Hebrew word · H2300

חָדַד

yachad

be sharp

To be sharp, keen or fierce. Hophal (passive): 'be sharpened'. Hiphil (causative): 'make sharp'. Used of blades (Ezek 21:9–11 [Heb 21:14–16], the sword 'sharpened and polished' for slaughter). Related adjective ḥad, 'sharp', as of a sword (Ps 57:4; Prov 5:4; Isa 49:2).

Appears 6 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to be sharp, be alert, be keen

1a) (Qal) to be sharp, be keen

1b) (Hiphil) to sharpen

1c) (Hophal) to be sharpened

Also means: cha.dah (חָדַה "to sharpen" H2300B)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Proverbs 27:17

Range of meaning

To be sharp, keen or fierce. Hophal (passive): 'be sharpened'. Hiphil (causative): 'make sharp'. Used of blades (Ezek 21:9–11 [Heb 21:14–16], the sword 'sharpened and polished' for slaughter). Used figuratively of fierceness or speed (Hab 1:8, the Chaldean horses are 'fiercer', ḥaddû, than evening wolves). Related adjective ḥad, 'sharp', as of a sword (Ps 57:4; Prov 5:4; Isa 49:2).

Against the English

English 'sharpen' applied to people now usually means 'make more skilful or alert' (sharpen your mind, sharpen your game). The Hebrew root covers that, but it also carries the sense of a cutting, even dangerous edge, and of fierceness.

How it drifted

In modern English 'sharpen someone' has become a pleasant coaching word. The Hebrew word's link with blades and aggression has faded from the English picture.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ezek 21 uses the passive form for a sword made ready for battle. Hab 1:8 uses the root for ferocity. The Greek translation (LXX) renders the first verb oxynei, 'sharpens', but the second paroxynei, 'stirs up, provokes'. Paroxynō often means provoking to anger in the LXX (e.g. Deut 9:7–8), though it can also mean spurring someone on to good things (Heb 10:24 uses the noun that way). The Latin Vulgate keeps the same verb in both halves: exacuitur … exacuit.

From the study of Habakkuk 1:8

Range of meaning

To be sharp or keen. In its causative form it means to sharpen, as with a blade, or one person sharpening another (Proverbs 27:17). By extension it means to be quick, eager or fierce.

Against the English

KJV, WEB and BSB say 'fiercer'. YLT keeps 'sharper', and NASB uses 'keener'. 'Fierce' is a fair meaning, but it drops the picture of a whetted edge.

Used elsewhere in the period

Proverbs 27:17 ('iron sharpens iron'). The related adjective ḥad, 'sharp', is used of swords (Ezekiel 21:9–11 in English numbering; Psalm 57:4) and of the tongue. The Greek Septuagint renders it oxyteroi, 'sharper, keener', which keeps the picture.

Where it appears

Proverbs · 2

  1. Proverbs 27:17 יָ֑חַד יַ֣חַד it grows sharp, he sharpens

    As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

    Here: 'Is sharpened' or 'grows sharp'. The Hebrew vowels are irregular. The ancient versions and most modern scholars take it as passive: iron gets an edge when iron works on it.

Ezekiel · 3

  1. Ezekiel 21:9 הוּחַ֖דָּה it has been sharpened

    “Son of man, prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord says: ‘A sword, a sword, sharpened and polished—

  2. Ezekiel 21:10 הוּחַ֔דָּה it has been sharpened

    it is sharpened for the slaughter, polished to flash like lightning! Should we rejoice in the scepter of My son? The sword despises every such stick.

  3. Ezekiel 21:11 הוּחַ֤דָּה it has been sharpened

    The sword is appointed to be polished, to be grasped in the hand. It is sharpened and polished, to be placed in the hand of the slayer.

Habakkuk · 1

  1. Habakkuk 1:8 וְחַדּוּ֙ and they are keen

    Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves of the night. Their horsemen charge ahead, and their cavalry comes from afar. They fly like a vulture, swooping down to devour.

    Here: This is the language of a sharpened edge, used of blades and of 'iron sharpening iron' (Proverbs 27:17). The horses are keener and more cutting in their eagerness than hungry wolves. 'Fierce' captures the effect, but the Hebrew picture is of a whetted edge.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.