Hebrew word · H2707

חָקָה

hamechukeh

to engrave

To carve, engrave or incise a design on a surface. It is related to chaqaq, 'to inscribe, cut in, decree', the root behind choq/chuqqah, 'statute', something written into law.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to cut, carve, cut in

1a) (Pual) carved (participle)

1b) (Hithpael) to engrave, cut a limit

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 Ezekiel 8:10

Range of meaning

To carve, engrave or incise a design on a surface. It is related to chaqaq, 'to inscribe, cut in, decree', the root behind choq/chuqqah, 'statute', something written into law.

Against the English

KJV 'pourtrayed' and WEB 'portrayed' suggest painting or depiction in general. BSB and YLT 'engraved/graved' and NASB 'carved' are more exact. In practice incised figures were often painted too (cf. 23:14, 'carved… in vermilion').

How it drifted

'Portray' now mostly means 'depict' or 'describe' (as an actor portrays a role), so the physical carving into the wall is lost.

Used elsewhere in the period

1 Kgs 6:35 (carvings on the temple doors, using the related chaqah); Ezek 23:14 (images of Chaldeans engraved on a wall in red); Job 13:27.

Where it appears

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 6:35 הַמְּחֻקֶּֽה׃ the carved [work]

    He carved into them cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and he overlaid them with gold hammered evenly over the carvings.

Job · 1

  1. Job 13:27 תִּתְחַקֶּֽה׃ you make a mark

    You put my feet in the stocks and stand watch over all my paths; You set a limit for the soles of my feet.

Ezekiel · 2

  1. Ezekiel 8:10 מְחֻקֶּ֥ה [was] carved

    So I went in and looked, and engraved all around the wall was every kind of crawling creature and detestable beast, along with all the idols of the house of Israel.

    Here: 'Engraved' (a passive participle, singular, summing up the whole scene). These were figures cut or incised into the wall surface and probably painted, like the Babylonians 'carved on the wall… in red' in 23:14. They were not portable statues.

  2. Ezekiel 23:14 מְחֻקֶּ֣ה a carved [thing]

    But Oholibah carried her prostitution even further. She saw the men portrayed on the wall, images of the Chaldeans, engraved in vermilion,

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