H2451 H2451
Wisdom, discernment, sound judgment; technical skill or craftsmanship; prudent counsel
Encompassing everything from artisan expertise to divine omniscience, chokmah is Hebrew's broadest term for applied intelligence. Its first appearances in Exodus describe the God-given skill of tabernacle craftsmen — Bezalel filled with chokmah to work in gold, silver, and bronze (Exod 31:3; 35:31). Solomon's chokmah famously surpassed all the wisdom of Egypt and the East (1 Kgs 4:30), covering botanical knowledge, zoology, judicial acumen, and political administration in a single sweep. In Proverbs, personified Wisdom stands at the crossroads calling out to passersby (Prov 1:20; 8:1; 9:1), and the 'fear of the LORD' is declared its starting point (Prov 9:10). Ecclesiastes subjects the concept to relentless scrutiny, asking whether all this chokmah ultimately profits under the sun (Eccl 1:13-18; 2:13-16). Arabic hikmah, Spanish sabiduria, and Korean jihye all converge on the moral-intellectual core, though none fully captures the artisanal-technical dimension visible in the Exodus workshops.
1. wisdom, discernment — The broad intellectual and moral quality of wisdom, discernment, and sound judgment — covering 146 of 149 occurrences. This ranges from Solomon's legendary insight in governance and natural history (1 Kgs 4:29-34; 5:12), through Proverbs' ethical instruction (Prov 1:2, 7; 2:2, 6, 10; 4:5, 7, 11; 9:10), to Ecclesiastes' philosophical interrogation of wisdom's value (Eccl 1:13, 16-18; 2:3, 9, 12-13, 21, 26; 7:12, 19, 23, 25; 8:1, 16; 9:10, 13, 15-16, 18). It also encompasses prophetic contexts where wisdom is attributed to foreign powers (Jer 49:7; Ezek 28:4-5, 7, 12, 17; Isa 10:13; 29:14). German Weisheit, French sagesse, and Arabic hikmah uniformly map to this sense. 146×
AR["الحِكمَةُ","الحِكمَةِ","الحِكْمَةُ","الحِكْمَةِ","الْحِكْمَةَ","حِكمَةً","حِكمَةٍ","حِكْمَةً","حِكْمَةٌ","حِكْمَةٍ"]·ben["জ্ঞান","জ্ঞান?","জ্ঞানের","প্রজ্ঞা","প্রজ্ঞার"]·DE["Weisheit"]·EN["wisdom"]·FR["sagesse"]·heb["חָכְמָה","חוכמה","חכמה"]·HI["बुद्धि","बुद्धि-की","बुद्धिमानी"]·ID["dalam-hikmat","hikmat"]·IT["sapienza"]·jav["kawicaksanan","kawicaksanan,"]·KO["지혜","지혜-가","지혜-의","지혜가","지혜를","지혜와","지혜의","지혜이고"]·PT["sabedoria","sabedoria!","é-sabedoria;"]·RU["мудрости","мудрость","мудростью"]·ES["es-sabiduría","está-la-sabiduría","está-la-sabiduría,","la-sabiduría,","la-sabiduría.","sabiduría"]·SW["hekima","ya-hekima"]·TR["bilgelik","bilgeliği","bilgeliğin","hikmet","hikmeti"]·urd["حکمت","حکمت ہے","حکمت-کی","حکمت-ہے"]
Exod 28:3, Exod 31:6, Exod 36:1, Exod 36:2, Deut 34:9, 1 Kgs 4:29, 1 Kgs 5:12, 1 Kgs 10:7, 2 Chr 1:10, 2 Chr 1:11, Job 11:6, Job 12:2 (+38 more)
▼ 2 more senses below
Senses
2. skill, craftsmanship — Technical skill, craftsmanship, or artisanal expertise — the practical know-how applied to a specific trade or craft. The tabernacle construction narratives in Exodus showcase this sense vividly: skilled workers are filled with chokmah to design artistic works in metal, stone, and fabric (Exod 28:3; 31:3, 6; 35:26, 31, 35; 36:1-2). First Chronicles 28:21 extends the pattern to Temple construction guilds. While formally classified as only 2 occurrences in the clustering, the Exodus craftsmanship passages (often counted under sense 1) share this practical-skill profile. Spanish habilidad and English 'skill' sometimes substitute for 'wisdom' in these contexts, revealing the semantic distinction from moral discernment. 2×
AR["بِالْحِكْمَةِ","حِكمَةَ-"]·ben["জ্ঞানে","জ্ঞানের"]·DE["Weisheit","Weisheit-von-"]·EN["wisdom-of-","with-wisdom"]·FR["in-sagesse","sagesse-de-"]·heb["ב-ה-חכמה","חכמת"]·HI["-में-बुद्धिमान","बुद्धिमानी"]·ID["dengan-hikmat","hikmat"]·IT["in-sapienza","sapienza-di-"]·jav["ing-kawicaksanan","kawicaksanan-"]·KO["에-지혜에","지혜로운"]·PT["com-sabedoria","sabedoria-de-"]·RU["в-мудрости","мудростью"]·ES["en-la-sabiduría","sabiduría-de"]·SW["hekima-ya-","mwenye-hekima"]·TR["bilgelik","bilgelikte"]·urd["حکمت-سے","حکمت-میں"]
3. sense 3 — Prudent counsel or strategic wisdom applied in a specific crisis — represented by the wise woman of Abel Beth-Maacah in 2 Samuel 20:22, who 'in her wisdom' went to the people and persuaded them to end Joab's siege by delivering Sheba's head. This occurrence bridges the abstract quality (sense 1) and the practical skill (sense 2): it is neither theoretical knowledge nor manual craft, but shrewd, situation-specific counsel that saves a city. The multilingual evidence — English 'in her wisdom,' Spanish 'con su sabiduria' — does not distinguish this from the broader sense, but the narrative context highlights an interpersonal, political application distinct from both philosophical reflection and manual artistry. 1×
AR["بِ-حِكْمَتِهَا"]·ben["তার-জ্ঞানে"]·DE["in-ihr-Weisheit"]·EN["in-her-wisdom"]·FR["dans-sa-sagesse"]·heb["ב-חכמת-ה"]·HI["अपनी-बुद्धि-में"]·ID["dengan-kebijaksanaannya"]·IT["in-lei-sapienza"]·jav["mawi-kawicaksananipun"]·KO["그녀의-지혜로"]·PT["em-sua-sabedoria"]·RU["в-мудрости-своей"]·ES["con-su-sabiduría"]·SW["kwa-hekima-yake"]·TR["bilgeliğinde"]·urd["اپنی-دانائی-سے"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† חָכְמָה n.f. wisdom, ח׳ Ex 28:3 + 106 times; cstr. חָכְמַת Ex 35:35 + 15 times; sf. חָכְמָתִי Ec 2:9, etc. + 25 times sf.; pl. abst. חָכְמוֹת ψ 49:4 Pr 1:20; 9:1; 24:7 (GK§ 861); חַכְמוֹת Pr 14:1 (incorrectly pointed as adj. cstr. f.; read חָכְמוֹת De);— 1. skill in war Is 10:13; in technical work Ex 28:3; 31:3, 6; 35:26, 31, 35; 36:1, 2 (P), cf. 1 K 7:14, 1 Ch 28:21; of sailors ψ 107:27. 2.…