Hebrew word · H3514

כֹּ֫בֶד

koed-

heaviness

Heaviness, weight (noun) and heavy (adjective). The root covers literal weight and figurative weight: burdensome or oppressive (Exod 18:18, 'the task is too heavy for you'), dull or unresponsive ('heavy' heart, ears or tongue), and also weighty, honoured, glorious (kāḇôḏ, 'glory, honour').

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

What it means

1) weight, heaviness, mass, great

1a) heaviness, weight

1b) mass, abundance

1c) vehemence, heaviness

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 27:3

Range of meaning

Heaviness, weight (noun) and heavy (adjective). The root covers literal weight and figurative weight: burdensome or oppressive (Exod 18:18, 'the task is too heavy for you'), dull or unresponsive ('heavy' heart, ears or tongue), and also weighty, honoured, glorious (kāḇôḏ, 'glory, honour').

Against the English

English versions rightly use 'heavy/heavier'. What cannot carry over is that the first and seventh words are the same root, framing the line.

Used elsewhere in the period

Literal weight: 1 Sam 4:18 (Eli was heavy); 2 Sam 14:26 (Absalom's hair). Burden: Exod 18:18; 1 Kgs 12:10–11. Honour: Prov 26:1, 'honour (kāḇôḏ) is not fitting for a fool', which is one chapter earlier.

Where it appears

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 27:3 כֹּֽבֶד־ [the] heaviness of

    A stone is heavy and sand is a burden, but aggravation from a fool outweighs them both.

    Here: A noun, not an adjective: 'the heaviness of'. The line opens with a bare picture, 'the weight of a stone', with no verb. The same root comes back as the verdict (kāḇēd, 'heavy') in the second half.

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 21:15 כֹּ֥בֶד [the] weight of

    For they flee from the sword—the sword that is drawn—from the bow that is bent, and from the stress of battle.

  2. Isaiah 30:27 וְכֹ֖בֶד and [is] heaviness of

    Behold, the Name of the LORD comes from afar, with burning anger and dense smoke. His lips are full of fury, and His tongue is like a consuming fire.

    Here: 'And the heaviness of.' The word means weight, density or massiveness. With the next word it describes a thick, heavy mass of smoke. It shares a root with kāḇôḏ, 'glory', the 'weightiness' of God's visible presence.

Nahum · 1

  1. Nahum 3:3 וְכֹ֣בֶד and [the] weight of

    Charging horseman, flashing sword, shining spear; heaps of slain, mounds of corpses, dead bodies without end—they stumble over their dead—

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