H2708 — חֻקָּה (chuqqâh)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H2708
Original: חֻקָּה
Transliteration: chuqqâh
Pronunciation: khook-kaw
Part of Speech: Feminine noun
Root: Feminine form of H2706 (חֹק, choq) — itself from H2710 (חָקַק, chaqaq, to cut in, inscribe, decree)
Occurrences: 101 unique verses (116 tokens) in OT
Books: 15
First Occurrence: Gen 26:5 — "Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws."
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

Feminine of H2706, and meaning substantially the same: an enactment, appointed statute. KJV renderings: appointed, custom, manner, ordinance, site, statute.

Derived from H2710 (חָקַק), which means to cut in or inscribe — evoking a statute as something engraved, permanent, and fixed. As the feminine form of choq (H2706), chuqqâh shares the same core meaning but is the grammatically marked variant; in practice both appear in the same collocations and formulae. Chuqqâh is the dominant form in the priestly literature's "perpetual statute" formula (לְחֻקַּת עוֹלָם).

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
my statutes	24	23.8%
a statute	13	12.9%
in my statutes	9	8.9%
and his statutes / his statutes	12	11.9%
the ordinances / ordinance / the ordinance	13	12.9%
statute	4	4.0%
and my statutes / in the statutes	6	5.9%
customs / in the manners / the customs	3	3.0%
appointed	1	1.0%
the rites of it	1	1.0%
Other	15	14.9%

Dominant translations: statute(s) (~73%), ordinance(s) (~22%), customs/manners (~3%).

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Leviticus	26	3.0
Ezekiel	20	1.6
1 Kings	8	1.0
Micah	1	1.0
Numbers	12	0.9
Deuteronomy	8	0.8
2 Kings	5	0.7
Exodus	7	0.6
Jeremiah	6	0.4
Genesis	1	0.1
Psalms	3	0.1
2 Chronicles	1	0.1
1 Chronicles	1	0.1
2 Samuel	1	0.1
Job	1	0.1

Concentrated in priestly/legal literature: Leviticus (3.0/100) leads by a wide margin. Ezekiel reflects the prophetic use of covenant-keeping language. Sparse presence in wisdom/poetry and narrative literature. Absence from the Prophets except Ezekiel and Jeremiah is notable — those two books use it in appeals to return to covenant obedience.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Covenant Statutes — God's Law as Covenant Obligation¶

The most common use: God's statutes given to Israel as the binding terms of the covenant. Typically paired with mishpat (H4941) and mitsvah (H4687) in legal summaries.

Lev 18:5 — "Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD your God."
Lev 26:3 — "If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them..."
Deut 6:2 — "That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son..."
Ezek 20:11 — "And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them."

2. Cultic and Ritual Ordinances — Specific Liturgical Laws¶

Used as the technical term for specific liturgical prescriptions: the Passover, Day of Atonement, feasts, red heifer, and priestly regulations.

Exo 12:14 — "And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever."
Exo 12:43 — "And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof."
Num 19:2 — "This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot..."
Lev 16:29 — "And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls..." (Day of Atonement)

3. Perpetual Statutes — "לְחֻקַּת עוֹלָם" (For All Generations)¶

A distinctive formula using chuqqâh + olam (H5769) or "throughout your generations" (לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם). This marks laws as permanently binding, not time-limited.

Lev 3:17 — "It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood."
Lev 16:34 — "And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year."
Num 19:21 — "And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them, that he that sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his clothes."
Lev 23:31 — "Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings." (Feast of Tabernacles)

4. Statutes of the Nations — Foreign Practices Condemned¶

Chuqqâh is applied to pagan customs as a foil — what Israel must not do. These are the "statutes" of Egypt, Canaan, the heathen, and apostate Israel.

Lev 18:3 — "After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan...ye shall not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances."
2 Ki 17:8 — "And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made."
2 Ki 17:19 — "Also Judah kept not the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they had made."
Mic 6:16 — "For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that I should make thee a desolation..."

5. Ordinances of Creation — Cosmic Laws¶

A small but theologically significant use: chuqqâh extends to the fixed ordinances of the natural order — God's decrees built into creation itself.

Job 38:33 — "Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?"
Jer 31:35 — "Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night..."
Jer 33:25 — "Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth..."

6. Walking in Statutes — The Covenant Obedience Formula¶

The verb הָלַךְ (halak, "walk") + בְּחֻקֹּתַי ("in my statutes") is a recurring covenantal formula describing the life of covenant faithfulness, especially prominent in Ezekiel.

1 Ki 6:12 — "Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them..."
Ezek 18:9 — "Hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgments, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord GOD."
Ezek 33:15 — "If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live..."
Ezek 37:24 — "And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them."

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
עָשָׂה (asah)	H6213	44x (44%)	"do my statutes" — chuqqah as action required
שָׁמַר (shamar)	H8104	43x (43%)	"keep my statutes" — covenant faithfulness verb
יְהֹוָה (YHWH)	H3068	40x (40%)	"statutes of the LORD" — divine ownership formula
מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat)	H4941	36x (36%)	"statutes and judgments" — the standard legal pair
מִצְוָה (mitsvah)	H4687	23x (23%)	"statutes and commandments" — covenant summary triad
עוֹלָם (olam)	H5769	23x (23%)	"perpetual statute" — permanent obligation formula
דּוֹר (dor)	H1755	16x (16%)	"throughout your generations" — intergenerational binding
צָוָה (tsavah)	H6680	15x (15%)	"which I have commanded" — source-of-authority marker
הָלַךְ (halak)	H1980	14x (14%)	"walk in my statutes" — the covenant obedience formula
יִשְׂרָאֵל (Israel)	H3478	13x (13%)	"statutes unto the children of Israel"

Word Family / Cognates¶

H2706 חֹק (choq) — the masculine form; same semantic range; root of chuqqâh. Choq occurs ~127 verses; broader use includes natural boundaries and food portions. Both appear frequently together in the same formulas.
H2710 חָקַק (chaqaq) — root verb: to cut in, inscribe, decree — the act of engraving a law

Synonyms¶

No discrete synonym list was returned by search_relationships.py for H2708.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for H2708.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
חֹק (choq)	H2706	statute, ordinance (all forms)	Masculine form; virtually identical meaning. Choq can refer to non-covenant enactments (allotted portions, natural bounds, Prov 8:29); chuqqâh is the dominant form in the Levitical "perpetual statute" formula
מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat)	H4941	ordinance, judgment	Mishpat emphasizes judicial process/verdict (from shaphat, "judge"); chuqqâh is a fixed enactment regardless of legal proceedings. They consistently appear as a pair
מִצְוָה (mitsvah)	H4687	commandment, statute (rare overlap)	Mitsvah is a specific charge or order given; chuqqâh is more of a standing ordinance/enacted law

Semantic Domains¶

UBS / Relationship Domains¶

[002002003003] Happen — Neighboring entries returned by search_relationships.py: אִיתַי (A383), אנה (H578), אנה (H579), אפף (H661), אִשׁ (H786), אתה (A858).
[002003003016] Laws — Neighboring entries returned by search_relationships.py: אֲמָנָה (H548), אֲמָנָה (H549), אֱסָר (A633), גְּזֵרָה (A1510), גְּזֵרָה (H1509), דָּת (A1882).

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occ	PMI Score	Notes
νομίμως (nomimōs)	G3545	32	7.06	Adverb "lawfully, according to law" — appears in same verse contexts
δικαίωμα (dikaiōma)	G1345	35	6.04	Primary substantive equivalent: "statute, ordinance, legal claim"
ἐντολή (entolē)	G1785	23	4.84	"commandment" — used when chuqqah appears in the law-summary triad
αἰώνιος (aiōnios)	G166	20	5.35	"eternal/perpetual" — co-occurring with the לְחֻקַּת עוֹלָם formula
νόμος (nomos)	G3551	15	3.91	"law" — broader rendering in some contexts

The dominant LXX substantive equivalent is δικαίωμα (dikaiōma, G1345) — the same bridge covered in TR-choq-dikaioma.md. That trace file applies to both choq and chuqqâh.