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חָנָה

to encamp

‘to encamp’ is one of 3 main senses fuller range ↓

H2583 Strong's Hebrew
chânâh Transliteration
/khaw-naw'/ Pronunciation
Usage in the Hebrew Bible 143 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.

The Hebrew verb חנה centers on the idea of “to encamp.” Numbers dominates its distribution — 72 of 135 verses. The Hebrew Bible uses it across 135 verses — common. The lexicon spreads it across several senses; see its full sense range. Its English rendering has broadened — “pitched” classically, “camped” (Berean Standard Bible) in modern versions; see the renderings breakdown. Dig into 135-verse concordance and the renderings breakdown below.

Gloss history

Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship

Strong's · 1890
abide
Modern gloss
to encamp
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 H2583 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 →

135
distinct verses
The word appears in 135 distinct verses.
20 / 39
OT books
The word appears in 20 of 39 Old Testament books.
Genesis 26:17
first appearance
The earliest occurrence is in Genesis 26:17.
Zechariah 9:8
last appearance
The latest occurrence is in Zechariah 9:8.
#314
by frequency
Top 500 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 314 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).

View all 135 occurrences in the concordance →


Most concentrated in

By section of the Old Testament

  • Pentateuch 82 · 61%
  • Historical 43 · 32%
  • Wisdom 4 · 3%
  • Prophets 6 · 4%

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 135 distinct verses.

  • Torah (Pentateuch) 82 verses · 61%
  • Prophets (Nevi'im) 44 verses · 33%
  • Writings (Ketuvim) 9 verses · 7%

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: Pitched 57×, Encamped 26×, They pitched 7×
  • American Standard Version: Encamped 81×, They encamped 11×, Encamp 9×
  • Berean Standard Bible: Camped 74×, They camped 11×, Are to camp 4×
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text: Camped 56×, They camped 20×, They encamped 9×

King James Version Public Domain

Renders H2583 across 143 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Pitched” 57×
  • “Encamped” 26×
  • “They pitched” 7×
  • “Shall pitch” 5×
  • “Encamp” 4×
  • “They encamped” 3×
  • “Camp” 2×
  • “Encampeth” 2×
  • “Had pitched” 2×
  • “Lie” 2×
  • “Pitch” 2×
  • “They rested” 2×

Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 27 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 H2583 across 143 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Encamped” 81×
  • “They encamped” 11×
  • “Encamp” 9×
  • “Shall encamp” 4×
  • “Were encamped” 3×
  • “Encampeth” 2×
  • “I will encamp” 2×
  • “Lie” 2×
  • “They remained encamped” 2×

Plus 27 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 H2583 across 141 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Camped” 74×
  • “They camped” 11×
  • “Are to camp” 4×
  • “Encamped” 4×
  • “Encamp” 3×
  • “They encamped” 3×
  • “Was encamped” 3×
  • “Were to camp” 3×
  • “Will camp” 3×
  • “Camp” 2×
  • “Encamps” 2×
  • “Lie” 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. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 2 further occurrences.

unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Renders H2583 across 149 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Camped” 56×
  • “They camped” 20×
  • “They encamped” 9×
  • “And” 6×
  • “Camp” 6×
  • “They camp” 6×
  • “Camping” 5×
  • “Ones camping” 5×
  • “Encamped” 4×
  • “Was camping” 3×
  • “Had camped” 2×
  • “He camped” 2×

Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 21 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.


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 6 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. חָנָה 1 S 26:5 Is 29:1; וְחָנִ֫יתִי consec. Is 29:3 Zc 9:8; חָנוּ Nu 2:34 + 2 times; וְחָנוּ consec. Nu 1:52; Impf. וַיִּחַן Gn 26:17 + 9 times; 3 fs. תַּחֲנֶה ψ 27:3; יַחֲנוּ Nu 1:50 + 13 times Nu + Ex 14:2: וַיַּחֲנוּ Ex 13:20 + 79 times (of which 42 in Nu 33); וַיַּחֲנוּן Ju 11:18; 2 mpl. תַּחֲנוּ Ex 14:2; 1 pl. וַנַּחֲנֶה Ezr 8:15; Imv. חֲנֵה 2 S 12:28; חֲנוּ Nu 31:19; Je 50:29; Inf. חֲנוֹת Ju 19:9; חֲנֹת Nu 1:51; sf. חֲנֹתֵנוּ Nu 10:31; חֲנֹתְכֶם Dt 1:33; Pt. חֹנֶה Ex 18:5 ψ 34:8; f. חֹנָה 2 S 23:13; 1 Ch 11:15; הֹנָ֑ךְ ψ 53:6; pl. חֹנִים Ex 14:9 + 11 times; חוֹנִים Nu 2:2; Na 3:17;— e.g. 1 Samuel 26:5
  • 1. decline, of day drawing to its close חֲנוֹת הַיּוֹם Ju 19:9 (‖ רָפָה הַיּ׳ לַעֲרוֹב; also נְטוֹת הַיּ׳ v 8; הַיּוֹם רַד מְאֹד v 11). e.g. Judges 19:9
  • 2. encamp (proposes verge toward, incline to, settle at, of goal of day’s march):—
    • a. of single nomad Gn 26:17 (J; sq. ב), 33:18 (E; sq. אֶת־פני). e.g. Genesis 26:17
    • b. of Israel at Exod. and in wilderness Ex 13:20 (ב) 14:2 (לִפְנֵי), v 2 (עַל), + c. 80 times (Hex chiefly P); also (abs.) Nu 9:18, 20, 22, 23 cf. Ezr 8:15; Ne 11:30 so they encamped (i.e. settled, or were settled) from Beersheba to the valley of Hinnom (‖ ישׁבו v 25). e.g. Exodus 13:20
    • c. of armies: (1) Israel (conquering Cannan, etc.) Jos 4:19; 5:10 + often; (2) Philistines 1 S 4:1; 13:16; 2 S 23:23 +; usually sq. ב loc. Nu 10:31; 1 S 4:1; 13:16 Jos 4:19; 1 S 13:5 + 63 times (וַיַּחֲנוּ בְ 2 S 24:5 read וַיָּחֵלּוּ מִן 𝔊L We Dr v. חלל); so of locusts in hedges (in sim.) Na 3:17; also sq. עַל = by, near Ex 14:2, 9; 15:27; Nu 1:52; 2:2, 5, 12, 27; 3:29; 35 (על ירך), 33:10; Ju 7:1; 1 S 4:1; על־פני השׂדה (על in diff. sense) 2 S 11:11; sq. עַל also = against, encamp with hostile purpose Jos 10:5, 31, 34 Ju 6:4; 20:19 1 S 11:1; 2 S 12:28; 1 K 16:15; 2 K 25:1; 2 Ch 32:1; Je 50:29; 52:4 ψ 27:3; sq. אֶל־ in same sense Jos 11:5; metaph. of God’s hostility to apostate Jerusalem (על) Is 29:3; sq. also לְ = at, by Nu 2:34; Zc 9:8; אשׁר … שָׁם Ex 18:5; 1 S 26:5; sq. סביב לְ for protection Nu 1:50, 53, cf. metaph. ψ 34:8, but also hostility Jb 19:12; also sq. other prep. and prep. phrases, e.g. מֵעֵבֶר Nu 21:13; מחוץ Nu 31:19; בין 1 S 17:1; נגד 1 K 20:27 etc.; sq. acc. loc. 2 S 17:26; sq. sf. acc. with hostile sense הֹנָ֑ךְ ψ 53:6; without prep. or noun foll., in sense of encamp, be or abide in encampment Nu 9:18, 20, 22, 23; Ezr 8:15; 2 S 11:11 +; poet. of David in Jerusalem, Is 29:1 city in which David fixed his camp. e.g. Joshua 4:19

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. decline, bend down, encamp (Aramaic ܚܢܳܐ to aim at, incline towards, reach; Zinj. מחנת cstr. camp, Inscr. Panammu13, 16, 17; Arabic حَنَا bend, curve, bend down; Assyrian mûnu, mênu and tênû couch, mânîtu, house, ZimBP 44, 45 Dl in Zim117)—

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

Derived from חנן (chânan) (H2603) — to be gracious.

Part of speech: Verb TWOT: TWOT- 690


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.

חָנָה

  • , v. חני

חני

  • [to be covered, surrounded,] to encamp, rest. Num. R. s. 11 (ref. to ויחנך, Num. VI, 25) יַחֲנֶה ד׳ אצלך the Lord have His tent with thee. Lam. R. introd. (R. Naḥm.) (ref. to Is. XXIX, 1) שח׳ בה וכ׳ where David (lawfully) resided, v. חַנְיָיא. Ib. (R. Alex. 1) נוסעים … וחוֹנִים וכ׳ they moved in discord and encamped in discord; Mekh. Yithro, Baḥod., s. 1; Lev. R. s. 9; a. fr.—Apocop. form: חָן (as if from חון). Midr. Till. to Ps. LXXVIII, 47 (play on ב̇ח̇נ̇מ̇ל ib.) ב̇א ח̇ן̇ מ̇ל̇ he (the locust) came, encamped, cut; (Tanḥ. Vaëra 14 בא נ"ח מ"ל; Ex. R. s. 12 interpol. from Midr. Till. l. c.: נח). e.g. Numbers 6:25
    • to cause to rest. Fut. apocop. יַחַן. Y. Taan. III, 66ᶜ (play on י̇ח̇נ̇יף̇, Num. XXXV, 33) הדם י̇ח̇ן אף̇ וכ׳ bloodshed causes the anger (of the Lord) to rest upon the ground (rain being withheld); Sifré Num. 161, Yalk. ib. 788 יחון (corr. acc.). e.g. Numbers 35:33

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 60 distinct written forms H2583 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
וַֽ/יַּחֲנ֖וּ Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Exodus 19:2 47
וַֽ/יַּחֲנוּ֙ Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Exodus 17:1 9
וַ/יַּחֲנ֣וּ Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Exodus 13:20 7
וַֽ/יַּחֲנ֛וּ Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural 1 Samuel 17:1 4
יַחֲנ֖וּ Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Numbers 2:2 4
וַ/יַּחֲנ֥וּ Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Joshua 5:10 3
חֹנִ֔ים Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Absolute 1 Kings 16:15 3
יַחֲנֽוּ Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Numbers 1:50 3
הַ/חֹנִ֖ים Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Numbers 10:5 2
וְ/הַ/חֹנִ֥ים Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Numbers 2:5 2
וַ/יִּ֖חַן Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Genesis 33:18 2
וַ/יִּ֣חַן Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 2 Kings 25:1 2
וַ/יִּ֥חַן Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Genesis 26:17 2
וַ/יַּחֲנ֤וּ Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Joshua 11:5 2
וַ/יַּחֲנוּ Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Exodus 15:27 2
חָנ֥וּ Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural 1 Samuel 4:1 2
חֹנָ֖ה Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Feminine, Singular, Absolute 1 Chronicles 11:15 2
יַחֲנ֑וּ Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Numbers 3:29 2
יַחֲנ֔וּ Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Numbers 9:20 2
הַ/חֹנִ֣ים Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Absolute 1 Kings 16:16 1
הַֽ/חוֹנִ֤ים Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Nahum 3:17 1
וְ/הַ/חֹנִ֣ים Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Numbers 3:38 1
וְ/הַ/חֹנִים֙ Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Numbers 2:3 1
וְ/הַ/חוֹנִ֥ם Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Numbers 2:12 1
וְ/חָנ֖וּ Verb, Qal, Sequential Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural Numbers 1:52 1
וְ/חָנִ֥יתִי Verb, Qal, Sequential Perfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular Isaiah 29:3 1
וְ/חָנִ֨יתִי Verb, Qal, Perfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular Zechariah 9:8 1
וְ/יַחֲנוּ֙ Verb, Qal, Jussive, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Exodus 14:2 1
וַ/חֲנֵ֥ה Verb, Qal, Imperative, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular 2 Samuel 12:28 1
וַ/יִּ֤חַן Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 2 Samuel 17:26 1
וַ/יִּ֨חַן Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 1 Samuel 26:3 1
וַ/יִּ֨חַן֙ Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 2 Chronicles 32:1 1
וַ/יִּֽחַן Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Exodus 19:2 1
וַ/יַּחֲנ֖וּ Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Job 19:12 1
וַ/יַּחֲנ֨וּ Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural 1 Kings 20:27 1
וַ/יַּֽחֲנ֖וּ Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Judges 20:19 1
וַ/נַּחֲנֶ֥ה Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 1st Person, Common, Plural Ezra 8:15 1
וַֽ/יַּחֲנ֖וּ/ן Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Judges 11:18 1
וַֽ/יַּחֲנ֗וּ Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Numbers 21:13 1
וַֽ/יַּחֲנ֞וּ Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Numbers 21:11 1
וַֽ/יַּחֲנ֧וּ Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural 1 Kings 20:29 1
וּ/בַ/חֲנֹת֙ Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct Numbers 1:51 1
חֲנ֛וּ Verb, Qal, Imperative, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural Numbers 31:19 1
חֲנ֤וֹת Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct Judges 19:9 1
חֲנ֧וּ Verb, Qal, Imperative, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural Jeremiah 50:29 1
חֲנֹתֵ֨/נוּ֙ Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct Numbers 10:31 1
חָנ֤וּ Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural Numbers 2:34 1
חָנָ֣ה Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Isaiah 29:1 1
חָנָה Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 1 Samuel 26:5 1
חֹנִ֣ים Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Exodus 14:9 1
חֹנִ֥ים Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Absolute 1 Samuel 26:5 1
חֹנֶ֤ה Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Psalms 34:7 1
חֹנֶ֥ה Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Exodus 18:5 1
חֹנָ֑/ךְ Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Construct Psalms 53:5 1
יַחֲנ֤וּ Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Numbers 1:53 1
יַחֲנ֥וּ Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Numbers 9:22 1
יַחֲנוּ֙ Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Numbers 2:17 1
לַֽ/חֲנֹֽתְ/כֶ֑ם Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct Deuteronomy 1:33 1
תַחֲנ֖וּ Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural Exodus 14:2 1
תַּחֲנֶ֬ה Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular Psalms 27:3 1

Same root — word family


Septuagint verse parallels

This word appears in 133 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 135 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.

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