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אָחָז

Ahaz

BDB lists 3 entries for ‘Ahaz’ fuller range ↓

H271 Strong's Hebrew
ʼÂchâz Transliteration
/aw-khawz'/ Pronunciation
Usage in the Hebrew Bible 41 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.

אחז (ʼÂchâz) is a Hebrew name most often rendered “Ahaz.” It first appears in 2 Kings 15:38. With 39 verses in 6 books, it is a moderately common word in the Hebrew Bible. It concentrates in 2 Kings, which alone accounts for 44% of its uses. The sections below give every occurrence and version rendering.

Gloss history

Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship

Strong's · 1890
Ahaz
Modern gloss
Ahaz
Strong's 1890 agrees
Strong's 1890 and current BDB scholarship align on this entry's primary sense — a good signal that the gloss above is unambiguous and stable. Download share card

About this word

Strong's H271 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 →

39
distinct verses
The word appears in 39 distinct verses.
6 / 39
OT books
The word appears in 6 of 39 Old Testament books.
2 Kings 15:38
first appearance
The earliest occurrence is in 2 Kings 15:38.
Micah 1:1
last appearance
The latest occurrence is in Micah 1:1.
#891
by frequency
Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 891 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).

View all 39 occurrences in the concordance →


Most concentrated in

By section of the Old Testament

  • Pentateuch 0 · 0%
  • Historical 30 · 77%
  • Wisdom 0 · 0%
  • Prophets 9 · 23%

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 39 distinct verses.

  • Prophets (Nevi'im) 26 verses · 67%
  • Writings (Ketuvim) 13 verses · 33%

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: Ahaz 40×
  • American Standard Version: Ahaz 40×
  • Berean Standard Bible: Ahaz 40×
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text: Ahaz 40×

King James Version Public Domain

Renders H271 across 41 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Ahaz” 40×

Plus 1 rendering that appears only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.

American Standard Version Public Domain

Renders H271 across 41 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Ahaz” 40×

Plus 1 rendering that appears only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.

Berean Standard Bible Public Domain

Renders H271 across 41 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Ahaz” 40×

Plus 1 rendering that appears 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 H271 across 41 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Ahaz” 40×

Plus 1 rendering that appears 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 2 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. king of Judah, son of Jotham, father of Hezekiah 2 K 15:38; 16:1, 2, 5, 7, 8 + 13 times 2 K; Is 1:1; 7:1, 3, 10, 12; 14:28; 38:8; 1 Ch 3:13, 2 Ch 27:9 + 8 times 2 Ch; Ho 1:1 Mi 1:1. e.g. 2 Kings 15:38
  • 2. son of Micah, & great-grandson of Jonathan 1 Ch 8:35, 36; 9:42 (+ 9:41 cf. 𝔊L 𝔙). e.g. 1 Chronicles 8:35

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

n.pr.m. (he hath grasped, abbrev. for יהואחז (q.v.) cf. Assyrian Ia-u-ḫa-zi (i.e. Ahaz) COT on 2 K 16:8)

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

Derived from אחז (ʼâchaz) (H270) — to grasp.

Part of speech: Proper Name Masculine


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.

אָחַז

  • 1. to press, seize, hold, keep; to befall. Snh. 27ᵇ אוֹחֲזִין מעשה וכ׳ holding in their hands the doing of their fathers, i.e. following their father’s example. Bekh. 33ᵇ אֲחָזוֹ דם he had an attack of congestion. Y. Pes. I, 28ᵇ אֲחוּזַת הדם the animal attacked with congestion. Y. Sabb. XIV, 14ᶜ bot. אֲחָזַתֹּו עין a pain in the eye seized him. Ib. XIX, end, 17ᵇ אחזתו חמה fever overtook him; a. fr.—אָחַז בְּ־ to have a hold of.—B. Mets. I, 1. Y. Yoma II, 39ᶜ top; a. fr.—Part. pass. אָחוּז holding fast, having a firm hold. Ex. R. s. 46 (v. אֲחַד).
  • 2. א׳ את העינים to capture the eyesight, to delude by optical deception. Snh. 65ᵇ; a. e.
    • to be seized. Y. Taan. II, 65ᵈ top; a. e.
    • to distribute split wood (kindling chips) in the gaps of a large pile, to ignite with kindling wood. Sabb. I, 11 (19ᵇ sq.) ומַאֲחִיזִין ed. (Mss., Ar. a. Y. ib. beg. 4ᶜ ומחזין, ed. Ven. ומחיזין); v. חָזָה.

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 15 distinct written forms H271 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.

Form Parsing Example Uses
אָחָ֜ז Noun, Proper 2 Chronicles 28:24 8
אָחָ֥ז Noun, Proper Hosea 1:1 8
אָחָ֖ז Noun, Proper 2 Kings 16:11 4
אָחָ֣ז Noun, Proper 2 Chronicles 28:1 3
אָ֠חָז Noun, Proper 2 Kings 16:15 2
אָחָ֑ז Noun, Proper Isaiah 7:12 2
אָחָ֔ז Noun, Proper 2 Kings 16:5 2
אָחָ֛ז Noun, Proper 2 Chronicles 28:16 2
אָחָֽז Noun, Proper 2 Chronicles 28:22 2
אָחָז֙ Noun, Proper 2 Chronicles 28:21 2
וְ/אָחָז֙ Noun, Proper 1 Chronicles 8:36 2
אָחָ֡ז Noun, Proper 2 Kings 16:10 1
אָחָ֧ז Noun, Proper 2 Chronicles 29:19 1
וְ/אָחָֽז Noun, Proper 1 Chronicles 8:35 1
לְ/אָחָ֖ז Noun, Proper 2 Kings 17:1 1

Same root — word family

Other BDB entries built from the same root as H271, 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 7 — not the complete family. 4 of the same-root words are proper names (people or places). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.


Bible dictionary

Public-domain dictionary articles matched to this entry by name (Ahaz). A biblical name can be shared by more than one person or place, so an article may treat several.

Easton's Bible Dictionary · M. G. Easton, 1897

Possessor. (1.) A grandson of Jonathan (1 Chr. 8:35; 9:42).

(2.) The son and successor of Jotham, king of Judah (2 Kings 16; Isa. 7-9; 2 Chr. 28). He gave himself up to a life of wickedness and idolatry. Notwithstanding the remonstrances and warnings of Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah, he appealed for help against Rezin, king of Damascus, and Pekah, king of Israel, who threatened Jerusalem, to Tiglath-pileser, the king of Assyria, to the great injury of his kingdom and his own humilating subjection to the Assyrians (2 Kings 16:7, 9; 15:29). He also introduced among his people many heathen and idolatrous customs (Isa. 8:19; 38:8; 2 Kings 23:12). He died at the age of thirty-five years, after reigning sixteen years (B.C. 740-724), and was succeeded by his son Hezekiah. Because of his wickedness he was "not brought into the sepulchre of the kings."

Smith's Bible Dictionary · William Smith, 1863

(possessor), eleventh king of Judah, son of Jotham, reigned 741-726, about sixteen years. At the time of his accession, Rezin king of Damascus and Pekah king of Israel had recently formed a league against Judah, and they proceeded to lay siege to Jerusalem. Upon this Isaiah hastened to give advice and encouragement to Ahaz, and the allies failed in their attack on Jerusalem. Isai 7,8,9. But, the allies inflicted a most severe injury on Judah by the capture of Elath, a flourishing port on the Red Sea, while the Philistines invaded the west and south. 2Kin 16; 2Chr 28. Ahaz, having forfeited God's favor by his wickedness, sought deliverance from these numerous troubles by appealing to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, who forced him from his most formidable enemies. But Ahaz had to purchase this help at a costly price; he became tributary to Tiglath-pileser. He was weak, a gross idolater, and sought safety in heathen ceremonies, making his son pass through the fire to Molech, consulting wizards and necromancers. (Isaiah 8:19) and other idolatrous practices. (2 Kings 23:12) His only service of permanent value was the introduction of the sun-dial. He died at the age of 36, but was refused a burial with the kings his ancestors. (2 Chronicles 28:27)

+ Son of Micah. (1 Chronicles 8:35,36; 9:42)

Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary · Roswell D. Hitchcock, 1869

one that takes or possesses

Classic public-domain reference works; full attribution on Sources.


Septuagint verse parallels

This word appears in 38 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 39 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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