Hebrew word · H2363

חוּשׁ

chushah

to hasten

Ḥûš means to hurry, hasten, make haste, act quickly. In the causative form it can mean to hurry or to speed something up (Isaiah 5:19; 60:22). A second, rarer meaning of the same root letters has been proposed, "to be agitated, troubled".

Appears 20 times in 20 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to haste, make haste, hurry

1a) (Qal) to make haste

1b) (Hiphil)

1b1) to show haste, act quickly, hasten, come quickly

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 Isaiah 28:16

Range of meaning

Ḥûš means to hurry, hasten, make haste, act quickly. In the causative form it can mean to hurry or to speed something up (Isaiah 5:19; 60:22). A second, rarer meaning of the same root letters has been proposed, "to be agitated, troubled". Some scholars instead emend the text toward "be ashamed" or "give way", partly because of the LXX.

Against the English

KJV "shall not make haste", ESV "will not be in haste" and YLT stay literal. BSB "never be shaken", NLT "need never be shaken", NASB "not be disturbed" and NIV "never be stricken by panic" interpret the hurrying as panic. The LXX and the New Testament have "will not be put to shame".

How it drifted

Read alone, KJV "shall not make haste" sounds like advice to be patient and not rush ahead of God. The context points to panicked flight and scrambling for alliances.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 5:19 quotes scoffers: "Let him hurry (yāḥîšāh), let him speed his work so we may see it." Isaiah 30:15–16, in the same crisis: "In returning and rest you shall be saved, in quietness and trust your strength… but you said, 'No! We will flee on horses'." Psalm 55:8 (55:9 Heb.) uses the verb of hurrying to a refuge from the storm.

From the study of Psalm 70:5

Range of meaning

To hurry, hasten, act quickly. It is used of people rushing to act and, in prayers, of God coming quickly to help (Ps 22:19; 38:22; 40:13; 71:12).

Against the English

KJV and ESV have 'make haste / hasten', BSB 'hurry', WEB 'come quickly'. All are accurate. The Hebrew form here is a lengthened imperative that sounds more pressing and personal, roughly 'Please, hurry!'

Used elsewhere in the period

Psalm 70 begins 'O God, to deliver me… YHWH, to my help, hurry!' (v. 1, Heb. v. 2) and comes back to the same verb here. The parallel in Psalm 40:17 has 'the Lord thinks of me' (yachashov) at this point, which is a different verb that sounds similar.

From the study of Job 20:2

Range of meaning

(1) To hurry or make haste (common: Ps 22:19; 38:22; 40:13). (2) Possibly a separate root meaning to be stirred, to feel, or to worry. This rests on Akkadian ḫâšu ("to be anxious"), on Eccl 2:25 ("who can eat or who can feel/enjoy [yāḥûš]"), and on later Hebrew ḥûš, "to sense."

Against the English

KJV says "for this I make haste" and WEB/ESV say "my haste within me": urgency in time. YLT's "my sensations" follows the feeling sense. BSB ("turmoil") and NASB ("inward agitation") treat it as inner disturbance.

How it drifted

"Haste" in modern English suggests hurrying to get something done. Even if the root meaning is "hasten," the setting ("in me") points to an inner churning, not to speed.

Used elsewhere in the period

HALOT lists a separate ḥûš II, "to be agitated / worry," with Job 20:2 and Eccl 2:25 as candidates. BDB keeps everything under "hasten" and translates here "my haste within me."

Similar words

Where it appears

Numbers · 1

  1. Numbers 32:17 חֻשִׁ֗ים hurried

    But we will arm ourselves and be ready to go ahead of the Israelites until we have brought them into their place. Meanwhile, our little ones will remain in the fortified cities for protection from the inhabitants of the land.

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 32:35 וְחָ֖שׁ and it will make haste

    Vengeance is Mine; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is coming quickly.”

    Here: "And it hurries": what was held back now comes fast.

Judges · 1

  1. Judges 20:37 הֵחִ֔ישׁוּ they made haste

    The men in ambush rushed suddenly against Gibeah; they advanced and put the whole city to the sword.

1 Samuel · 1

  1. 1 Samuel 20:38 ח֖וּשָׁה make haste !

    Then Jonathan cried out, “Hurry! Make haste! Do not delay!” So the boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master.

Job · 2

  1. Job 20:2 ח֣וּשִׁי to agitate I

    “So my anxious thoughts compel me to answer, because of the turmoil within me.

    Here: A verbal noun with "my": "my hastening" or "my being stirred." It can mean urgent haste, but many scholars connect it with a second Hebrew root meaning inner excitement or worry (compare the Akkadian word ḫâšu, "to be anxious"). The sense here is a churning inner pressure that will not let him stay quiet.

  2. Job 31:5 וַתַּ֖חַשׁ and it has made haste

    If I have walked in falsehood or my foot has rushed to deceit,

Psalms · 9

  1. Psalm 22:19 חֽוּשָׁה׃ make haste !

    But You, O LORD, be not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help me.

  2. Psalm 38:22 ח֥וּשָׁה make haste !

    Come quickly to help me, O Lord my Savior.

  3. Psalm 40:13 חֽוּשָׁה׃ make haste !

    Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; hurry, O LORD, to help me.

  4. Psalm 55:8 אָחִ֣ישָׁה I want to make haste

    I would hurry to my shelter, far from this raging tempest.”

  5. Psalm 70:1 חֽוּשָֽׁה׃ make haste !

    For the choirmaster. Of David. To bring remembrance. Make haste, O God, to deliver me! Hurry, O LORD, to help me!

    Here: A command, 'Hurry!', with an added ending that makes it more pressing. It is the only verb in the verse and serves both lines. The whole verse runs breathlessly toward this one word.

  6. Psalm 70:5 חֽוּשָׁ֫ה־ make haste !

    But I am poor and needy; hurry to me, O God. You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay.

    Here: A command in a lengthened, emphatic form: 'Hurry!' The same word appears near the start of the psalm (v. 1, 'hurry to help me'), so the whole short psalm opens and closes on urgency.

  7. Psalm 71:12 חֽוּשָׁה׃ make haste !

    Be not far from me, O God. Hurry, O my God, to help me.

    Here: A command in a lengthened form, which adds urgency and intensity ('oh, hurry!'). It closes the verse: the problem is not only distance but time. The enemies are already giving chase (v.11).

  8. Psalm 119:60 חַ֭שְׁתִּי I have made haste

    I hurried without hesitating to keep Your commandments.

    Here: "I hurried." A completed action: the psalmist reports that he moved quickly. The word is usually something psalmists ask God to do ("hurry to help me"); here the speaker is the one who hurries. It also supplies the letter ḥeth (ח) that every line of this stanza must begin with.

  9. Psalm 141:1 ח֣וּשָׁה make haste !

    A Psalm of David. I call upon You, O LORD; come quickly to me. Hear my voice when I call to You.

    Here: A command with an added -ah ending that makes it urgent and personal: 'Hurry, please!' A stock cry of people in danger in the Psalms.

Ecclesiastes · 1

  1. Ecclesiastes 2:25 יָח֖וּשׁ will he enjoy

    For apart from Him, who can eat and who can find enjoyment?

Isaiah · 3

  1. Isaiah 5:19 יָחִ֛ישָׁה let it make haste !

    to those who say, “Let Him hurry and hasten His work so that we may see it! Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come so that we may know it!”

    Here: "Let it make haste!" There is an extra -ah ending, normally used with "I/we" forms to express eagerness, and it is unusual on a third-person verb. It gives the line a mock-eager, insistent tone: "Come on, let it hurry up!"

  2. Isaiah 28:16 יָחִֽישׁ׃ he will make haste

    So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.

    Here: "Will not hurry": will not rush about in alarm, will not run for cover or scramble for other help. Calm stability is the opposite of the leaders' frantic deal-making.

  3. Isaiah 60:22 אֲחִישֶֽׁנָּה׃ ס I will hasten it

    The least of you will become a thousand, and the smallest a mighty nation. I am the LORD; in its time I will accomplish it quickly.

    Here: "I will hasten it / make it come swiftly". Set next to "in its time", it means that once the time comes, the change will not be slow. The ס after the verse marks a paragraph break that ends the Zion poem of chapter 60.

Habakkuk · 1

  1. Habakkuk 1:8 חָ֥שׁ making haste

    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 a participle (an '-ing' verb form): the bird is rushing, intent on its target. It describes urgency driven by appetite.

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