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חָזָה

to see

also: perceive, look, behold, prophesy fuller range ↓

H2372 Strong's Hebrew
châzâh Transliteration
/khaw-zaw'/ Pronunciation
Usage in the Hebrew Bible 51 appearances

Compare with another word →

About this entry

At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.

At its core, חזה (châzâh) means “to see.” Alongside “to see” the lexicon also lists “perceive”, “look”, and “behold” — part of its full sense range. It turns up in 47 verses across 13 books, a moderately common footprint. Its earliest occurrence is Exodus 18:21. It shares a root with הזה, חזא and חזה. For the data behind this summary, explore the sense tree and the renderings breakdown below.

Gloss history

Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship

Strong's · 1890
behold
Modern gloss
to see
Strong's 1890 sometimes compressed multiple senses — or homonymous roots — under one number, and used 19th-century English phrasing that no longer carries the same connotation. The modern gloss reflects current BDB scholarship; open the Lexicon Entry tab for the full sense breakdown. Download share card

About this word

Strong's H2372 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.

These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →

47
distinct verses
The word appears in 47 distinct verses.
13 / 39
OT books
The word appears in 13 of 39 Old Testament books.
Exodus 18:21
first appearance
The earliest occurrence is in Exodus 18:21.
Zechariah 10:2
last appearance
The latest occurrence is in Zechariah 10:2.
#723
by frequency
Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 723 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).

View all 47 occurrences in the concordance →


Most concentrated in

By section of the Old Testament

  • Pentateuch 4 · 9%
  • Historical 0 · 0%
  • Wisdom 22 · 47%
  • Prophets 21 · 45%

By traditional corpus

Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 47 distinct verses.

  • Writings (Ketuvim) 23 verses · 49%
  • Prophets (Nevi'im) 20 verses · 43%
  • Torah (Pentateuch) 4 verses · 9%

How translations render this word

Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).

  • King James Version: Behold 4×, Have seen 3×, He saw 3×
  • American Standard Version: Behold 4×, Have seen 3×, He saw 3×
  • Berean Standard Bible: See 8×, Sees 3×, Visions 3×
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text: See 5×, Visions 5×, Envision 3×

King James Version Public Domain

Renders H2372 across 51 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Behold” 4×
  • “Have seen” 3×
  • “He saw” 3×
  • “Saw” 3×
  • “Did see” 2×
  • “He seeth” 2×
  • “I have seen” 2×
  • “Look” 2×
  • “Prophesy” 2×
  • “See” 2×
  • “Seest” 2×

Plus 24 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.

American Standard Version Public Domain

Renders H2372 across 52 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Behold” 4×
  • “Have seen” 3×
  • “He saw” 3×
  • “Did see” 2×
  • “He seeth” 2×
  • “Look” 2×
  • “See” 2×
  • “Seest” 2×
  • “Seeth” 2×
  • “They see” 2×

Plus 28 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.

Berean Standard Bible Public Domain

Renders H2372 across 54 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “See” 8×
  • “Sees” 3×
  • “Visions” 3×
  • “Will see” 3×
  • “Do you see” 2×
  • “He saw” 2×
  • “Prophesy” 2×
  • “Saw” 2×
  • “Seen” 2×
  • “They see” 2×

Plus 25 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.

unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Renders H2372 across 64 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “See” 5×
  • “Visions” 5×
  • “Envision” 3×
  • “He saw” 3×
  • “Saw” 3×
  • “Will see” 3×
  • “You see” 3×
  • “Do” 2×
  • “Gaze” 2×
  • “He sees” 2×
  • “Let” 2×
  • “Sees” 2×

Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 25 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.


11 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB

What do BDB’s symbols mean?

BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:

Symbol Meaning
𝔊 the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX)
𝔙 the Vulgate (the Latin translation)
𝔖 the Syriac version (the Peshitta)
𝔗 the Targum (the Aramaic translation)
ψ the Psalms
√ root (the underlying root or stem)
‖ parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel)
† the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited

The 11 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.

Qal

  • Pf. ח׳ ψ 58:11 + 6 times; חָזִיתָ Pr 22:29; 29:20; חָזִית Is 57:8; חָזִיתִי Jb 15:17; חֲזִיתִךָ ψ 63:3; חָ֥זוּ Jb 24:1 + 5 times; חֲזִיתֶם Jb 27:12 Ez 13:7, 8; Impf. יֶחֱזֶה Nu 24:4 + 2 times; 3 fs. וְתַ֫חַז Mi 4:11; 2 ms. תֶּחֱזֶה Ex 18:21; 1 s. אֶחֱזֶה ψ 17:15 + 4 times; אָ֫חַז Jb 23:9; pl. יֶחֱזוּ Is 26:11 + 4 times; יֶחֱזָ֑יוּן Is 26:11; תֶּחֱזֶ֫ינָת Is 33:17 + 2 times; תֶּחֱזוּ Is 30:10 Ct 7:1; 1 pl. וְנֶחֱזֶת Ct 7:1; Imv. חֲזֵה Is 33:20; 48:6; חֲזוּ ψ 46:9 Is 30:10; Inf. cstr. חֲזוֹת ψ 27:4 Ez 21:34; Pt. חֹזֶה Ez 12:27; pl. חֹזִים Is 47:13 Ez 13:9, 16; 22:28. (All other ptc. forms are used as nouns, v. חֹזֶה.) e.g. Psalms 58:11
  • 1. see, behold:
    • a. with the eye, acc. rei ψ 58:9, 11 Pr 22:29; 29:20 Is 33:20; 57:8; God in theophany Ex 24:11 (JE); God, after death, apart from the flesh Jb 19:26, 27; the face of God ψ 11:7; 17:15 (after death). e.g. Psalms 58:9
    • b. subj. the eyes themselves; man’s eyes: תֶּחֱזֶינָה עֵינֶיךָ thine eyes will behold Is 33:17; also of God’s eyes: ψ 11:4; 17:2. e.g. Isaiah 33:17
    • c. with בְּ look on (intensely, with gratification); a damsel Ct 7:1, 1; Zion Mi 4:11; נֹעַם י׳ in the temple ψ 27:4; the work of God Jb 36:25; with investigation בַּכּוֹכָבִים on the stars, as stargazers, in astrology Is 47:13. e.g. Song of Solomon 7:1
  • 2. see as a seer in the ecstatic state, with acc. of the vision seen: חזון Is 1:1 Ez 12:27; 13:16; מחזה Nu 24:4, 16 (JE; poet., Balaam); מחזה שׁוא Ez 13:7; משּׂא Is 13:1 Hb 1:1; משׂאות שׁוא La 2:14; שׁוא Ez 13:6, 9, 23; 21:34; 22:28 La 2:14; כזב Ez 13:8; שֶׁקֶר Zc 10:2; obj. deceitful things Is 30:10; דבר(ים) Is 2:1 Am 1:1 Mi 1:1; with לְ, be a seer, for any one Is 30:10; see a vision for one La 2:14, 14. e.g. Isaiah 1:1
  • 3. see, perceive:
    • a. with the intelligence, abs. Jb 34:32 Pr 24:32; acc. rei Is 48:6; Yahweh in his temple ψ 63:3; in his providential workings Jb 23:9 ψ 46:9 Is 26:11(×2). e.g. Job 34:32
    • b. see, by experience abs. Jb 27:12; acc. rei Jb 15:17; 24:1. e.g. Job 27:12
    • c. provide, תחזה מכל העם אנשׁי חיל Ex 18:21 provide from all the people men of ability (E). e.g. Exodus 18:21
  • —בֵּית אֲבָנִים יֶחֱזֶה Jb 8:17 is difficult: RV renders he (it) beholdeth the place of stones (the root of the plant personified) Hengst, cf. Reuss al. after 𝔖 𝔗. Other renderings are: pierceth (cf. חָזַז) Bö Ew Hi (יְחַזֶּה), Di De MV; between (v. p. 108) the stones it liveth (יִחְיֶה) 𝔊 Siegf. e.g. Job 8:17

Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.


Word origin

vb. (almost wholly poet.) see, behold (Aramaic ܚܙܳܐ, חֲזָא, see, perceive with the eyes; Palm. Ethp. אתחזי = ἔδοξεν Reckendorf ZMG, 1888, 397; Arabic حَزَى, perceive with the inner vision, only; حَازٍ astronomer, astrologer)—

— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.

Origin: a primitive root

Part of speech: Verb TWOT: 633


Jastrow Dictionary

A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.

חזי

  • (b. h.) [to divide,] to discern, see (cmp. בּוּן). B. Bath. 91ᵃ חֲזִיתֶם נעמי וכ׳ have you seen what has become of Naomi &c.?
    • to distribute kindled chips between logs of wood. Sabb. I, 11 (19ᵇ) ומְחַזִּין Mss. (ed. Ven. מחיזין; Y. ed. Krot. ומחזיזן, read ומַחֲזִיזִין, Hif. of חזז, or מְחַזְּזִין), v. אָחַז.—V. חָזִית.

A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.


Forms in the corpus

The 46 distinct written forms H2372 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that stem’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.

Form Parsing Example Uses
חָזָ֔ה Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Habakkuk 1:1 4
חָ֤זוּ Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural Ezekiel 13:6 2
חָ֥זוּ Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural Job 24:1 2
אֶ֭חֱזֶה Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular Job 34:32 1
אֶֽחֱזֶ֥ה Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular Job 19:26 1
אֶֽחֱזֶה Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular Job 19:27 1
אֶחֱזֶ֣ה Verb, Qal, Cohortative, 1st Person, Common, Singular Psalms 17:15 1
אָ֑חַז Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular Job 23:9 1
בַּ/חֲז֥וֹת Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct Ezekiel 21:29 1
וְ/נֶחֱזֶה Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 1st Person, Common, Plural Song of Solomon 6:13 1
וְ/תַ֥חַז Verb, Qal, Jussive, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular Micah 4:11 1
וַ/חֲזִיתֶ֖ם Verb, Qal, Perfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural Ezekiel 13:8 1
וַ/יֶּ֣חֱזוּ Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Lamentations 2:14 1
וַֽ/יֶּחֱזוּ֙ Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Exodus 24:11 1
וָֽ/אֶחֱזֶ֣ה Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular Proverbs 24:32 1
חֲ֭זוּ Verb, Qal, Imperative, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural Psalms 46:8 1
חֲז֖וּ Verb, Qal, Imperative, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural Isaiah 30:10 1
חֲזִיתִ֑י/ךָ Verb, Qal, Perfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular Psalms 63:2 1
חֲזִיתֶ֑ם Verb, Qal, Perfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural Job 27:12 1
חֲזִיתֶ֔ם Verb, Qal, Perfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural Ezekiel 13:7 1
חֲזֵ֣ה Verb, Qal, Imperative, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular Isaiah 33:20 1
חֲזֵה֙ Verb, Qal, Imperative, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular Isaiah 48:6 1
חָ֝זִ֗יתִי Verb, Qal, Perfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular Job 15:17 1
חָ֣זוּ Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural Zechariah 10:2 1
חָֽזוּ Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural Job 36:25 1
חָזִ֗יתָ Verb, Qal, Perfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular Proverbs 29:20 1
חָזִ֡יתָ Verb, Qal, Perfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular Proverbs 22:29 1
חָזִֽית Verb, Qal, Perfect, 2nd Person, Feminine, Singular Isaiah 57:8 1
חָזָ֣ה Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Psalms 58:10 1
חָזָ֥ה Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Micah 1:1 1
חָזָ֨ה Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Amos 1:1 1
חֹזֶ֖ה Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Ezekiel 12:27 1
יֶֽחֱזֶ֔ה Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Numbers 24:4 1
יֶחֱז֑וּ Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Psalms 11:4 1
יֶחֱז֤וּ Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Isaiah 26:11 1
יֶחֱז֥וּ Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Psalms 11:7 1
יֶחֱזֶֽה Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Job 8:17 1
יֶחֱזָי֑וּ/ן Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Isaiah 26:11 1
יֶֽחֱזֶ֔ה Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Numbers 24:16 1
לַ/חֲז֥וֹת Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct Psalms 27:4 1
תֶחֱזֶ֔ינָה Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 2nd Person, Feminine, Plural Ezekiel 13:23 1
תֶחֱזֶ֣ה Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular Exodus 18:21 1
תֶחֱזוּ Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural Isaiah 30:10 1
תֶּחֱזֶ֣ינָה Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Plural Isaiah 33:17 1
תֶּחֱזֶ֥ינָה Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Plural Psalms 17:2 1
תֶּחֱזוּ֙ Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural Song of Solomon 6:13 1

Same root — word family

Other BDB entries built from the same root as H2372, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.

Derived from this word

Proper names from this root

People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.

Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 19 — not the complete family. 8 of the same-root words are proper names (people or places). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.


Septuagint verse parallels

This word appears in 46 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 47 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.

Read these verses in the Septuagint

This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.

Reading settings

Reading text

Shown beneath each verse's original-language words.

Old Testament
Old Testament edition

Read the OT as the Masoretic Hebrew (MT) or the Greek Septuagint (LXX).

English shown for the Greek Septuagint (in the Hebrew ↔ Greek comparison).

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