What does חָזָק (ḥāzāq) mean in the Bible?
The Hebrew adjective hazaq describes strength, might, severity, hardness, or intensity. Its moral force depends entirely on what is strong and how that strength is used.
Hebrew · H2389
חָזָק
Strong (usu. in a bad sense, hard , bold , violent )
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חָזָקH2389
Pronunciationḥāzāq
What does חָזָק (ḥāzāq) mean in the Bible?
The Hebrew adjective hazaq describes strength, might, severity, hardness, or intensity. Its moral force depends entirely on what is strong and how that strength is used.
Reader summary
Full entry for חָזָק (H2389) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H2389?
The BSB source-word alignment has 56 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include with a mighty (8), and mighty (4), with a strong (3), and a mighty (2), as hard (2).
Where does חָזָק (ḥāzāq) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Exodus 3:19. Its strongest book concentrations include Deuteronomy (10), Ezekiel (10), Exodus (7), 1 Kings (4).
What This Word Actually Means
The Hebrew adjective hazaq describes strength, might, severity, hardness, or intensity. Its moral force depends entirely on what is strong and how that strength is used. The Lord's mighty hand liberates enslaved Israel, a strong redeemer pleads Jacob's case, and a strong wind removes locusts. Elsewhere a severe famine or illness causes suffering, hard-hearted people refuse to listen, a stronger force overpowers the weak, and David places Uriah in the fiercest fighting to arrange his death.
The adjective does not teach that strength itself is masculine, virtuous, violent, or spiritually superior. Nor does weakness, sickness, disability, fear, or need signal moral failure. Responsible teaching identifies the noun modified, the agent, the affected person, and the narrative evaluation. God-given strength serves liberation, justice, truth, endurance, and care; hardened power can become coercion, concealment, or harm.
Communities should value interdependence, protect people from stronger aggressors, and refuse to confuse force, volume, wealth, or office with faithful authority.
How the Bible Uses It
Hazaq qualifies hands, winds, illness, famine, battle, people, hearts, nations, and redeemers as strong, severe, hard, or forceful. The modified noun and narrative outcome distinguish liberating might, intense conditions, stubborn resistance, and harmful power.
- Deut.5.15
Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
Israel remembers liberation from slavery by the Lord's mighty hand as the ground for Sabbath obedience.
- 2Sam.11.15
In the letter he wrote: “Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest battle; then withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and killed.”
David orders Uriah placed in the fiercest battle and abandoned so that he will be killed.
- 1Kgs.17.17
Later, the son of the woman who owned the house became ill, and his sickness grew worse and worse, until no breath remained in him.
The widow's son's illness becomes so severe that no breath remains in him.
- Ezek.3.7
But the house of Israel will be unwilling to listen to you, since they are unwilling to listen to Me. For the whole house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted.
Israel's refusal to listen is characterized as hard-headed and hard-hearted resistance to the Lord.
- Job.5.15
He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth and from the clutches of the powerful.
Job's counselor describes God saving needy people from destructive speech and the grip of the powerful.
- Jer.50.34
Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of Hosts is His name. He will fervently plead their case so that He may bring rest to the earth, but turmoil to those who live in Babylon.
Jacob's strong Redeemer fervently pleads the people's case and promises rest after oppressive exile.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itwith a mighty8×Exodus 13:9, Deuteronomy 5:15, Deuteronomy 6:21, Deuteronomy 7:8
and mighty4×1 Kings 8:42, 1 Kings 19:11, Nehemiah 1:10, Isaiah 27:1
with a strong3×Jeremiah 32:21, Ezekiel 20:33, Ezekiel 20:34
and a mighty2×Exodus 32:11, Jeremiah 21:5
as hard2×Ezekiel 3:8
as strong2×Joshua 14:11, Job 37:18
is strong2×Proverbs 23:11, Jeremiah 50:34
. . .1×Deuteronomy 3:24
[who is] strong1×Isaiah 28:2
a mighty hand compels him1×Exodus 3:19
and a strong1×Numbers 20:20
and a very loud1×Exodus 19:16
and strong1×Ezekiel 34:16
and stubborn1×Ezekiel 2:4
and the mighty1×Deuteronomy 7:19
and Your mighty1×2 Chronicles 6:32
are strong1×Numbers 13:18
are stronger1×Numbers 13:31
because of My mighty1×Exodus 6:1
because of My strong1×Exodus 6:1
both the strong one1×Ezekiel 30:22
by a strong1×Deuteronomy 4:34
fierce1×1 Samuel 14:52
grew worse1×1 Kings 17:17
harder1×Ezekiel 3:9
His mighty1×Deuteronomy 11:2
is hard-headed1×Ezekiel 3:7
is mighty1×Joshua 4:24
of the fiercest1×2 Samuel 11:15
of the powerful1×Job 5:15
powerful1×Ezekiel 26:17
that had overpowered him1×Jeremiah 31:11
the aggressor1×Psalms 35:10
the mighty1×Deuteronomy 34:12
the strong1×Amos 2:14
they are strong1×Joshua 17:18
to a very strong1×Exodus 10:19
was severe1×1 Kings 18:2
were too strong1×Judges 18:26
with might1×Isaiah 40:10
Show sample aligned rows
Exodus 3:19חֲזָקָֽה׃toa mighty hand compels himAdjective - feminine singularExodus 6:1חֲזָקָה֙tobecause of My mightyAdjective - feminine singularExodus 6:1חֲזָקָ֔הtobecause of My strongAdjective - feminine singularExodus 10:19חָזָ֣קtoto a very strongAdjective - masculine singularExodus 13:9חֲזָקָ֔הtowith a mightyAdjective - feminine singularExodus 19:16חָזָ֣קtoand a very loudAdjective - masculine singularExodus 32:11חֲזָקָֽה׃toand a mightyAdjective - feminine singularNumbers 13:18הֶחָזָ֥קtoare strongArticle | Adjective - masculine singularNumbers 13:31חָזָ֥קtoare strongerAdjective - masculine singularNumbers 20:20חֲזָקָֽה׃toand a strongAdjective - feminine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowExodus 3:19
Aligned rows56
Books represented18
Exodus7Numbers3Deuteronomy10Joshua3Judges11 Samuel12 Samuel11 Kings42 Chronicles1Nehemiah1Job2Psalms2Proverbs1Isaiah3Jeremiah4Ezekiel10Daniel1Amos1
Source forms
חֲזָקָה֙5xḥă·zā·qāhExodus 6:1, Deuteronomy 4:34, Deuteronomy 26:8, Jeremiah 32:21
חֲזָקָֽה׃5xḥă·zā·qāhExodus 3:19, Exodus 32:11, Numbers 20:20, Deuteronomy 6:21
חָזָ֣ק4xḥā·zāqExodus 10:19, Exodus 19:16, 1 Kings 17:17, Job 5:15
חָזָ֥ק4xḥā·zāqNumbers 13:31, 1 Kings 18:2, Jeremiah 31:11, Ezekiel 3:9
הַחֲזָקָ֔ה3xha·ḥă·zā·qāhDeuteronomy 11:2, Deuteronomy 34:12, 2 Chronicles 6:32
חֲזָקָ֔ה3xḥă·zā·qāhExodus 6:1, Exodus 13:9, Daniel 9:15
חָזָ֗ק2xḥā·zāqJoshua 14:11, Jeremiah 50:34
חָזָ֖ק2xḥā·zāqJoshua 17:18, Ezekiel 3:8
Parsing patterns
Adjective - feminine singular21xExodus 3:19, Exodus 6:1, Exodus 13:9, Exodus 32:11
Adjective - masculine singular14xExodus 10:19, Exodus 19:16, Numbers 13:31, Joshua 14:11
Article | Adjective - feminine singular10xDeuteronomy 3:24, Deuteronomy 7:19, Deuteronomy 11:2, Deuteronomy 34:12
Adjective - masculine plural3xJudges 18:26, Job 37:18, Ezekiel 3:8
Conjunctive waw | Adjective - masculine singular2x1 Kings 19:11, Amos 2:14
Adjective - masculine plural construct1xEzekiel 3:7
Article | Adjective - masculine singular1xNumbers 13:18
Conjunctive waw | Adjective - masculine plural construct1xEzekiel 2:4
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Severe illness or loss of breath requires qualified medical and emergency response; a lexical study cannot diagnose cause, prognosis, or treatment.
- Alleged leader manipulation or concealed harm requires survivor safety, evidence preservation, independent investigation, and lawful reporting rather than internal reputation management.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that strong faith guarantees physical power, emotional invulnerability, health, victory, or freedom from dependence.
- Do not claim that a person resisting a leader is hard-hearted merely because the leader speaks with religious authority.
- Do not claim that God's mighty power authorizes coercion, hidden retaliation, disposable subordinates, or violence by human leaders.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Strength marked by resistance, hardness, or violence; often connotes stubborn opposition rather than positive power.
Source Gloss
strong (usu. in a bad sense, hard , bold , violent )
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Strength marked by resistance, hardness, or violence; often connotes stubborn opposition rather than positive power.
strong (usu. in a bad sense, hard, bold, violent) BDB: strong Usage: harder, hottest, impudent, loud, mighty, sore, stiff(-hearted), strong(-er).
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Word Origins
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Hazaq is morally located by service and outcome. Deuteronomy 5 remembers God's mighty hand bringing enslaved people out of Egypt and grounds Sabbath in that liberation, so divine strength creates rest rather than endless extraction. Second Samuel 11 shows royal power using the fiercest battle as a murder weapon: David's written order hides intentional killing behind combat.
The text forbids admiration of strategy that erases Uriah and the king's abuse of authority. First Kings 17 uses the adjective for a child's severe illness, describing intensity without assigning blame to the child or mother. Ezekiel 3 turns to hard resistance, where refusal to hear God is the issue, not intellectual limitation. Job 5 describes rescue from the powerful, though the counselor's wider speeches still require narrative caution.
Jeremiah 50 names the Redeemer strong because He pleads the exiles' case. Faithful application therefore measures strength by liberation, rest, truth, protection, and justice; provides qualified care in severe illness; exposes leaders who hide harm through systems; and honors dependence and vulnerability without shame.
Anchor passage
Deut.5.15
Doctrinal connections
- God's mighty hand liberates enslaved people and grounds a command for rest.
- David's authority becomes murderous when he hides intent within fierce battle.
- Severe illness describes suffering intensity without identifying personal guilt or weak faith.
- Hard-hearted resistance concerns refusal to hear rather than cognitive or physical limitation.
- God's strength rescues needy people from violent speech and overpowering hands.
- The strong Redeemer exercises power by pleading the oppressed people's case.
Hazaq is a Hebrew adjective with a broad intensity range, including strong, mighty, severe, hard, fierce, and forceful. Its agreement and syntactic relationship identify what is being qualified, while narrative context determines moral evaluation.
From Old to New Testament
Jesus uses authority to release, heal, serve, and give His life rather than dominate, and Paul locates power in God amid acknowledged weakness. These patterns prevent biblical strength language from becoming contempt for dependence or permission for coercive leadership.