H2706 — חֹק (chôq)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H2706
Original: חֹק
Transliteration: chôq
Pronunciation: khoke
Part of Speech: Masculine noun
Root: H2710 חָקַק (châqaq) — to hack, engrave; to enact (laws cut in stone or metal)
Occurrences: 123 unique verses (134 tokens) in OT
Books: 25
First Occurrence: Gen 47:22 — "the priests had a portion [chôq] assigned them of Pharaoh"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

An enactment; hence, an appointment (of time, space, quantity, labor or usage). KJV: appointed, bound, commandment, convenient, custom, decree(-d), due, law, measure, necessary, ordinance(-nary), portion, set time, statute, task.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
statute(s) — all possessive/article forms	~93	76%
decree(s)	~8	6.5%
ordinance(s)	~5	4%
law / a law / for a law	~4	3%
portion / their portion	~3	2.4%
due / convenient / necessary food	~4	3.3%
bounds / his bounds	~2	1.6%
custom	~2	1.6%
task	1	0.8%

Note: The dominant KJV rendering is "statutes" (76%), especially in Deuteronomy and Psalms.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Psalms	30	1.2
Deuteronomy	21	2.2
Leviticus	9	1.0
Exodus	8	0.7
Job	7	0.7
2 Chronicles	5	0.6
Ezekiel	6	0.5
1 Kings	4	0.5
Numbers	4	0.3
Nehemiah	4	1.0
Malachi	2	3.6
Proverbs	3	0.3
Jeremiah	3	0.2
Ezra	2	0.7
2 Kings	2	0.3
1 Chronicles	2	0.2
Genesis	2	0.1
Isaiah	2	0.2
Joshua	1	0.2
Judges	1	0.2
1 Samuel	1	0.1
Amos	1	0.7
Micah	1	1.0
Zephaniah	1	1.9
Zechariah	1	0.5

Psalm 119 alone accounts for ~20 occurrences (nearly two-thirds of all Psalms uses). Deuteronomy has the highest density among law books. Malachi has the highest density overall. No NT occurrences — the word is entirely OT.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Statutory Commandments of God (Mosaic Law context)¶

The dominant use: chôq in paired lists with mishpâṭ (judgments) and mitsvâh (commandments), denoting formally enacted divine laws.

Deut 4:1 — "hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you"
Deut 4:5 — "I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me"
1 Kgs 3:14 — "if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk"
Psa 119:5 — "O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!"
Psa 119:33 — "Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end"

2. Cultic Perpetual Ordinances ("for ever")¶

Specific ritual regulations established as a permanent observance, often for priestly duties or feast observances.

Exo 12:24 — "ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever"
Lev 6:18 — "It shall be a statute for ever in your generations"
Num 18:11 — "the wave offerings of the children of Israel... have I given thee and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever"
Psa 81:4 — "For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob"

3. Cosmic Decree / Fixed Natural Boundaries¶

God's enacted limits upon natural phenomena — the boundaries of sea, the measure of days, the span of a life.

Job 14:5 — "his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds (chôq)"
Psa 148:6 — "He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree (chôq) which shall not pass"
Prov 8:29 — "When he gave to the sea his decree (chôq), that the waters should not pass his commandment"
Jer 5:22 — "which have placed the sand for the bound (chôq) of the sea... though the waves toss themselves, yet can they not prevail"

4. Civil or Royal Decree / Established Custom¶

A fixed rule or practice established by human authority — a king's edict, a commander's standing order, a social custom.

Gen 47:26 — "Joseph made it a law (chôq) over the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part"
1 Sam 30:25 — "he made it a statute (chôq) and an ordinance for Israel unto this day"
Psa 2:7 — "I will declare the decree (chôq): the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son"
Jer 32:11 — "the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom (chôq)"

5. Prescribed Allotment / Regular Portion¶

A fixed share of food, income, or provisions — the "appointed measure" sense from the root (to cut/measure out).

Gen 47:22 — "the priests had a portion (chôq) assigned them of Pharaoh"
Prov 30:8 — "feed me with food convenient (chôq) for me" — the prescribed portion, neither too much nor too little
Prov 31:15 — "she giveth meat to her household, and a portion (chôq) to her maidens"
Ezek 16:27 — "I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary food (chôq)"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
יְהֹוָה (Yᵉhôvâh)	H3068	46x (37%)	"the LORD's statutes" or "walk in the statutes of the LORD"
מִשְׁפָּט (mishpâṭ)	H4941	36x (29%)	"statutes and judgments" — standard Deuteronomic pairing
עָשָׂה (ʻâsâh)	H6213	36x (29%)	"do/keep the statutes"
שָׁמַר (shâmar)	H8104	32x (26%)	"keep/observe the statutes"
יוֹם (yôwm)	H3117	25x (20%)	"this day" / "unto this day" after enacting a statute
יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yisrâʼêl)	H3478	25x (20%)	"statutes for Israel"
נָתַן (nâthan)	H5414	24x (20%)	"gave them / gave thee his statutes"
צָוָה (tsâvâh)	H6680	23x (19%)	"commanded these statutes"
מִצְוָה (mitsvâh)	H4687	22x (18%)	"statutes and commandments" — three-term covenant formulae
עוֹלָם (ʻôwlâm)	H5769	17x (14%)	"statute for ever / everlasting statute"
תּוֹרָה (tôwrâh)	H8451	16x (13%)	"the law and the statutes"
לָמַד (lâmad)	H3925	16x (13%)	"teach/learn the statutes"

Word Family / Cognates¶

H2710 חָקַק (châqaq) — root verb: to hack/engrave; to enact laws (laws were cut into stone or metal tablets); 19 occurrences — Prov 8:15; Isa 10:1; 33:22
H2708 חֻקָּה (chuqqâh) — feminine counterpart to chôq; virtually identical semantic range; 104 occurrences — the two words are used interchangeably and frequently alongside each other

Synonyms¶

No discrete synonym list was returned by search_relationships.py for H2706.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms returned by search_relationships.py for H2706.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
חֻקָּה (chuqqâh)	H2708	statute, ordinance, appointed, custom	Feminine form of the same root; virtually synonymous — distinction is grammatical, not semantic
מִשְׁפָּט (mishpâṭ)	H4941	law, ordinance, judgment	mishpâṭ = a legal verdict or case ruling; chôq = a formally enacted standing statute. Frequently paired as "statutes and judgments"
תּוֹרָה (tôwrâh)	H8451	law	tôwrâh = the body of teaching/instruction (the Torah as a whole); chôq = one specific enacted rule within that body
מִצְוָה (mitsvâh)	H4687	commandment	mitsvâh = a specific command given; chôq = a standing enacted enactment; paired as "statutes and commandments"

UBS Semantic Domains¶

Code	Domain Label	Notes
002002002001	Act	`search_relationships.py` places chôq in a broad enacted-rule field, fitting the idea of something prescribed and put into force.
002003003016	Laws	Direct legal/statute field and the clearest relationship-domain match for the study's primary usage.
002001001042	Quantity	Fits the prescribed-measure / allotted-portion sense seen in Gen 47:22, Prov 30:8, and Prov 31:15.
002002001017	Space	Matches the boundary/limit uses, especially the sea's fixed bound and other spatial decrees.
002002002010	Time	Reflects the appointed-time / fixed-order nuance that attaches to some ordinances and decrees.
002004002013	Think	Secondary abstraction field in the tool output; here it is best taken as a loose relation to formal decree or considered enactment, not as a core gloss.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occ	Notes
δικαίωμα (dikaíōma)	G1345	52x	Primary — equitable statute/righteous ordinance; strongest PMI score (25.04)
φυλάσσω (phylássō)	G5442	34x	Verb "to keep/guard" — LXX renders "keep the statutes" as a verbal phrase
κρίμα (kríma)	G2917	23x	Decision/judgment — used when chôq overlaps with judicial decree
ἐντολή (entolḗ)	G1785	22x	Commandment/injunction — merges with mitsvâh usage
ἐντέλλομαι (entéllomai)	G1781	22x	Verb "to enjoin/command"
νόμος (nómos)	G3551	17x	Law — used when chôq means the body of law
νομίμως (nomímōs)	G3545	18x	Legitimately/lawfully — adverbial rendering

The primary bridge is G1345 δικαίωμα (52x, PMI 25.04). See TR-choq-dikaioma.md for cross-testament trace.