Hebrew word · H7185

קָשָׁה

vaiyakshu

to harden

Qashah in the causative form means "to make hard, stiff, heavy". ʿOref is the back of the neck. Together they form a fixed idiom for willful refusal to be led. Turning one's ʿoref (back of the neck) on someone means rejecting them (Jer 2:27; 32:33).

Appears 28 times in 28 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to be hard, be severe, be fierce, be harsh

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to be hard, be difficult

1a2) to be hard, be severe

1b) (Niphal)

1b1) to be ill-treated

1b2) to be hard pressed

1c) (Piel) to have severe labour (of women)

1d) (Hiphil)

1d1) to make difficult, make difficulty

1d2) to make severe, make burdensome

1d3) to make hard, make stiff, make stubborn

1d3a) of obstinacy (fig)

1d4) to show stubbornness

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 29:1

Range of meaning

Qashah in the causative form means "to make hard, stiff, heavy". ʿOref is the back of the neck. Together they form a fixed idiom for willful refusal to be led. Turning one's ʿoref (back of the neck) on someone means rejecting them (Jer 2:27; 32:33).

Against the English

BSB and NIV say "stiff-necked", which keeps the picture. KJV says "hardeneth his neck", which is literal. NLT's "stubbornly refuses" gives the meaning but drops the image of the animal and the yoke, and with it the irony of the neck breaking.

Used elsewhere in the period

Torah and prophets use it of Israel's resistance to God: "a stiff-necked people" (Exod 32:9; 33:3, 5; 34:9; Deut 9:6, 13); "circumcise your heart and do not harden your neck any longer" (Deut 10:16); "they hardened their necks" against the prophets (2 Kgs 17:14; Jer 7:26; 17:23; 19:15; Neh 9:16–17, 29). The Greek Old Testament renders the idea with sklērotrachēlos, which Stephen uses in Acts 7:51.

From the study of Isaiah 8:21

Range of meaning

The root qāšâ means 'be hard, heavy, severe, difficult.' In the active forms it is used for hardening the neck or heart (stubbornness, e.g. Exod 7:3; Deut 10:16) or for making a yoke or labour heavy (1 Kgs 12:4). This passive participle occurs only here. It means 'one who has been made hard for': oppressed, hard-pressed, worn down by hardship (HALOT 'hard pressed'; BDB 'hard pressed, sorely distressed').

Against the English

BSB 'dejected,' NIV/WEB 'distressed,' NASB 'hard-pressed,' KJV 'hardly bestead.' YLT's 'hardened' follows the root too woodenly. It suggests stubbornness, which this form does not mean.

How it drifted

KJV's 'hardly bestead' was clear in 1611 ('placed in hard circumstances'). Today 'hardly' means 'scarcely,' so the phrase is misread or simply opaque.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint read the consonants as describing the famine: 'hard (sklēra) famine will come upon you.' The Vulgate has corruet, 'he will collapse.' Both show early translators struggled with this rare form.

From the study of Proverbs 28:14

Range of meaning

Qāshāh means to be hard, heavy or severe. In the causative form used here it means to make hard or stiff. With 'heart' (lēb) or 'neck' it is a set phrase for stubbornness: refusing to listen, yield or change course. Lēb is the inner person as thinker and decider: mind, attention, will, conscience.

Against the English

English 'hard-hearted' usually means unkind or lacking compassion. The Hebrew idiom is mainly about being unteachable and resisting warning, especially warning from God.

How it drifted

English places the emotions in the heart. Hebrew places thinking and choosing there, so 'hardens his heart' tends to be read as emotional coldness.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exod 7:3; 13:15 (Pharaoh). Ps 95:8 ('do not harden your hearts as at Meribah'). Prov 29:1 ('one often rebuked who hardens his neck will suddenly be broken, beyond healing'). Deut 15:7 uses a related hardening phrase for refusing to help the poor, the one place where the sense comes nearer to 'callous'.

Where it appears

Genesis · 3

  1. Genesis 35:16 וַתְּקַ֥שׁ and she had difficulties

    Later, they set out from Bethel, and while they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth, and her labor was difficult.

    Here: From the root for 'hard, heavy, harsh' (the same root as a 'stiff' neck or a 'harsh' word). The verb form here describes her state: 'she had it hard'. Verse 17 repeats the root ('in her hard labor'), so the narrator dwells on how severe it was.

  2. Genesis 35:17 בְהַקְשֹׁתָ֖הּ when had difficulties she

    During her severe labor, the midwife said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you are having another son.”

    Here: "In her having it hard": the verb form normally means "to make something hard" (it is used of stiffening a neck or hardening a heart), but here it describes her own struggle: the labor had become harsh and dangerous. It picks up the word already used in v.16, "and she had hard labor."

  3. Genesis 49:7 קָשָׁ֑תָה it is hard

    Cursed be their anger, for it is strong, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will disperse them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.

Exodus · 2

  1. Exodus 7:3 אַקְשֶׁ֖ה I will make stubborn

    But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I will multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,

    Here: A causative form: 'I will cause to be hard'. The root means hard, stiff, severe or difficult. Applied to the heart, it means to make a person's resolve rigid and unyielding. It is the same root as 'stiff-necked' (qəšēh-ʿōrep̄, 32:9).

  2. Exodus 13:15 הִקְשָׁ֣ה he made stubborn

    And when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both of man and beast. This is why I sacrifice to the LORD the firstborn male of every womb, but I redeem all the firstborn of my sons.’

Deuteronomy · 4

  1. Deuteronomy 1:17 יִקְשֶׁ֣ה it will be [too] hard

    Show no partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be intimidated by anyone, for judgment belongs to God. And bring to me any case too difficult for you, and I will hear it.”

    Here: 'Is too hard': a case too complex or obscure for the local judges to settle.

  2. Deuteronomy 2:30 הִקְשָׁה֩ he had made stubborn

    But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as is the case this day.

    Here: 'He made hard.' The verb is causative, and the context allows 'had made hard.' It is the same verb used of Pharaoh in Exod 7:3 ('I will harden Pharaoh's heart').

  3. Deuteronomy 10:16 תַקְשׁ֖וּ you will make stiff

    Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more.

    Here: "You shall make hard." The verb form is causative: Israel is pictured as actively stiffening its own neck. Stubbornness is presented as something they do, not something that happens to them.

  4. Deuteronomy 15:18 יִקְשֶׁ֣ה it will be hard

    Do not regard it as a hardship to set your servant free, because his six years of service were worth twice the wages of a hired hand. And the LORD your God will bless you in all you do.

1 Samuel · 1

  1. 1 Samuel 5:7 קָשְׁתָ֤ה it is hard

    And when the men of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not stay here with us, because His hand is heavy upon us and upon our god Dagon.”

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 19:43 וַיִּ֙קֶשׁ֙ and it was hard

    “We have ten shares in the king,” answered the men of Israel, “so we have more claim to David than you. Why then do you despise us? Were we not the first to speak of restoring our king?” But the men of Judah spoke more fiercely than the men of Israel.

    Here: 'It was hard,' meaning harsh, rough, unyielding. The narrator now speaks: Judah's reply was the harsher of the two. The same root describes Rehoboam's harsh answer that splits the kingdom (1 Kings 12:13).

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 12:4 הִקְשָׁ֣ה he made hard

    “Your father put a heavy yoke on us. But now you must lighten the burden of your father’s service and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”

2 Kings · 2

  1. 2 Kings 2:10 הִקְשִׁ֣יתָ you have made difficult

    “You have requested a difficult thing,” said Elijah. “Nevertheless, if you see me as I am taken from you, it will be yours. But if not, then it will not be so.”

    Here: A causative form of the verb 'to be hard, heavy, severe': literally 'you have made it hard'. Elijah is not scolding Elisha. He is saying the request is difficult to grant, and above all that it is not his to give.

  2. 2 Kings 17:14 וַיַּקְשׁ֤וּ and they stiffened

    But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like their fathers, who did not believe the LORD their God.

    Here: The causative form, 'they made hard,' stresses that the stiffness was something they did. Their resistance was deliberate, not a condition that happened to them.

2 Chronicles · 3

  1. 2 Chronicles 10:4 הִקְשָׁ֣ה he made hard

    “Your father put a heavy yoke on us. But now you must lighten the burden of your father’s service and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”

  2. 2 Chronicles 30:8 תַּקְשׁ֥וּ you harden

    Now do not stiffen your necks as your fathers did. Submit to the LORD and come to His sanctuary, which He has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that His fierce anger will turn away from you.

    Here: Causative form: 'make hard'. The hearers would be the ones doing the stiffening; stubbornness is pictured as something you do to yourself.

  3. 2 Chronicles 36:13 וַיֶּ֤קֶשׁ and he made stiff

    He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. But Zedekiah stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel.

    Here: A causative verb: he made his own neck stiff. It is something he did to himself, not a mood that came over him.

Nehemiah · 3

  1. Nehemiah 9:16 וַיַּקְשׁוּ֙ and they stiffened

    But they and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-necked and did not obey Your commandments.

    Here: A causative form, 'they made (their neck) hard'. The hardening is something they did, not something that happened to them. The verb form continues the narrative sequence.

  2. Nehemiah 9:17 וַיַּקְשׁוּ֙ and they stiffened

    They refused to listen and failed to remember the wonders You performed among them. They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return them to their bondage in Egypt. But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in loving devotion, and You did not forsake them.

    Here: 'They made hard.' This repeats v.16 word for word, so the stubbornness is stressed twice.

  3. Nehemiah 9:29 הִקְשׁ֖וּ they stiffened

    You admonished them to turn back to Your law, but they were arrogant and disobeyed Your commandments. They sinned against Your ordinances, by which a man will live if he practices them. They turned a stubborn shoulder; they stiffened their necks and would not obey.

    Here: 'They made hard': a causative form. They actively stiffened themselves; it did not just happen to them. This picks up the stock phrase 'stiff-necked people' (Exod 32:9) and the earlier line of this prayer (9:16–17).

Job · 1

  1. Job 9:4 הִקְשָׁ֥ה has he shown stubbornness

    God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has resisted Him and prospered?

    Here: 'Made hard', short for the common idiom 'made his neck hard', like an ox refusing the yoke. It means to set oneself stubbornly against someone and defy them.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 95:8 תַּקְשׁ֣וּ you harden

    do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, in the day at Massah in the wilderness,

    Here: The causative form, addressed to a plural 'you': 'do not make [your heart] hard.' The people are the ones who would do the hardening. It is the same verb family as 'stiff-necked' (qesheh-ʿoref), the image of an ox that won't bend its neck to the yoke, and it is used of Pharaoh's hardened heart.

Proverbs · 2

  1. Proverbs 28:14 וּמַקְשֶׁ֥ה and [one who] hardens

    Blessed is the man who is always reverent, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.

    Here: 'But whoever makes hard…'. The verb form is causative: the person actively stiffens himself. This is the verb used for Pharaoh's heart in Exodus.

  2. Proverbs 29:1 מַקְשֶׁה־ [one who] hardens

    A man who remains stiff-necked after much reproof will suddenly be shattered beyond recovery.

    Here: A participle of the causative form ("making hard"). It describes an ongoing habit. He is not simply hard by nature; he keeps making himself rigid. The form puts the responsibility on him.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 8:21 נִקְשֶׁ֣ה hard pressed

    They will roam the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged; and looking upward, they will curse their king and their God.

    Here: A passive form of 'be hard,' found only here: someone things have been made hard for. It means weighed down by hardship, not hard-hearted. KJV's 'hardly bestead' means 'in hard straits.'

Jeremiah · 3

  1. Jeremiah 7:26 וַיַּקְשׁוּ֙ and they stiffened

    Yet they would not listen to Me or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and did more evil than their fathers.

    Here: 'They made hard.' This is something they did on purpose, not something that just happened to them. After two 'did nots' comes what they actively did instead.

  2. Jeremiah 17:23 וַיַּקְשׁוּ֙ and they stiffened

    Yet they would not listen or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and would not listen or receive My discipline.

    Here: 'And they made hard', a causative form. The hardness is not something that happened to them. They actively made their necks rigid, the opposite of bending the ear.

  3. Jeremiah 19:15 הִקְשׁוּ֙ they have stiffened

    “This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I am about to bring on this city and on all the villages around it every disaster I have pronounced against them, because they have stiffened their necks so as not to heed My words.’”

    Here: 'They made hard.' The verb form means they did it to themselves, on purpose. The stiffening is their own act.

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