H5526 — סָכַךְ (sakak)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H5526
Original: סָכַךְ
Transliteration: çâkak (sakak)
Pronunciation: saw-kak
Part of Speech: Verb
Root: Primitive root
Occurrences: 24 unique verses (27 tokens)
Books: 11
First Occurrence: Exo 25:20 — "covering the mercy seat with their wings"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

Or שָׂכַךְ sâkak; properly, to entwine as a screen; by implication, to fence in, cover over, and figuratively protect: cover, defence, defend, hedge in, join together, set, shut up.

Verb Stem Distribution¶

Stem / Form	Count	Typical Meaning
Qal	10	cover, overshadow, screen, weave
Hiphil	7	cause to cover, hedge in, shut up, protect
Piel	1	weave / fence together
Noun form in parser output	1	defence / barricade

The Hebrew parser returned 21 parseable occurrences for lemma סכך. The remaining BLB / Strong's tokens include duplicated or alternate-form occurrences not returned by that lemma query.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
covered / cover / covering forms	13	54.2%
defend / defence / hedged / fenced	4	16.7%
set / join / together / shut up	4	16.7%
miscellaneous tagged phrases	3	12.5%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Nahum	1	2.1
Lamentations	2	1.3
Exodus	5	0.4
Job	4	0.4
Judges	1	0.2
Psalms	4	0.2
Isaiah	2	0.2
Ezekiel	2	0.2
1 Kings	1	0.1
1 Chronicles	1	0.1
1 Samuel	1	0.1

The distribution is sparse but thematically clustered: sanctuary cherubim and ark-covering texts, poetic protection imagery, and a few enclosure / shutting contexts.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Cherubim Covering the Ark / Mercy Seat¶

Exo 25:20 — "the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat"
Exo 37:9 — "covered with their wings over the mercy seat"
1 Ki 8:7 — "the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above"
1 Chr 28:18 — "the chariot of the cherubims... covered the ark of the covenant"

2. Covering or Screening Sacred Objects¶

Exo 40:3 — "cover the ark with the vail"
Exo 40:21 — "set up the vail of the covering, and covered the ark of the testimony"

3. Protective Covering¶

Exo 33:22 — "will cover thee with my hand while I pass by"
Psa 5:11 — "because thou defendest them"
Psa 91:4 — "He shall cover thee with his feathers"
Psa 140:7 — "thou hast covered my head in the day of battle"

4. Enclosure, Hedging, or Shutting In¶

Judg 3:24 — "the doors of the parlour were locked"
Job 3:23 — "a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in"
Job 38:8 — "who shut up the sea with doors"
Nah 2:5 — "the defence shall be prepared"

5. Covering as Bodily Formation or Natural Shade¶

Job 10:11 — "hast fenced me with bones and sinews"
Job 40:22 — "The shady trees cover him with their shadow"
Psa 139:13 — "thou hast covered me in my mother's womb"

6. Obstructive Covering¶

Lam 3:43 — "Thou hast covered with anger"
Lam 3:44 — "Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
כְּרוּב (kerub)	H3742	6x	Cherubim covering / overshadowing sacred space
אָרוֹן (aron)	H727	4x	Ark covered by wings or veil
כָּנָף (kanaph)	H3671	4x	Wings as the means of covering
פָּרַשׂ (paras)	H6566	4x	Wings spread out over the covered object
חָסָה (chasah)	H2620	2x	Protective refuge imagery
דֶּלֶת (deleth)	H1817	2x	Doors in enclosure / shutting contexts

Synonyms / Semantic Neighbors¶

Word	Strong's	Relation
כָּסָה (kasah)	H3680	Broad cover / conceal verb sharing KJV "covered"
חָפָה (chaphah)	H2645	Cover or overlay, often material / surface covering
סָפַן (saphan)	H5603	Hide by covering; panel / cieled usage
חָסָה (chasah)	H2620	Seek refuge / protection; overlaps with protective covering imagery

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
כָּסָה (kasah)	H3680	cover / covered	kasah is the broad general cover/conceal verb; sakak emphasizes screening, enclosing, overshadowing, or protective covering
חָפָה (chaphah)	H2645	covered	chaphah often marks overlaying or covering a surface; sakak often uses wings, veil, hand, cloud, or enclosure as screen
סָפַן (saphan)	H5603	covered / cieled	saphan is specialized for paneling or hiding by covering; sakak is wider and includes protection

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI	Notes
πτέρυξ (pteryx) G4420	5	6.32	Wing; dominant in cherubim / wing-covering contexts
κιβωτός (kibotos) G2787	4	4.34	Ark; co-occurs in sanctuary covering contexts
τίθημι (tithemi) G5087	3	2.70	Set / place language

No cross-testament trace was created: the strongest LXX bridge has only 5 co-occurrences, below the skill threshold of 20. No word group was created because the auto-group data produced only one meaningful co-occurring pair.