חֻקָּה

From the study of Ezekiel 18:21

Range of meaning

Statute, decree, fixed ordinance; something set down. Related to a root meaning 'to engrave, inscribe, mark out'. Used of covenant laws, ritual regulations, and fixed orders of nature (Jer 31:35; 33:25).

Against the English

'Statutes' is accurate, but to modern ears it can sound bureaucratic. In Ezekiel 'my statutes' are the LORD's personal covenant requirements, the terms of a relationship.

Used elsewhere in the period

Very common in the Holiness Code (Lev 17–26), especially Lev 18:4–5, 26; 20:8, 22. Ezekiel shares much vocabulary with that section of Leviticus, and 'walking in my statutes' is a recurring formula (Ezek 11:20; 18:9, 17; 36:27).

From the study of Exodus 12:14

Range of meaning

A statute or prescribed ordinance, often for ritual or worship. It belongs to the root ḥqq, 'to engrave, inscribe, mark out' (cf. choq, 'portion, decree, boundary'). It is frequent in priestly texts in the set phrase 'a statute forever' (chuqqat olam), for example in the Passover/Unleavened Bread rules (Exod 12:14, 17), the priesthood (Exod 29:9), the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:29, 31, 34) and the Sabbath-like feasts (Lev 23).

Against the English

'Ordinance' (KJV, WEB, NASB, NIV), 'statute' (BSB, ESV, YLT) and 'law' (NLT) all cover it. 'Law' is broader and can make readers think of a civil or criminal code. Chuqqah here is a fixed rite.

Used elsewhere in the period

Septuagint: nomimon, 'customary rule, ordinance.' In the Dead Sea Scrolls, ḥuqqim is used for the community's fixed calendrical and cultic regulations.

From the study of Deuteronomy 11:1

Range of meaning

The feminine form of ḥōq, from ḥāqaq, 'to engrave, inscribe, decree'. It means a fixed prescription or statute: a set ordinance, often permanent (ḥuqqat ʿôlām, 'a perpetual statute', used for Passover, priestly duties and purity rules). It can also mean the fixed order of nature, for example the 'statutes' of moon and stars (Jer 31:35; 33:25), or established customs (Lev 18:3, the 'statutes' of Egypt and Canaan).

Against the English

'Statutes' (KJV, BSB, ESV, NASB, WEB) and 'decrees' (NIV, NLT) both fit. 'Statute' can sound like an act of parliament. The Hebrew picture is closer to something carved and fixed, set by the sovereign.

How it drifted

Later rabbinic interpretation (Sifra on Lev 18:4; b. Yoma 67b) read ḥuqqim as laws with no reason given, such as the red heifer or mixed fabrics, as opposed to mishpatim, which reason itself would require. That is a later distinction and should not be read back into Deuteronomy's word lists.

Used elsewhere in the period

Used together with mishpatim, mitzvot and torot throughout Deuteronomy (4:1, 5, 8, 14; 5:1; 6:1; 11:32; 12:1). Jeremiah 31:35–36 uses ḥuqqîm of the regular order of creation.