Hebrew word · H3906

לַ֫חַץ

lachatz

oppression

Pressure, squeezing, and so oppression or affliction. The verb means to press or squeeze (Balaam's donkey crushes his foot against the wall, Num 22:25).

Appears 12 times in 10 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated November 01, 2026

What it means

oppression, distress, pressure

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 Psalm 43:2

Range of meaning: Pressure, squeezing, and so oppression or affliction. The verb means to press or squeeze (Balaam's donkey crushes his foot against the wall, Num 22:25).
Against the English: "Oppression" (KJV, BSB, WEB) is accurate but abstract. The Hebrew picture is of being hemmed in and crushed.
Used elsewhere in the period: Exod 3:9 ("the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them"), Deut 26:7, 2 Kgs 13:4 (Aram's pressure on Israel), 1 Kgs 22:27 ("bread of affliction"), Ps 44:24 ("our affliction and our oppression").

From the study of 1 Kings 22:27

Range of meaning: Pressure or squeezing, and so oppression or distress. The related verb means to press, squeeze or crowd. In Numbers 22:25 Balaam's donkey crushes his foot against a wall, and in 2 Kings 6:32 a door is pushed against a man. The noun is used for what an oppressor does to the weak: Egypt's oppression of Israel (Exod 3:9; Deut 26:7) and enemies' pressure on Israel (2 Kgs 13:4). It is also used for personal distress (Pss 42:9; 44:24).
Against the English: The KJV and WEB say 'bread of affliction … water of affliction', which keeps the idea but makes it sound like suffering in general. The YLT's 'bread of oppression' is closer. The BSB ('only bread and water'), the NIV and the NLT ('nothing but') drop the word and give only the result, a bare ration. The ESV ('meager rations') and the NASB ('sparingly') keep the idea of a reduced amount but not the idea of pressure.
How it drifted: 'Affliction' in older English leaned toward misfortune or illness. To modern readers it can sound like something that just happens to a person, not a policy someone imposes.
Used elsewhere in the period: Isaiah 30:20 has a close parallel: 'bread of adversity (lechem tsar) and water of affliction (mayim lachats)'. There it is also a picture of hard times, which suggests the phrase was a known idiom for siege or prison rations. The Septuagint, the early Greek translation, uses 'bread of thlipsis' (pressure, distress), the same word the New Testament later uses for 'tribulation'.

From the study of 2 Kings 13:4

Range of meaning: Physical pressing or squeezing: Balaam's donkey crushes his foot against a wall (Num 22:25); a door is pressed shut (2 Kgs 6:32). Figuratively it means oppression by an enemy who hems a people in (Exod 3:9; Judg 2:18; 4:3; 6:9; 10:12; 1 Sam 10:18; Ps 42:9; 43:2). The noun also appears in 'bread of affliction / water of affliction' (lechem laḥats, 1 Kgs 22:27), meaning prison rations.
Against the English: 'Oppression' is accurate, but modern readers often hear it as a social or structural injustice. The Hebrew is more physical: an enemy squeezing a nation, cutting off its room to breathe. Verse 7 shows what that meant in practice: Israel's army reduced to 50 horsemen, 10 chariots and 10,000 foot soldiers, 'made like dust at threshing'.
Used elsewhere in the period: The closest parallel is Exod 3:9: 'I have seen the oppression (ha-laḥats) with which the Egyptians oppress (loḥatsim) them'. It has the same pairing of seeing with noun and verb from this root. The Judges cycle uses the root for the enemies Yahweh delivers Israel from (Judg 2:18, 'because of those who oppressed them'). Later in this chapter, v. 22 says 'Hazael oppressed (laḥats) Israel all the days of Jehoahaz'.

Similar words

Where it appears

Exodus · 1

Exodus 3:9 הַלַּ֔חַץ the oppression

And now the cry of the Israelites has reached Me, and I have seen how severely the Egyptians are oppressing them.

Here: Literally 'the squeezing', the crushing pressure Egypt puts on them. The root is used for pinning a foot against a wall (Num 22:25).

Deuteronomy · 1

Deuteronomy 26:7 לַחֲצֵֽנוּ׃ oppression our

So we called out to the LORD, the God of our fathers; and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, toil, and oppression.

1 Kings · 2

1 Kings 22:27 לַ֙חַץ֙ לַ֔חַץ oppression

and tell them that this is what the king says: ‘Put this man in prison and feed him only bread and water until I return safely.’”

Here: 'Bread of squeezing.' It means a ration deliberately cut back to keep him under pressure, the same word used for Egypt's oppression of Israel.

2 Kings · 1

2 Kings 13:4 לַ֣חַץ [the] oppression of

Then Jehoahaz sought the favor of the LORD, and the LORD listened to him because He saw the oppression that the king of Aram had inflicted on Israel.

Here: Literally 'squeezing, crushing pressure'. Here it is the grinding military pressure of Aram on Israel's land and army (see v. 7).

2 Chronicles · 2

2 Chronicles 18:26 לַ֙חַץ֙ לַ֔חַץ oppression

and tell them that this is what the king says: ‘Put this man in prison and feed him only bread and water until I return safely.’”

Job · 1

Job 36:15 בַּלַּ֣חַץ by <the> oppression

God rescues the afflicted by their affliction and opens their ears in oppression.

Psalms · 3

Psalm 42:9 בְּלַ֣חַץ in [the] oppression of

I say to God my Rock, “Why have You forgotten me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?”

Here: 'In the squeeze of': the root means to press or crush something against something else. The preposition can mean 'because of' or 'in the midst of'. Both fit: the enemy's pressure is the cause of the mourning and also the setting he lives in.
Psalm 43:2 בְּלַ֣חַץ in [the] oppression of

For You are the God of my refuge. Why have You rejected me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?

Here: "In the squeeze of": laḥaṣ is physical pressing, like being crushed against a wall. It also names the oppression Israel suffered in Egypt (Exod 3:9). The preposition can mean the circumstances ("under") or the cause ("because of").
Psalm 44:24 וְֽלַחֲצֵֽנוּ׃ and oppression our

Why do You hide Your face and forget our affliction and oppression?

Here: From a root meaning to squeeze or press, as against a wall. It names the outside pressure enemies put on the people. Paired with ʿonî it recalls the Exodus wording almost exactly.

Isaiah · 1

Isaiah 30:20 לָ֑חַץ oppression

The Lord will give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, but your Teacher will no longer hide Himself—with your own eyes you will see Him.

Here: 'Squeezing, pressure'. Water measured out under pressure. The same pair, 'bread of lāḥaṣ and water of lāḥaṣ', is the prison ration given to Micaiah in 1 Kings 22:27.

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