StrongerBible

ḥazah

חָזָה

HebrewH2372“see, behold, ...”

Appears 55 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Exo 18:21Exo 24:11Num 24:4Num 24:16Job 8:17Job 15:17Job 19:26Job 19:27Job 23:9Job 24:1Job 27:12Job 34:32Job 36:25Psa 11:4Psa 11:7Psa 17:2Psa 17:15Psa 27:4Psa 46:8(9)Psa 58:8(9)Psa 58:10(11)Psa 63:2(3)Pro 22:29Pro 24:32Pro 29:20Sng 6:13(7:1) (2×)Isa 1:1Isa 2:1Isa 13:1Isa 26:11 (2×)Isa 30:10 (2×)Isa 33:17Isa 33:20Isa 47:13Isa 48:6Isa 57:8Lam 2:14 (2×)Ezk 12:27Ezk 13:6Ezk 13:7Ezk 13:8Ezk 13:9Ezk 13:16Ezk 13:23Ezk 21:29(34)Ezk 22:28Amo 1:1Mic 1:1Mic 4:11Hab 1:1
Names & words formed with this
Word studykhaw-ZAWverb

What ḥazah means

to see, in the heightened sense of perceiving something with full attention: to behold, gaze upon, or receive a vision

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

This verb means to see, but it carries more weight than simply having one's eyes open. Where the everyday Hebrew word for seeing covers any kind of looking, this one tends to mark seeing that is charged: a prophet receiving a vision from God, a worshiper gazing intently on God or his works, or a wise person looking hard enough to draw a lesson from what they observe.

Its most distinctive home is prophecy. The opening lines of Isaiah, Amos, Micah, and Habakkuk all use this verb for what the prophet saw, and the noun built from it is the standard word for a prophetic vision and for the seer who receives it. When Ezekiel attacks the false prophets, he keeps using this same verb against them: they claim to see, but what they see is empty.

The other senses grow naturally out of this core of attentive seeing. To gaze on God's beauty in the temple, to behold his mighty acts, or to look closely at a person at work are all the same act of fixing one's sight on something and taking it in fully. Many of the word's occurrences sit in poetry, especially in Job and the Psalms, where it lends a note of contemplation that plain seeing would not.

Nuances

1ato see a vision; to perceive as a prophet or seer the revelation God gives
Num 24:4Num 24:16Isa 1:1Isa 2:1Isa 13:1Isa 48:6Lam 2:14 (2×)Ezk 12:27Ezk 13:6Amo 1:1Mic 1:1Hab 1:1
1bto gaze upon, behold, or look intently at someone or something, often God or his works
Exo 24:11Job 19:26Job 19:27Job 36:25Psa 17:15Psa 27:4Psa 46:8(9)Psa 63:2(3)Sng 6:13(7:1) (2×)Isa 33:17Isa 33:20Mic 4:11
1cto observe and take note of, looking closely enough to discern or learn from what is seen
Exo 18:21Job 15:17Job 24:1Job 27:12Job 34:32Psa 11:4Psa 17:2Pro 22:29Pro 24:32Pro 29:20Isa 26:11 (2×)

What scholars say about ḥazah

The standard lexica (BDB, HALOT, DCH) treat חזה as a single verb of seeing with a marked semantic field: it overlaps with ראה but specializes toward prophetic and visionary perception, and toward poetic or contemplative beholding. Its nominal derivatives (חָזוֹן, חֹזֶה, חִזָּיוֹן) are the chief Hebrew vocabulary for prophetic vision and the seer, which anchors the verb's revelatory sense. TDOT (s.v. חזה) and Jepsen's work on the seer terminology stress that the word is concentrated in poetry and prophetic literature and is comparatively rare in plain narrative, where ראה dominates; the older claim of a sharp split between an ecstatic seer (חֹזֶה) and a different prophetic title is now generally moderated. Scholars debate the precise nuance against ראה but agree the two are broadly synonymous in their basic sense while diverging in register and typical context.

Sources

  • BDB, s.v. חזהlexicon
  • HALOT, s.v. חזהlexicon
  • DCH, s.v. חזהlexicon
  • A. Jepsen, "חָזָה chazah," in TDOT, vol. 4theological-dictionary

AI-generated word study · claude-opus-4-8

All attested forms of חָזָה

qal perfect 3ms

חָזָה

Psa 58:10, Isa 1:1, Isa 2:1, Isa 13:1, Amo 1:1, Mic 1:1, Hab 1:1

qal perfect 3cp

חָזוּ

Job 24:1, Job 36:25, Psa 58:8, Lam 2:14, Ezk 13:6, Zec 10:2

qal imperfect 1cs

אֶחֱזֶה, אָחַז

Job 19:26, Job 19:27, Job 34:32, Psa 17:15, Job 23:9

qal imperfect 3mp

יֶחֱזוּ, יֶחֱזָיוּ

Psa 11:4, Psa 11:7, Isa 26:11, Isa 26:11

qal participle m p absolute

חֹזִים

Isa 47:13, Ezk 13:9, Ezk 13:16, Ezk 22:28

qal imperfect 3ms

יֶחֱזֶה

Num 24:4, Num 24:16, Job 8:17

qal consecutive-imperfect 3mp

וַיֶּחֱזוּ

Exo 24:11, Lam 2:14

qal imperative 2mp

חֲזוּ

Psa 46:8, Isa 30:10

qal imperative 2ms

חֲזֵה

Isa 33:20, Isa 48:6

qal imperfect 2mp

תֶּחֱזוּ

Sng 6:13, Isa 30:10

qal imperfect 3fp

תֶּחֱזֶינָה

Psa 17:2, Isa 33:17

qal infinitive-construct construct

חֲזוֹת

Psa 27:4, Ezk 21:29

qal perfect 1cs

חֲזִיתִי, חָזִיתִי

Psa 63:2, Job 15:17

qal perfect 2mp

חֲזִיתֶם

Job 27:12, Ezk 13:7

qal perfect 2ms

חָזִיתָ

Pro 22:29, Pro 29:20

qal conjunctive-imperfect 1cp

וְנֶחֱזֶה

Sng 6:13

qal consecutive-imperfect 1cs

וָאֶחֱזֶה

Pro 24:32

qal consecutive-perfect 2mp

וַחֲזִיתֶם

Ezk 13:8

qal imperfect 2fp

תֶחֱזֶינָה

Ezk 13:23

qal imperfect 2ms

תֶחֱזֶה

Exo 18:21

qal jussive 3fs

תַחַז

Mic 4:11

qal participle m s absolute

חֹזֶה

Ezk 12:27

qal perfect 2fs

חָזִית

Isa 57:8