חָכַם châkam — to be wise (in mind, word or act)
Translated in the KJV as × exceeding, teach wisdom, be (make self, shew self) wise, deal wisely, make wiser.
a primitive root,; to be wise (in mind, word or act).
châkam in each stem
Qal (Pa'al)
Perfect (qatal) 7Imperfect (yiqtol) 7Imperative 4Wayyiqtol 1Cohortative 1
O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!
And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year.
Great men are not always wise: neither do the aged understand judgment.
Pi'el
Imperfect (yiqtol) 3
Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven?
To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom.
Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.
Hitpa'el
Cohortative 1Jussive 1
Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.
Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?
Pu'al
Participle (passive) 2
Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O Lord.
There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise:
Hiph'il
Participle (active) 1
The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
What the stems mean
A Hebrew verb is its root letters set into a pattern. The pattern — the binyan — is the grammar's way of saying three things at once: whether the action is simple, intensive or causative, and whether its subject is active, passive or reflexive. That is why one Hebrew word can need six English ones. All seven binyanim, explained ›