חָקַק

Genesis 49:10 וּמְחֹקֵ֖ק and a ruler's staff

The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his.

Here: A participle (a verb used as a noun) from a root meaning 'to engrave, inscribe, decree'. It can mean the one who issues orders (a commander) or the staff that stands for that authority. Because it is paired with 'rod', the staff fits best here, as in Numbers 21:18.

Numbers 21:18 בִּמְחֹקֵ֖ק with a ruler's staff

The princes dug the well; the nobles of the people hollowed it out with their scepters and with their staffs.” From the wilderness the Israelites went on to Mattanah,

Deuteronomy 33:21 מְחֹקֵ֖ק a commander

He chose the best land for himself, because a ruler’s portion was reserved for him there. He came with the leaders of the people; he administered the LORD’s justice and His ordinances for Israel.”

Judges 5:9 לְחוֹקְקֵ֣י [is] for [the] commanders of

My heart is with the princes of Israel, with the volunteers among the people. Bless the LORD!

Here: 'To/for the ones who decree': the people whose word was binding in a tribal muster. The small prefix lᵉ- ('to, for') carries the whole relationship, because Hebrew uses no verb here; English has to supply 'is with' or 'goes out to'.

Judges 5:14 מְחֹ֣קְקִ֔ים commanders

Some came from Ephraim, with their roots in Amalek; Benjamin came with your people after you. The commanders came down from Machir, the bearers of the marshal’s staff from Zebulun.

Job 19:23 וְיֻחָֽקוּ׃ so they may be inscribed

I wish that my words were recorded and inscribed in a book,

Psalm 60:7 מְחֹֽקְקִי׃ [is] commander's staff my

Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim is My helmet, Judah is My scepter.

Psalm 108:8 מְחֹקְקִֽי׃ [is] commander's staff my

Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim is My helmet, Judah is My scepter.

Proverbs 8:15 יְחֹ֣קְקוּ they enact

By me kings reign, and rulers enact just laws;

Here: The root first means to cut or engrave, as on stone or a tablet. From that it comes to mean fixing something in writing as binding law. The intensive (Piel) form here means 'lay down as statute'. It is the same verb as in Isaiah 10:1, 'Woe to those who decree unjust decrees.'

Proverbs 8:27 בְּח֥וּקוֹ when marked out he

I was there when He established the heavens, when He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep,

Here: 'When he cut/inscribed.' The basic idea is cutting a line into a surface. It is the same root as the word for a statute, a fixed limit set by authority. So God drawing the circle is also God laying down a boundary.

Proverbs 8:29 בְּ֝חוּק֗וֹ when marked out he

when He set a boundary for the sea, so that the waters would not surpass His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth.

Here: 'When he marked out' or 'when he inscribed'. It is the verb behind chuqqo earlier in the verse, so the two words echo each other: God 'engraves' a limit for the sea and 'engraves' the earth's foundations, like a builder scoring the lines of a building on the ground.

Proverbs 31:5 מְחֻקָּ֑ק [what] is decreed

lest they drink and forget what is decreed, depriving all the oppressed of justice.

Here: Literally 'what has been engraved' or 'what has been decreed.' It means the fixed, settled law, the rulings 'cut in stone' that a judge is meant to apply. The root pictures carving words into a hard surface.

Isaiah 10:1 הַחֹֽקְקִ֖ים those [who] decree

Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and issue oppressive decrees,

Here: "Those who inscribe," meaning the people who fix law by cutting or writing it. These are the officials, judges and lawgivers whose words carry the force of law.

Isaiah 22:16 חֹקְקִ֥י cutting

What are you doing here, and who authorized you to carve out a tomb for yourself here—to chisel your tomb in the height and cut your resting place in the rock?

Isaiah 30:8 חֻקָּ֑הּ inscribe it

Go now, write it on a tablet in their presence and inscribe it on a scroll; it will be for the days to come, a witness forever and ever.

Here: "Engrave it." The root means to cut into a surface. The same root gives ḥōq, "a fixed decree", so the word suggests something carved in and settled.

Isaiah 33:22 מְחֹקְקֵ֑נוּ [is] commander our

For the LORD is our Judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our King. It is He who will save us.

Here: 'The one who decrees for us / our commander.' The root pictures cutting words into stone or metal, so the word means a ruler whose word is binding. Elsewhere the same form can also mean the ruler's staff, the symbol of that authority.

Isaiah 49:16 חַקֹּתִ֑יךְ I have inscribed you

Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are ever before Me.

Here: 'I have engraved you.' The verb's basic sense is cutting marks into a hard surface. That is how laws and records were written down, which is why it also came to mean 'decree'. The completed verb form describes something already done that stays done. 'You' is feminine singular: Zion.

Ezekiel 4:1 וְחַקּוֹתָ֥ and you will inscribe

“Now you, son of man, take a brick, place it before you, and draw on it the city of Jerusalem.

Here: 'And you shall cut in / incise.' The root means scratching or carving lines into a surface. This is engraving with a stylus or point, not drawing with ink. Ezekiel uses the same root for figures carved on walls (8:10; 23:14).

Ezekiel 23:14 חֲקֻקִ֖ים inscribed

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