achaz · seize, hold

What it means

achaz (אָחַז) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “seize, hold”.

Seize, take hold of; be caught; hold as a possession.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. To take something in the hand and not let go.
2. To keep a land and settle in it.
3. For something to be joined to another, held up or caught in it.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

To seize, grasp with the hand and not let go; to be caught or trapped. It is said also of a feeling that takes hold of someone. In a passive form, to take possession of land; of the same root is אֲחֻזָּה (possession, H272).

• Grasping with the hand Genesis 25:26Judges 16:3Ruth 3:15
• Being caught: the ram in the thicket Genesis 22:13
• Trembling or anguish seizes someone Exodus 15:14Psalms 48:6
• God takes hold of his own one's hand Psalms 73:23Psalms 139:10
• Taking possession of land Genesis 47:27Genesis 34:10

How we translate it

It varies with what is grasped: “seize” 7 times, “seized” 5, “seizes” 5, “took hold” 4, “holding” (Genesis 25:26); “has seized” when it is a feeling (“anguish has seized the inhabitants of Philistia”, Exodus 15:14); “caught” for the ram (Genesis 22:13); “they acquired possessions” in Genesis 47:27.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• seize ×7
• seized ×5
• seizes ×5
• has seized ×4
• taken ×4
• took hold ×4
• caught ×3
• drawn ×2
• fastened ×2
• holding ×2
• others ×30

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Genesis×4
• Exodus×3
• Numbers×3
• Deuteronomy×1
• Joshua×2
• Judges×5
• Ruth×2
• 2 Samuel×5
• 1 Kings×3
• 1 Chronicles×4
• 2 Chronicles×2
• Nehemiah×1
• Esther×1
• Job×9
• Psalms×7
• Ecclesiastes×4
• Song of Songs×4
• Isaiah×4
• Jeremiah×2
• Ezekiel×2

• Genesis 22:13

  Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw, and look, a ram behind him, caught in the thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son.

• Genesis 25:26

  After that his brother came out, with his hand holding on to the heel of Esau, and he called his name Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

• Genesis 34:10

  You shall dwell with us, and the land shall be before you; dwell in it, trade in it, and acquire property in it.”

• Genesis 47:27

  Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; they acquired possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly.

• Exodus 4:4

  Then YHWH said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand and seize it by its tail.” So he stretched out his hand and grasped it, and it became a staff in his hand,

• Exodus 15:14

  The peoples have heard; they tremble; anguish has seized the inhabitants of Philistia.

• Exodus 15:15

  Then the chieftains of Edom were dismayed; the mighty of Moab, trembling seized them; all the inhabitants of Canaan melted away.

• Numbers 31:30

  And from the half of the sons of Israel you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the people, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the sheep, of all the animals, and give them to the Levites who keep the charge of the dwelling of YHWH.”

• Numbers 31:47

  from the half of the sons of Israel Moses took the one drawn out of every fifty, of the people and of the animals, and gave them to the Levites who kept the charge of the dwelling of YHWH, as YHWH had commanded Moses.

• Numbers 32:30

  But if they do not cross armed with you, then they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.”

• Deuteronomy 32:41

  if I sharpen the lightning of my sword and my hand takes hold of judgment, I will return vengeance to my adversaries and repay those who hate me.

• Joshua 22:9

  So the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh returned and went away from the sons of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they had taken possession of according to the command of YHWH through Moses.

• Joshua 22:19

  But if the land of your possession is unclean, cross over to the land of the possession of YHWH, where the dwelling of YHWH dwells, and take possession among us; but do not rebel against YHWH, and do not rebel against us by building yourselves an altar besides the altar of YHWH our Elohim.

• Judges 1:6

  Adoni-bezek fled, and they pursued him, seized him, and cut off the thumbs of his hands and of his feet.

• Judges 12:6

  Then they would say to him, “Say, please, ‘Shibboleth.’” And he would say, “Sibboleth,” for he could not say it that way. Then they would seize him and slaughter him at the fords of the Jordan. And there fell at that time, of Ephraim, forty-two thousand.

• Judges 16:3

  And Samson lay until midnight; then at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and of the two doorposts, and pulled them up with the bar, and put them on his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron.

• Judges 16:21

  And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze fetters; and he was grinding in the house of the prisoners.

• Judges 20:6

  So I took hold of my concubine and cut her in pieces and sent her throughout all the field of the inheritance of Israel, for they have committed infamy and vileness in Israel.

• Ruth 3:15

  And he said, “Bring the shawl that is on you and hold it out.” So she held it, and he measured six measures of barley and put it on her; then he went into the city.

• 2 Samuel 1:9

  He said to me, ‘Stand, please, over me and put me to death, for agony has seized me, for all my life is still in me.’

• 2 Samuel 2:21

  Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your right or to your left, and seize for yourself one of the young men and take for yourself what he is wearing.” But Asahel would not turn away from following him.

• 2 Samuel 4:10

  when the one who reported to me, saying, ‘Look, Saul is dead,’ and he was in his own eyes like one bringing good news, I seized him and killed him in Ziklag, that was how I gave him a reward for his news.

• 2 Samuel 6:6

  When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out his hand to the ark of Elohim and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled.

• 2 Samuel 20:9

  Joab said to Amasa, “Are you well, my brother?” And Joab’s right hand took hold of Amasa’s beard to kiss him.

• 1 Kings 1:51

  And it was told to Solomon, saying, “Look, Adonijah fears King Solomon; and look, he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me today that he will not put to death his servant with the sword.’”

• 1 Kings 6:6

  The lower annex was five cubits wide, and the middle one six cubits wide, and the third seven cubits wide; for he had put offsets on the house all around on the outside, so as not to fasten into the walls of the house.

• 1 Kings 6:10

  And he built the annex against all the house, five cubits its height, and it fastened onto the house with timbers of cedar.

• 1 Chronicles 13:9

  They came to the threshing floor of Chidon, and Uzzah reached out his hand to take hold of the ark, for the oxen stumbled.

• 1 Chronicles 24:6

  Shemaiah son of Nethanel, the scribe, from the Levites, recorded them before the king and the chiefs and Zadok the priest and Ahimelech son of Abiathar and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the priests and of the Levites: one father’s house taken for Eleazar, and one taken for Ithamar.

• 2 Chronicles 9:18

  There were six steps to the throne and a footstool of gold, attached to the throne, and arms on this side and on that side of the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the arms.

• 2 Chronicles 25:5

  Amaziah gathered Judah and set them by fathers’ houses, under commanders of thousands and under commanders of hundreds, for all Judah and Benjamin; and he counted them from twenty years old and upward, and found them to be three hundred thousand chosen men going out to the army, handling spear and large shield.

• Nehemiah 7:3

  And I said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot; and while they are standing, let them shut the doors and bar them; and appoint guards from the inhabitants of Jerusalem, each at his guard and each in front of his house.”

• Esther 1:6

  There was white cloth, cotton and blue, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to rings of silver and columns of marble; couches of gold and silver on a pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and dark stone.

• Job 16:12

  I was tranquil, and he shook me; he seized me by the neck and smashed me to pieces, and set me up for himself as a target.

• Job 17:9

  And the righteous holds fast to his way, and the one pure of hands grows in firmness.

• Job 18:9

  A snare seizes him by the heel; the trap holds fast on him.

• Job 18:20

  At his day those after are appalled, and horror seizes those before.

• Job 21:6

  When I remember, I am troubled, and trembling seizes my flesh.

• Job 23:11

  My foot has held fast to his steps; his way I have kept, and have not turned aside.

• Job 26:9

  He covers the face of the throne; he spreads his cloud over it.

And 28 more times.