חָכָם
wise
‘wise’ is one of 7 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Adjective
- A word that describes or qualifies a noun.
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
Noun type
- Common
- A common noun — a general class of person, place, or thing (“king,” “city,” “water”), not a specific name.
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
Every verse where H2450 appears in the Book of Ecclesiastes — 20 distinct verses. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Ecclesiastes
- Ecclesiastes 2:14 הֶֽ/חָכָם֙ ptcl def.art + Adjective Adjective ms The wise man's eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness--and yet I perceived that one event happens to them all.
- Ecclesiastes 2:16 לֶ/חָכָ֛ם הֶ/חָכָ֖ם prep det + Adjective Adjective ms ptcl def.art + Adjective Adjective ms For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no memory for ever, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. Indeed, the wise man must die just like the fool!
- Ecclesiastes 2:19 הֶֽ/חָכָ֤ם ptcl inter + Adjective Adjective ms Who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have rule over all of my labor in which I have labored, and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.
- Ecclesiastes 4:13 וְ/חָכָ֑ם conj + Adjective Adjective ms Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who doesn't know how to receive admonition any more.
- Ecclesiastes 6:8 לֶ/חָכָ֖ם prep det + Adjective Adjective ms For what advantage has the wise more than the fool? What has the poor man, that knows how to walk before the living?
- Ecclesiastes 7:4 חֲכָמִים֙ adj Adjective mp The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
- Ecclesiastes 7:5 חָכָ֑ם adj Adjective ms It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools.
- Ecclesiastes 7:7 חָכָ֑ם adj Adjective ms Surely extortion makes the wise man foolish; and a bribe destroys the understanding.
- Ecclesiastes 7:19 לֶ/חָכָ֑ם prep det + Adjective Adjective ms Wisdom is a strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.
- Ecclesiastes 8:1 כְּ/הֶ֣/חָכָ֔ם prep + ptcl def.art + Adjective Adjective ms Who is like the wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man's wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.
- Ecclesiastes 8:5 חָכָֽם adj Adjective ms Whoever keeps the commandment shall not come to harm, and his wise heart will know the time and procedure.
- Ecclesiastes 8:17 הֶֽ/חָכָם֙ ptcl def.art + Adjective Adjective ms then I saw all the work of God, that man can't find out the work that is done under the sun, because however much a man labors to seek it out, yet he won't find it. Yes even though a wise man thinks he can comprehend it, he won't be able to find it.
- Ecclesiastes 9:1 וְ/הַ/חֲכָמִ֛ים conj + ptcl def.art + Adjective Adjective mp For all this I laid to my heart, even to explore all this: that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God; whether it is love or hatred, man doesn't know it; all is before them.
- Ecclesiastes 9:11 לַ/חֲכָמִ֥ים prep det + Adjective Adjective mp I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all.
- Ecclesiastes 9:15 חָכָ֔ם adj Adjective ms Now a poor wise man was found in it, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.
- Ecclesiastes 9:17 חֲכָמִ֔ים adj Adjective mp The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the cry of him who rules among fools.
- Ecclesiastes 10:2 חָכָם֙ adj Adjective ms A wise man's heart is at his right hand, but a fool's heart at his left.
- Ecclesiastes 10:12 חָכָ֖ם adj Adjective ms The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious; but a fool is swallowed by his own lips.
- Ecclesiastes 12:9 חָכָ֑ם adj Adjective ms Further, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge. Yes, he pondered, sought out, and set in order many proverbs.
- Ecclesiastes 12:11 חֲכָמִים֙ adj Adjective mp The words of the wise are like goads; and like nails well fastened are words from the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.
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.
חכם — transliterated châkâm — is a Hebrew adjective carrying the sense “wise.” It is not a single-sense word — see its full sense range. With 133 verses in 18 books, it is a common word in the Hebrew Bible. Its uses concentrate in Proverbs (35% of all occurrences). It first appears in Genesis 41:8. See the sense tree, 133-verse concordance, and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H2450 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 →
- 133
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 133 distinct verses.
- 18 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 18 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #328
- by frequency
- Top 500 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 328 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 133 occurrences in the concordance →
Most concentrated in
- Proverbs 46 verses 35%
- Ecclesiastes 20 verses 15%
- Jeremiah 11 verses 8%
By section of the Old Testament
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 133 distinct verses.
- Writings (Ketuvim) 83 verses · 62%
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 33 verses · 25%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 17 verses · 13%
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: Wise 68×, Cunning 6×, Is wise 5×
- American Standard Version: Wise 63×, Skilful 5×, Wise man 4×
- Berean Standard Bible: Wise 76×, Wise men 7×, Wise man 5×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Wise 67×, Wise ones 10×, Wise of 8×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H2450 across 137 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 37 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 H2450 across 138 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 48 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 H2450 across 136 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 27 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 2 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H2450 across 154 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 22 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
8 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 8 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.
- 1. skilful in technical work; artificers Is 3:3; sailors Ez 27:8, so (prob.) v 9; mourning women Je 9:16; artisans of tabern. and temple and their furniture Ex 28:3; 31:6; 35:10; 36:1, 2, 4, 8 (P), 1 Ch 22:15 2 Ch 2:6, 12, 13(×2); women in spinning Ex 35:25 (P); goldsmiths and other artisans Je 10:9; makers of idol-images Is 40:20. e.g. Isaiah 3:3
- 2. wise in the administration of affairs: Joseph in Egypt Gn 41:33, 39 (E); heads of tribes Dt 1:13, 15, judges 16:19; of David 2 S 14:20, of Solomon 1 K 2:9; 3:12; 5:21 = 2 Ch 2:11; the prince of Tyre, in satire Ez 28:3; of kings in general Pr 20:26; class of political advisers of Judah Is 29:14 Je 18:18, appar. also Is 5:21; of Egypt Is 19:11(×2), 12, Edom Ob 8, the nations Je 10:7; so of God Is 31:2. e.g. Genesis 41:33
- 3. shrewd, crafty, cunning: Jonadab 2 S 13:3; the princesses Ju 5:29; אשׁה חכמה wise woman 2 S 14:2; 20:16; gen., Je 9:22; intelligent animals Pr 30:24; לכד ח׳ בערמם taking the cunning in their craft Jb 5:13; חכם בעיני wise in one’s own eyes Pr 3:7; 26:5, 12, 16; 28:11; חכמי לב wise of mind (in their own mind) Jb 37:24. e.g. 2 Samuel 13:3
- 4. pl. class of learned and shrewd men, incl. astrologers, magicians and the like, of Egypt Gn 41:8 (E), Ex 7:11 (P; cf. Is 19:11(×2), 12); Babylon Is 44:25 Je 50:35; 51:57; Persia Est 1:13; 6:13. e.g. Genesis 41:8
- 5. prudent, towards king Pr 16:14; in controversies Pr 11:29; 29:8, 9, 11; religious affairs Ho 13:13; 14:10 Je 4:22; 8:8, 9 Dt 4:6; 32:6 ψ 107:43; אישׁ ח׳ Je 9:11. e.g. Proverbs 16:14
- 6. wise, ethically and religiously, in WisdLt:
- a. as adj., חֲכַם לֵב wise of mind Pr 10:8; 16:21; לֵב חָכָם Ec 8:5; of the son Pr 10:1 = 15:20, 13:1; 23:24; Ec 2:19; ילד ח׳ Ec 4:13 wise boy; גבר ח׳ Jb 34:34 wise man; מוכיח ח׳ wise reprover Pr 25:12. e.g. Proverbs 10:8
- b. = subst.: (1) as a wise learner in school of wisdom, he fears God and departs from evil Pr 14:16; is silent Pr 17:28; hearkens to counsel Pr 12:15; hears and increases in learning Pr 1:5; his ear seeketh knowledge Pr 18:15; he receives it Pr 21:11; and stores it up Pr 10:14; his ears hearken to the reproof which giveth life Pr 15:31; and he becomes wiser through it Pr 9:8, 9. (2) as a wise teacher, a sage, he does not answer with windy knowledge Jb 15:2; he tells the experience of the past Jb 15:18; has knowledge Jb 34:2; teaches it Ec 12:9; disperses it Pr 15:7; his tongue is health Pr 12:18; it utters knowledge aright Pr 15:2; his mind instructs his mouth and adds learning to his lips Pr 16:23; his words are gracious Ec 10:12; it is good to hear his rebuke Ec 7:5; his instruction is a fountain of life Pr 13:14; one walking with him becomes wiser Pr 13:20. The חכמים recall the Gk. σόφοι, having their schools, pupils (בֵן), discipline (מוּסָר), principles and collections of wisdom, דברי חכמים Pr 1:6; 22:17 (cf. 24:23), Ec 9:17; 12:11; God himself is חכם לבב Jb 9:4. (3) the wise are prosperous: true, in sceptical view of Ec., they have no advantage over the fool Ec 6:8; but die as the fool Ec 2:16(×2) ψ 49:11; they will not be able to find the works of God Ec 8:17; like others are in the hands of God Ec 9:1; they do not secure bread Ec 9:11; but elsewhere reverse is true: precious treasure is in his dwelling Pr 21:20; his lips preserve him Pr 14:3; they inherit glory Pr 3:35; wealth is their crown Pr 14:24; the wise man is strong Pr 24:5 Ec 7:19; his eyes are in his head Ec 2:14; his mind is at his right hand Ec 10:2; he interprets things Ec 8:1. (4) the wise man is a blessing to others: he wins men Pr 11:30; scales the city of the mighty Pr 21:22; though poor he delivers the city Ec 9:15; is a reproof to scorners Pr 15:12; his mind is in the house of mourning Ec 7:4; injustice makes him foolish Ec 7:7; Job finds no wise men among his cruel friends Jb 17:10. e.g. Proverbs 14:16
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
adj. wise, ח׳ Dt 4:6 + 67 times; cstr. חֲכַם Is 3:3 + 9 times; pl. חֲכָמִים Dt 1:13 + 39 times; cstr. חַכְמֵי Ex 28:3 + 4 times; sf. חֲכָמֶיךָ Is 19:12 etc. + 8 times; f. חֲכָמָה 2 S 14:2; 20:16; cstr. חַכְמַת Ex 35:25; pl. חֲכָמוֹת Je 9:16; cstr. חַכְמוֹת Ju 5:29 Pr 14:1 (but read חָכְמוֹת De);—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from חכם (châkam) (H2449) — to be wise.
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.
חָכַם
- v. חָכָם)
- 1. to be wise, to know. Nidd. 70ᵇ מה יעשה אדם ויֶחְכַּם what must one do in order to be wise?
- 2. (denom. of חָכָם) to meet for deliberation. Ib. לכשיחיו נֶחְכַּם להן when they resurrect, we shall meet to discuss their case.
- 1. to grow wise, to become a scholar. B. Bath. 25ᵇ הרוצה שיַחְכִּים he who desires to become a scholar; ib. 175ᵇ (Ber. 63ᵇ שיִתְחַכֵּם). Ab. II, 5 … לא כל … מַחְכִּים not every one that has a large trade, becomes wise (experienced); a. fr.
- 2. to make wise, to stimulate a person’s mind by ingenious suggestions, questions &c. Ḥag. 14ᵃ תלמיד המַחְכִּים וכ׳ a student who enlightens his teachers. B. Mets. 107ᵇ ומַחְכִּימַת פתי and makes the simple wise.
- 3. to subtilize, philosophize. Ex. R. s. 6, beg. ה׳ על גזרתו וכ׳ philosophized on (tried to find out the reasons for) the Lord’s law. Ib. מה שהייתי מַחְכִּים וכ׳ when I philosophised … and made myself believe …, it was all vain boast &c.
- to become wise. Ber. 63ᵇ, v. supra. B. Bath. 25ᵇ מתוך שמִתְחַכֵּם מתעשר because by becoming wise, he will get rich. Pesik. R. s. 33 beg. מאליו נתח׳ became wise by his own speculation.
חֲכַם
- (adj. with verbal inflection)
- 1. to be wise, shrewd; to be learned. Targ. I Kings V, 11. Targ. O. Ex. XV, 8 חֲכִימוּ (חַכִּ׳, h. text נערמו!). Targ. Is. XXIX, 16; a. fr.—Gitt. 56ᵇ דחַכְמִיתוּ וכ׳ that you are so wise. Taan. 23ᵇ דנִיחְכִּים טובא that we may become well-learned; a. fr.
- 2. to recognize, to know, remember. Targ. Y. II, Gen. XXXVII, 33 (some ed. חַכַּם Pa.).—Targ. II Esth. II, 18; a. fr.—Lev. R. s. 30 ח׳ את וכ׳ doest thou know anything in favor of this man?—Y. M. Kat. III, 83ᵇ top, v. בְּאַר—Y. Ber. II, 4ᵈ top וחַכְמִין אינון כלום do they (the dead) know anything?—Y. Shek. VII, 50ᶜ bot. יֶחְכְּמוּן שפייא קיטריהון let the wine-dealers identify their knots (marks on the wine bottles). Y. Keth. V, 30ᵃ bot. [read:] חֲכִים אנא לחייתא דמילדא לי (or חַכִּים) I (as an infant) recognized the midwife that assisted at my birth (when she came to nurse my mother). Y. Ter. XI, end, 48ᵇ לא אנא ח׳ לאבא I never knew my father. Y. Ḥag. II, 78ᵃ top יַחְכּוּם shall select (Y. Snh. VI, 23ᵃ bot. יטול), v. זוֹגָא.—2) (euphem. = b. h. יָדַע) to sleep with. Targ. Y. Gen. IV, 1 Ar. (ed. ידע). Targ. Y. II ib. XX, 16; a. e.—Y. Maas. Sh. IV, 55ᵇ bot.; Lam. R. to I, 1 רבתי (חד כותאי 1) a.e.
- 3. to be clear, evident. Snh. 42ᵃ, v. זָקֵן I.
- 1. to make wise, teach. Targ. Y. Deut. XXXIV, 10. Targ. Job XXXV, 11; a. e.
- 2. to outwit. Targ. O. Gen. XXVII, 36 (Rashi a. l. quotes וכמני, v. כְּמַן, v. Berl. Targ. O. II, p. 10).
- 1. to become wise. Targ. Ps. CV, 22; a. e.
- 2. to be informed, aware; to learn. Ib. XXXV, 8. Targ. Y. Ex. II, 4.
- 3. to hold counsel. Targ. O. Ex. I, 10.
- 4. to be recognized. Y. Sot. IX, 23ᶜ bot.; Y. Yeb. XVI, 15ᶜ מאן דבעי דלא מִתְחַכְּמָה he who desires to disguise himself; לא מִתְחַכְּמִין they were not recognized, v. נְחִירָא.
- to teach, make wise. Targ. Ez. III, 2; a. e.—B. Bath. 158ᵇ אוירא דא"י מַהְכּים the climate of Palestine makes wise.
חָכָם
- v. Fl. to Levy Talm. Dict. II, 2042) [retentive,]
- 1. one who knows. חֲכַם הרזים He who knows the secrets (minds of men). Ber. 58ᵃ; Tosef. ib. VII (VI), 2; Num. R. s. 21, beg.
- 2. wise man, scholar; esp. Ḥakham, a scholar’s title, less than Rabbi. Ab. IV, 1 איזהו ח׳ who is a wise man? Snh. 21ᵃ (ref. to II Sam. XIII, 3) איש ח׳ לרשעה a man wise for wickedness (artful). Gitt. 67ᵃ ח׳ וסופר is a scholar and a scribe; ח׳ לכשירצה might be a scholar, if he wanted. Hor. 13ᵇ ר"מ ח׳ R. M. was the Ḥakham (counselor); a. v. fr.—Pl. חֲכָמִים, frequ. in the sense of a number of scholars, as opposed to a single authority. Ḥull. 85ᵃ ראה רבי … ושנאו בלשון ח׳ Rabbi approving of R. Meir’s opinion …, recorded it in the Mishnah as the opinion of ‘scholars’. Ber. I, 1; a. v. fr.—חַכְמֵי אומות העולם gentile scholars (philosophers), חכמי ישראל Jewish scholars. R. Hash. 12ᵃ. Pes. 94ᵇ; a. fr.—תַּלְמִיד חָכָם (= תלמיד וח׳, cmp. חָבֵר, abbr. ת"ח) title of a student, disciple, scholar. Ḥag. 15ᵇ ת"ח אע"פ שסרח וכ׳ a scholar’s learning is not to be despised, even if he has gone astray. Ḥull. 9ᵃ ת"ח צריך וכ׳ in order to be recognised as a Talmid Ḥakham, one must have learned three things &c.; a. v. fr.—Pl. תַּלְמִידֵי חֲכָמִים. Ber. 64ᵃ ת"ה מרבים וכ׳ scholars increase the peace of the world; a. v. fr. e.g. 2 Samuel 13:3
חכם
- , Y. Erub. IX, end, 25ᵈ והח׳, read והחמם, v. חֲמָם
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 66 distinct written forms H2450 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
The 60 most common forms are shown; 6 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H2450, 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.
Derives from
Shares the same root
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 5 — not the complete family. 1 of the same-root words is a proper name (a person or place). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 126 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 133 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
- Genesis 41:8
- Exodus 7:11
- Deuteronomy 1:13
- Judges 5:29
- 2 Samuel 13:3
- 1 Kings 2:9
- 1 Chronicles 22:15
- 2 Chronicles 2:7
- Esther 1:13
- Job 5:13
- Psalms 49:10
- Proverbs 1:5
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.
