H2710 — חָקַק (châqaq)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H2710
Original: חָקַק
Transliteration: châqaq
Pronunciation: khaw-kak'
Part of Speech: Verb (primitive root)
Root: Primitive root — to hack, engrave
Occurrences: 19 unique verses
Books: 9 (Genesis, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Judges, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Ezekiel)
First Occurrence: Gen 49:10 — "nor a lawgiver (mᵉchôqêq) from between his feet, until Shiloh come"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A primitive root; properly, to hack, i.e. engrave (Judges 5:14, to be a scribe simply); by implication, to enact (laws being cut in stone or metal tablets in primitive times) or (generally) prescribe: — appoint, decree, governor, grave, lawgiver, note, pourtray, print, set.

Verb Stem Distribution¶

Stem	Count	Typical Meaning
Qal	9	To engrave, carve, inscribe; set a decree
Piel	8	To enact authoritatively; "the lawgiver" (substantive ptcp)
Pual	1	The thing decreed/enacted (passive: the law itself)
Hophal	1	To be inscribed, be engraved (passive)

Tallied from hebrew_parser.py verse parsing across all 19 occurrences.

Note: The Piel participle (מְחֹקֵק, mᵉchôqêq) functions as a substantive title — "the one who enacts" = "lawgiver" — accounting for the majority of Piel uses (Gen 49:10; Num 21:18; Deu 33:21; Jdg 5:14; Isa 33:22; Psa 60:7; 108:8). This is the dominant form in legal and royal contexts.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
lawgiver / governors (mᵉchôqêq ptcp)	7	36.8%
engrave / graven / grave / pourtray / pourtrayed	5	26.3%
decree / note / print / appointed / set	5	26.3%
the law (mᵉchuqqâq, Pual)	1	5.3%
they were printed (Hophal)	1	5.3%

Full KJV phrase list from script: "my lawgiver" (2x), "nor/of/the lawgiver" (3x), "our lawgiver" (1x), "toward the governors" (1x), "I have graven thee" (1x), "and pourtray / pourtrayed" (2x), "that graveth" (1x), "decree" (1x), "note it" (1x), "unto them that decree" (1x), "when he appointed / set" (2x), "the law" (1x), "they were printed" (1x).

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Isaiah	5	0.39
Proverbs	4	0.44
Judges	2	0.32
Psalms	2	0.08
Ezekiel	2	0.16
Genesis	1	0.07
Numbers	1	0.08
Deuteronomy	1	0.10
Job	1	0.09

Pattern: Highest density in Proverbs (Wisdom literature) and Isaiah (prophetic). Judges carries both military leader and scribe senses (5:9, 5:14). Absent from explicitly legal books (Leviticus, Exodus) where the noun forms חֹק / חֻקָּה dominate — the root verb is less common than its derivatives.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Physical Engraving / Carving (Qal)¶

The literal act of cutting into a surface — stone, rock, brick, or a body.

Isa 49:16 — "Behold, I have graven (Qal Perf) thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me"
Eze 4:1 — "take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray (Qal Perf) upon it the city, even Jerusalem"
Isa 22:16 — "that graveth (Qal Ptcp) an habitation for himself in a rock"
Eze 23:14 — "images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed (Qal Ptcp) with vermilion"

2. Inscribing for Permanent Record (Qal / Hophal)¶

Engraving as the act of preserving words or testimony in a durable medium.

Job 19:23 — "Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed (Hophal Impf) in a book!"
Isa 30:8 — "Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it (Qal Impv) in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever"

3. Issuing a Decree / Enacting Law (Qal / Piel Imperfect)¶

The legislative use: to cut (i.e., formalize) an ordinance — whether righteous or corrupt.

Prov 8:15 — "By me kings reign, and princes decree (Piel Impf) justice"
Isa 10:1 — "Woe unto them that decree (Qal Ptcp) unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed"

4. The Lawgiver / Commander (Piel Participle as Title)¶

The mᵉchôqêq — "the one who enacts" — used as a substantive title for a ruler, commander, or sovereign lawgiver. The defining form of this word in legal and messianic contexts.

Gen 49:10 — "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver (mᵉchôqêq) from between his feet, until Shiloh come"
Num 21:18 — "the nobles of the people digged it, by the direction of the lawgiver (mᵉchôqêq), with their staves"
Isa 33:22 — "For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver (mᵉchôqêq), the LORD is our king; he will save us"
Psa 60:7 / 108:8 — "Judah is my lawgiver (mᵉchôqêq)"

5. God's Fixed Cosmic Ordinances (Qal Infinitive Construct)¶

God's act of setting immovable boundaries into the fabric of creation.

Prov 8:27 — "when he set (Qal InfCon) a compass upon the face of the depth"
Prov 8:29 — "When he gave to the sea his decree (Qal InfCon), that the waters should not pass his commandment; when he appointed the foundations of the earth"

6. That Which Is Decreed — The Law as Object (Pual)¶

The passive of the Piel: not the act of enacting, but the enacted thing — the law itself as a fixed, inscribed object.

Prov 31:5 — "Lest they drink, and forget the law (mᵉchuqqâq, Pual Ptcp), and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
עַם (ʻam)	H5971	5x	"nobles/governors of the people" or "peoples come to the lawgiver"
כָּתַב (kâthab)	H3789	3x	Paired: write and engrave — double command for permanent record (Isa 30:8; Job 19:23)
יְהוּדָה (Yᵉhûdâh)	H3063	3x	"Judah is my lawgiver" (Psa 60:7; 108:8; Gen 49:10 context)
יְהֹוָה (YHWH)	H3068	3x	"the LORD is our lawgiver" (Isa 33:22)
רֹאשׁ (rôʼsh)	H7218	3x	"Ephraim the strength of mine head; Judah my lawgiver"
מֶלֶךְ (melek)	H4428	2x	"kings reign, princes decree" (Prov 8:15)
סֵפֶר (çêpher)	H5612	2x	"engraved in a book" — writing medium parallel (Job 19:23; Isa 30:8)
מָעוֹז (mâʻôwz)	H4581	2x	"strength/stronghold" — Ephraim as head, Judah as lawgiver (Psa 60:7; 108:8)

Word Family / Cognates (חקק root)¶

H2706 חֹק (chôq) — noun, masc: statute, decree, allotment (123x) — the enacted ordinance
H2707 חָקָה (châqâh) — verb: to engrave, to mark out (3x) — variant/related form
H2708 חֻקָּה (chuqqâh) — noun, fem: statute, ordinance (104x) — the feminine form of chôq

Synonyms¶

חקה (H2707) — returned by search_relationships.py.
כתב (H3789) — returned by search_relationships.py.
מלךְ — returned by search_relationships.py without a Strong's number in the output.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for H2710.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
חֹק (chôq)	H2706	both: "decree," "law"	chôq = the noun (the statute itself); châqaq = the verb (the act of enacting/engraving it)
כָּתַב (kâthab)	H3789	both: "write," "note," "inscribe"	kâthab = general writing act; châqaq = engrave/cut into a durable surface, implying permanence and legal authority
חָרַץ (chârats)	H2782	both imply "determined/decreed"	chârats = to cut sharply, decide (a verdict); châqaq = to engrave, prescribe (the content of a law)

Semantic Domains¶

UBS / Relationship Domains¶

[002001001067] Write — Neighboring entries returned by search_relationships.py: חצב (H2672), חקה (H2707), יחשׂ (H3187), ילד (H3205), כתב (A3790), כתב (H3789).
[002002002005] Exist — Neighboring entries returned by search_relationships.py: אָב (H1), אִין (H371), אִיתַי (A383), אִשׁ (H786), בוא (H935), בנה (A1124).
[002002003003] Happen — Neighboring entries returned by search_relationships.py: אִיתַי (A383), אנה (H578), אנה (H579), אפף (H661), אִשׁ (H786), אתה (A858).
[001002007005] Leaders — Neighboring entries returned by search_relationships.py: אַבִּיר (H47), אָדֹון (H113), אַדִּיר (H117), אֲדַרְגָּזַר (A148), אֲחַשְׁדַּרְפַּן (A324), אֲחַשְׁדַּרְפַּן (H323).
[001002008001017] Tools — Neighboring entries returned by search_relationships.py: אֹבֶן (H70), אָזֵן (H240), אֲנָךְ (H594), אֶרֶג (H708), אֵת (H853), אֵת (H854).

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occ	PMI Score	Notes
γράφω (gráphō)	G1125	5x	4.88	Primary — "to write/engrave"; covers the inscribing sense
ἄρχων (árchōn)	G758	4x	3.26	"Ruler/governor" — covers the lawgiver/commander sense
βασιλεύς (basileús)	G935	5x	1.59	"King" — rulers who enact decrees
λαός (laós)	G2992	3x	1.25	"People" — surrounding context of the lawgiver passages

Semantic split in LXX: The LXX translators divided châqaq along its two main senses — γράφω for the engraving/inscription meaning, ἄρχων/βασιλεύς for the ruler/lawgiver meaning. No single Greek word captures the unity of the Hebrew root (to engrave = to enact law = to be the lawgiver).