groups
- לֹאnot 2
- אָזat that time 1
- מְאֹדvery 1
- אַלnot, do not 1
- עוֹדstill, again, yet 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.
Near synonyms 2 words
- שָׂכַל sâkal · H7919 · to be successful, to have success, to succeed
- Both lexemes independently denote being/acting wise or having wisdom/understanding.
- בִּין bîyn · H995 · to be intelligent, to be discerning, to have insight
- Both lexemes genuinely occupy overlapping semantic territory within wisdom/understanding concepts and could substitute in many contexts (being wise vs. having understanding/discernment).
In the other Testament 1 word
- σοφός sophós · G4680 · skillful, expert, prudent
- Greek σοφός directly translates Hebrew חָכַם across its core semantic range of wisdom, wise behavior, and making wise, representing the standard LXX equivalent for this Hebrew wisdom vocabulary root.
Semantic domains 1 entry
- Wise002001002029
- The verb describes possessing or gaining wisdom, becoming or making oneself wise, the underlying verbal root of the word family for wisdom throughout the Wisdom literature.
Word family 6 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H2449. chakam חָכַם verb be wise (Late Hebrew id.; Aramaic , חֲכַם id.; Zinjirli חכמה…
חָכַם verb be wise (Late Hebrew id.; Aramaic , חֲכַם id.; Zinjirli חכמה wisdom, DHMSendsch.57; Assyrian —akâmu, know (with exceptional חֿ see DlPr 178 f.); Arabic restrain from acting in an evil manner, judge, govern; IV.make firm, sound, free from defect by the exercise of skill) —
Qal Perfect ׳ח Pro 23:15; Pro 23:3feminine singular חָֽכְמָה Zec 9:2; הָכַמְתָּ Pro 9:12 (twice in verse), etc. + 3t. Perfect; Imperfect יֶחְכַּם Pro 9:9; Pro 21:11; וַיֶּחְכַּם 1Ki 5:11; יֶחְכָּ֑ם Pro 20:1+; וֶ֯חְכָּ֑ם Pro 13:20; תֶּחְכַּם Pro 19:20; אֶחְכָּ֑מָה Ecc 7:23; plural יֶחְכָּ֑מוּ Job 32:9; Imperative חֲכַם Pro 27:11; חֲכָ֑ם Pro 6:6; Pro 23:19 + Pro 13:20 Kt; חֲכָ֑מוּ Pro 8:33; — be or become wise, act wisely Deu 32:29 (poetry) 1Ki 5:11; Job 32:9; Pro 6:6; Pro 8:33; Pro 9:9, Pro 9:12 (twice in verse); Pro 13:20; Pro 19:20; Pro 20:1; Pro 21:11; Pro 23:19; Pro 27:11; Ecc 2:15; Ecc 7:23; Zec 9:2; לבך חכם אם if thy mind be wise Pro 23:15; with accusative שׁחכמתי Ecc 2:19 wherein I have acted wisely.
Pi`el Imperfect יְחַכֵּם Psa 105:22; suffix יְחַכְּמֵנוּ Job 35:11; תְּחַכְּמֵנִי Psa 119:98; all make wise, teach wisdom, with acc
Pu`al Participle made wise, intensive, as it were the embodiment of wisdom מְחֻכָּם חֲבָרִים חוֺבֵר Psa 58:6, plural מְחֻכָּמִים חֲכָמִים הֵמָּה Pro 30:24 (of intelligent animals).
Hiph`il Participle construct מֶּ֑תִי מַחְכִּימַת Psa 19:8 making wise the simple.
Hithpa`el Imperfect לוֺ נִתְחַכְּמָה Exo 1:10 (E) let us deal wisely (shrewdly) toward it (the people); 2 masculine singular תִּתְחַכַּם Ecc 7:16 make or shew thyself wise.
Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain
Topical studies with this word 1 entry
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
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