Word Nerd Wednesday: Chazaq (חָזַק)

This word usually gets translated as strong, which sounds like muscle, effort, or willpower.

Like grit-your-teeth faith or don’t-cry-in-front-of-anyone perseverance.
Like the spiritual equivalent of holding a plank too long and pretending you’re fine.

But chazaq (Pronounced: kha-ZAK) isn’t about flexing.

It’s about being held together when pressure hits, which, honestly, feels much more relatable.

Chazaq Is Strength That Comes From Being Gripped

The Hebrew root behind chazaq means to seize, fasten, bind firmly, or take hold of something so it doesn’t come apart.

That detail matters.

This isn’t self-generated strength, it’s reinforced strength.

Chazaq shows up when something is in danger of slipping, breaking, or quietly unraveling while everyone assumes it’s fine.

It describes what happens when a weak thing is secured by something stronger.

That’s why Scripture so often pairs chazaq with fear or uncertainty.

“Be strong and courageous” doesn’t mean hype yourself up in the mirror.
It means don’t come loose.

Chazaq Is Often Passive, Not Aggressive

Ok friends, this is where English translations do us a little dirty.

In many passages, chazaq is something done to a person, not something they’re expected to manufacture. God strengthens hearts. God reinforces hands. God fortifies resolve.

The strength comes from attachment.

A chazaq person isn’t someone who never feels afraid.
It’s someone who doesn’t fall apart when fear shows up uninvited.

This kind of strength is quiet, durable and it doesn’t need an audience.

Chazaq Shows Up When God Speaks Into Fear

Joshua hears it.
Moses speaks it.
The prophets repeat it.

Chazaq shows up when people are overwhelmed, underqualified, grieving, or staring down responsibility thinking, ‘I did not sign up for this’.

God doesn’t tell them to feel brave.
He tells them to be strengthened.

Which is comforting, because feelings are unreliable and God knows that.

Biblical strength isn’t emotional intensity, it’s stability under weight.

Chazaq Is Also Used for Hardening, and That Matters

Here’s the part where we slow down a bit.

The same word is used when Scripture says a heart is strengthened or hardened.

Chazaq means reinforced in a direction.

Strength isn’t morally neutral. It depends on what’s being reinforced. A heart can be strengthened toward obedience or strengthened toward resistance.

Same reinforcement. Different outcome.

The word itself doesn’t guarantee righteousness.
It guarantees durability.

Which is both reassuring and mildly terrifying.

My Final Thoughts

Chazaq reframes how Scripture talks about strength.

It’s not about powering up.
It’s about being anchored.

This is the strength that stays.
The strength that doesn’t scatter under pressure.
The strength that holds because it’s held.

Once you see that, “be strong” stops sounding like a demand and starts sounding like God saying, I’ve got you. You’re not coming apart today.

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Bible Study Questions

1. Where do you see chazaq used in moments of fear or transition in Scripture?

2. How does understanding chazaq as reinforced strength change familiar passages like Joshua 1?

3. What does the dual use of chazaq for courage and hardening reveal about the nature of strength?

Reflection Questions

1. Where are you relying on willpower when reinforcement would be better?

2. What areas of your life feel like they’re being held together with duct tape and prayer?

3. What would it look like to let God strengthen you instead of trying to perform strength?

Action Challenges

1. Read Joshua 1 and note every place strength is commanded or given.

2. Pay attention to where God’s presence, not effort, is the source of courage.

3. Pray honestly about where you need reinforcement instead of resolve.

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