אֲחֻזָּה
possession
‘possession’ is one of 3 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Construct-state word in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- 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
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
Gender
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
Grammatical forms
- Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Construct 54 times (82%)
- Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Absolute 12 times (18%)
Parsed forms decoded from the imported morphology (morphhb / Westminster Leningrad Codex — WLC text public domain, morphhb tagging CC BY 4.0), counted across 66 parsed occurrences — not distinct verses.
Every verse where H272 appears — 58 distinct verses across 10 books. 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.
Genesis 9 verses
- Genesis 17:8 לַ/אֲחֻזַּ֖ת prep + n c fs cs I will give to you, and to your seed after you, the land where you are traveling, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. I will be their God."
- Genesis 23:4 אֲחֻזַּת n c fs cs "I am a stranger and a foreigner living with you. Give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight."
- Genesis 23:9 לַ/אֲחֻזַּת prep + n c fs cs that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he has, which is in the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in the midst of you for a possession of a burying-place."
- Genesis 23:20 לַ/אֲחֻזַּת prep + n c fs cs The field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure to Abraham for a possession of a burying place by the children of Heth.
- Genesis 36:43 אֲחֻזָּתָ֔/ם n c fs cs + sfx pers 3mp chief Magdiel, and chief Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession. This is Esau, the father of the Edomites.
- Genesis 47:11 אֲחֻזָּה֙ n c fs Joseph placed his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
- Genesis 48:4 אֲחֻזַּ֥ת n c fs cs and said to me, 'Behold, I will make you fruitful, and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your seed after you for an everlasting possession.'
- Genesis 49:30 לַ/אֲחֻזַּת prep + n c fs cs in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place.
- Genesis 50:13 לַ/אֲחֻזַּת prep + n c fs cs for his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field, for a possession of a burying-place, from Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.
Leviticus 18 verses
- Leviticus 14:34 לַ/אֲחֻזָּ֑ה אֲחֻזַּתְ/כֶֽם prep + n c fs n c fs cs + sfx pers 2mp "When you have come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put a spreading mildew in a house in the land of your possession,
- Leviticus 25:10 אֲחֻזָּת֔/וֹ n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms You shall make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you; and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family.
- Leviticus 25:13 אֲחֻזָּתֽ/וֹ n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms "'In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his property.
- Leviticus 25:24 אֲחֻזַּתְ/כֶ֑ם n c fs cs + sfx pers 2mp In all the land of your possession you shall grant a redemption for the land.
- Leviticus 25:25 מֵ/אֲחֻזָּת֑/וֹ prep + n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms "'If your brother becomes poor, and sells some of his possessions, then his kinsman who is next to him shall come, and redeem that which his brother has sold.
- Leviticus 25:27 לַ/אֲחֻזָּתֽ/וֹ prep + n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms then let him reckon the years since the sale of it, and restore the surplus to the man to whom he sold it; and he shall return to his property.
- Leviticus 25:28 לַ/אֲחֻזָּתֽ/וֹ prep + n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms But if he isn't able to get it back for himself, then what he has sold shall remain in the hand of him who has bought it until the Year of Jubilee: and in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his propery.
- Leviticus 25:32 אֲחֻזָּתָ֑/ם n c fs cs + sfx pers 3mp "'Nevertheless the cities of the Levites, the houses in the cities of their possession, the Levites may redeem at any time.
- Leviticus 25:33 אֲחֻזָּת֖/וֹ אֲחֻזָּתָ֔/ם n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms n c fs cs + sfx pers 3mp The Levites may redeem the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, and it shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.
- Leviticus 25:34 אֲחֻזַּ֥ת n c fs cs But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold; for it is their perpetual possession.
- Leviticus 25:41 אֲחֻזַּ֥ת n c fs cs then he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and shall return to his own family, and to the possession of his fathers.
- Leviticus 25:45 לַֽ/אֲחֻזָּֽה prep + n c fs Moreover of the children of the strangers who sojourn among you, of them you may buy, and of their families who are with you, which they have conceived in your land; and they will be your property.
- Leviticus 25:46 אֲחֻזָּ֔ה n c fs You may make them an inheritance for your children after you, to hold for a possession; of them may you take your slaves forever: but over your brothers the children of Israel you shall not rule, one over another, with harshness.
- Leviticus 27:16 אֲחֻזָּת֗/וֹ n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms "'If a man dedicates to Yahweh part of the field of his possession, then your valuation shall be according to the seed for it: the sowing of a homer of barley shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver.
- Leviticus 27:21 אֲחֻזָּתֽ/וֹ n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms but the field, when it goes out in the Jubilee, shall be holy to Yahweh, as a field devoted; it shall be owned by the priests.
- Leviticus 27:22 אֲחֻזָּת֑/וֹ n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms "'If he dedicates to Yahweh a field which he has bought, which is not of the field of his possession,
- Leviticus 27:24 אֲחֻזַּ֥ת n c fs cs In the Year of Jubilee the field shall return to him from whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land belongs.
- Leviticus 27:28 אֲחֻזָּת֔/וֹ n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms "'Notwithstanding, no devoted thing, that a man shall devote to Yahweh of all that he has, whether of man or animal, or of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy to Yahweh.
Numbers 9 verses
- Numbers 27:4 אֲחֻזָּ֔ה n c fs Why should the name of our father be taken away from among his family, because he had no son? Give to us a possession among the brothers of our father.
- Numbers 27:7 אֲחֻזַּ֣ת n c fs cs The daughters of Zelophehad speak right: you shall surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father's brothers; and you shall cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them.
- Numbers 32:5 לַ/אֲחֻזָּ֑ה prep + n c fs They said, If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession; don't bring us over the Jordan.
- Numbers 32:22 לַ/אֲחֻזָּ֖ה prep + n c fs and the land is subdued before Yahweh; then afterward you shall return, and be guiltless towards Yahweh, and towards Israel; and this land shall be to you for a possession before Yahweh.
- Numbers 32:29 לַ/אֲחֻזָּֽה prep + n c fs Moses said to them, If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over the Jordan, every man who is armed to battle, before Yahweh, and the land shall be subdued before you; then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession:
- Numbers 32:32 אֲחֻזַּ֣ת n c fs cs We will pass over armed before Yahweh into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance [shall remain] with us beyond the Jordan.
- Numbers 35:2 אֲחֻזָּתָ֖/ם n c fs cs + sfx pers 3mp Command the children of Israel that they give to the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and suburbs for the cities round about them shall you give to the Levites.
- Numbers 35:8 מֵ/אֲחֻזַּ֣ת prep + n c fs cs Concerning the cities which you shall give of the possession of the children of Israel, from the many you shall take many; and from the few you shall take few: everyone according to his inheritance which he inherits shall give of his cities to the Levites.
- Numbers 35:28 אֲחֻזָּתֽ/וֹ n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the manslayer shall return into the land of his possession.
Deuteronomy 1 verse
Joshua 5 verses
- Joshua 21:12 בַּ/אֲחֻזָּתֽ/וֹ prep + n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms But the fields of the city, and the villages of it, gave they to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession.
- Joshua 21:41 אֲחֻזַּ֣ת n c fs cs All the cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the children of Israel were forty-eight cities with their suburbs.
- Joshua 22:4 אֲחֻזַּתְ/כֶ֔ם n c fs cs + sfx pers 2mp Now Yahweh your God has given rest to your brothers, as he spoke to them: therefore now turn you, and get you to your tents, to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of Yahweh gave you beyond the Jordan.
- Joshua 22:9 אֲחֻזָּתָ/ם֙ n c fs cs + sfx pers 3mp The children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they owned, according to the commandment of Yahweh by Moses.
- Joshua 22:19 אֲחֻזַּתְ/כֶ֗ם אֲחֻזַּ֤ת n c fs cs + sfx pers 2mp n c fs cs However, if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass over to the land of the possession of Yahweh, in which Yahweh's tent dwells, and take possession among us: but don't rebel against Yahweh, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar besides the altar of Yahweh our God.
1 Chronicles 2 verses
- 1 Chronicles 7:28 וַ/אֲחֻזָּתָ/ם֙ conj + n c fs cs + sfx pers 3mp Their possessions and habitations were Bethel and the towns of it, and eastward Naaran, and westward Gezer, with the towns of it; Shechem also and the towns of it, to Azzah and the towns of it;
- 1 Chronicles 9:2 בַּ/אֲחֻזָּתָ֖/ם prep + n c fs cs + sfx pers 3mp Now the first inhabitants who lived in their possessions in their cities were Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the Nethinim.
2 Chronicles 2 verses
- 2 Chronicles 11:14 וַ/אֲחֻזָּתָ֔/ם conj + n c fs cs + sfx pers 3mp For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons cast them off, that they should not execute the priest's office to Yahweh;
- 2 Chronicles 31:1 לַ/אֲחֻזָּת֖/וֹ prep + n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah, and broke in pieces the pillars, and hewed down the Asherim, and broke down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.
Nehemiah 1 verse
Psalms 1 verse
Ezekiel 10 verses
- Ezekiel 44:28 וַ/אֲחֻזָּ֗ה אֲחֻזָּתָֽ/ם conj + n c fs n c fs cs + sfx pers 3mp They shall have an inheritance: I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession.
- Ezekiel 45:5 לַ/אֲחֻזָּ֖ה prep + n c fs Twenty-five thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth, shall be to the Levites, the ministers of the house, for a possession to themselves, [for] twenty chambers.
- Ezekiel 45:6 וַ/אֲחֻזַּ֨ת conj + n c fs cs You shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad, and twenty-five thousand long, side by side with the offering of the holy portion: it shall be for the whole house of Israel.
- Ezekiel 45:7 וְ/לַ/אֲחֻזַּ֣ת אֲחֻזַּ֣ת conj + prep + n c fs cs n c fs cs [Whatever is] for the prince [shall be] on the one side and on the other side of the holy offering and of the possession of the city, in front of the holy offering and in front of the possession of the city, on the west side westward, and on the east side eastward; and in length answerable to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border.
- Ezekiel 45:8 לַֽ/אֲחֻזָּ֖ה prep + n c fs In the land it shall be to him for a possession in Israel: and my princes shall no more oppress my people; but they shall give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.
- Ezekiel 46:16 אֲחֻזָּתָ֥/ם n c fs cs + sfx pers 3mp Thus says the Lord Yahweh: If the prince give a gift to any of his sons, it is his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons; it is their possession by inheritance.
- Ezekiel 46:18 מֵ/אֲחֻזָּתָ֔/ם מֵ/אֲחֻזָּת֖/וֹ מֵ/אֲחֻזָּתֽ/וֹ prep + n c fs cs + sfx pers 3mp prep + n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms prep + n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms Moreover the prince shall not take of the people's inheritance, to thrust them out of their possession; he shall give inheritance to his sons out of his own possession, that my people not be scattered every man from his possession.
- Ezekiel 48:20 אֲחֻזַּ֖ת n c fs cs All the offering shall be twenty-five thousand by twenty-five thousand: you shall offer the holy offering four-square, with the possession of the city.
- Ezekiel 48:21 וְ/לַ/אֲחֻזַּ֪ת conj + prep + n c fs cs The residue shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy offering and of the possession of the city; in front of the twenty-five thousand of the offering toward the east border, and westward in front of the twenty-five thousand toward the west border, answerable to the portions, it shall be for the prince: and the holy offering and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the midst of it.
- Ezekiel 48:22 וּ/מֵ/אֲחֻזַּ֤ת וּ/מֵ/אֲחֻזַּ֣ת conj + prep + n c fs cs conj + prep + n c fs cs Moreover from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the midst of that which is the prince's, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, it shall be for the prince.
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.
אחזה (ʼăchuzzâh) is a Hebrew noun most often rendered “possession.” Its English rendering has broadened — “possession” classically, “property” (Berean Standard Bible) in modern versions; see the renderings breakdown. Spanning 58 verses in 10 books, it ranks among the moderately common words of the Hebrew Bible. Leviticus dominates its distribution — 18 of 58 verses. Its lexical range runs to 3 senses. For the data behind this summary, explore the sense tree and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H272 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 →
- 58
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 58 distinct verses.
- 10 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 10 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #594
- by frequency
- Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 594 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 58 occurrences in the concordance →
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 58 distinct verses.
- Torah (Pentateuch) 37 verses · 64%
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 15 verses · 26%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 6 verses · 10%
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: Possession 50×
- American Standard Version: Possession 51×
- Berean Standard Bible: Property 19×, Possession 13×, Own property 6×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Possession 32×, Property 8×, Possession of 6×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H272 across 66 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 16 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 H272 across 67 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 16 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 H272 across 60 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 13 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 6 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H272 across 70 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 12 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Senses in BDB
The 3 senses BDB distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency or importance). The full entry — with sub-senses — is in the Lexicon Entry tab.
- possession, property
- land
- possession by inheritance
Word origin
n.f. possession—א׳ Gn 47:11 + 11 times; cstr. אֲחֻזַּת Gn 17:8 + 21 times; sf. אֲחֻזָּתְֽךָ ψ 2:8;—possession, P & late; of landed property Gn 47:11 Lv 14:34; 25:10, 13, 25, 27, 28, 33 (houses) 41, 45, 46 Nu 27:4; 32:5, 22, 29; 35:8 Dt 32:49 Jos 21:12, 39 Ez 44:28; 45:5, 6, 7(×2), 8 46:18(×3); 48:20, 21, 22(×2) 1 Ch 7:28; 9:2 2 Ch 11:14; 31:1 Ne 11:3; c. אֶרֶץ, א׳ אֲחֻזָּה = land possessed, one’s own land Gn 36:43 Lv 14:34; 25:24 Nu 35:28 Jos 22:4, 9, 19(×2), cf. אֲחֻזַּת הָאָרֶץ Lv 27:24; c. שָׂדֶה, שׂ׳ אֲחֻזָּה Lv 27:16, 22, 28, cf. v 21; c. עִור, ע׳ אֲחֻזָּה Lv 25:32, 33; אֲחֻזַּת נַחֲלָה = possession by right of inheritance Nu 27:7; 32:32, & נַחֲלַת א׳ 35:2 cf. א׳ בְּנַחֲלָה Ez 46:16 (but Co as Nu 27:7 so B); אֲחֻזַּת קֶבֶר Gn 23:4, 9, 20; 49:30; 50:13; א׳ עוֹלָם Gn 17:8; 48:4 Lv 25:34; in promise to Davidic king וַאֲחֻזָּתְֽךָ אַסְפֵי־אָרֶץ ψ 2:8 (‖ נַחֲלָה); fig. of י׳ as portion of Levit. priests Ez 44:28 (‖ נַחֲלָה).
— 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.
Forms in the corpus
The 48 distinct written forms H272 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.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H272, 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
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
- אחז ʼÂchâz H271 Ahaz
- אחזי ʼAchzay H273 Ahasai
- אחזיה ʼĂchazyâh H274 Ahaziah
- אחזם ʼĂchuzzâm H275 Ahuzam
- אחזת ʼĂchuzzath H276 Ahuzzath
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 7 — not the complete family. 5 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 57 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 58 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 17:8
- Leviticus 14:34
- Numbers 27:4
- Deuteronomy 32:49
- Joshua 21:12
- 1 Chronicles 7:28
- 2 Chronicles 11:14
- Psalms 2:8
- Ezekiel 44:28
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.
