chacham · be wise

What it means

chacham (חָכַם) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “be wise”.

Act wisely; in Exodus 1:10, act shrewdly.

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 act with good sense, or teach it to another.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

How it is translated

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

• wise ×22
• he was wiser ×1
• he will become wiser ×1
• let us deal shrewdly ×1
• make me wiser ×1
• skillfully ×1

Related words

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

Where it appears

• Exodus×1
• Deuteronomy×1
• 1 Kings×1
• Job×2
• Psalms×4
• Proverbs×13
• Ecclesiastes×4
• Zechariah×1

• Exodus 1:10

  Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will multiply, and if war breaks out, they too will join those who hate us and fight against us and go up from the land.”

• Deuteronomy 32:29

  If only they were wise, they would understand this; they would consider their end!

• 1 Kings 4:31

  And he was wiser than all human beings, than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his name was among all the nations around.

• Job 32:9

  It is not the great who are wise, nor the elders who understand justice.

• Job 35:11

  who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth, and more than the birds of the heavens makes us wise?’

• Psalms 19:7

  The instruction of YHWH is blameless, bringing back the soul; the testimony of YHWH is faithful, making wise the naive.

• Psalms 58:5

  that does not listen to the voice of charmers, of one who binds spells skillfully.

• Psalms 105:22

  to bind his princes at his will, and his elders to make wise.

• Psalms 119:98

  Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for forever they are with me.

• Proverbs 6:6

  Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise;

• Proverbs 8:33

  Listen to correction and be wise, and do not ignore it.

• Proverbs 9:9

  Give to a wise man, and he will become wiser still; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in teaching.

• Proverbs 9:12

  If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; and if you scoff, you alone will bear it.

• Proverbs 13:20

  Whoever walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of the senseless will suffer harm.

• Proverbs 19:20

  Listen to counsel and receive correction, so that you may become wise in your end.

• Proverbs 20:1

  A scoffer is wine, a brawler intoxicating drink, and anyone who strays by it is not wise.

• Proverbs 21:11

  When the scoffer is fined, the simple becomes wise; and when the wise is instructed, he receives knowledge.

• Proverbs 23:15

  My son, if your heart is wise, my heart will be glad, mine too;

• Proverbs 23:19

  Hear, you, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in the way.

• Proverbs 27:11

  Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad, and I will return a word to whoever reproaches me.

• Proverbs 30:24

  Four things are small on the earth, and they are wise, made very wise:

• Ecclesiastes 2:15

  And I said in my heart, “As the fate of the senseless, so it will befall me too; and why then have I been overly wise?” And I said in my heart that this too was vapor.

• Ecclesiastes 2:19

  And who knows whether he will be wise or witless? Yet he will rule over all my toil at which I have toiled and in which I have been wise under the sun. This too is vapor.

• Ecclesiastes 7:16

  Do not be righteous overmuch, and do not act overly wise; why should you ruin yourself?

• Ecclesiastes 7:23

  All this I tested by wisdom; I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me.

• Zechariah 9:2

  And also Hamath, which borders on it; Tyre and Sidon, though she is very wise.

And 1 more times.