Bible Word Study
חֻקֹּק
Chuqqôq · Chukkok or Chukok, a place in Palestine
חֻקֹּק
Chukkok or Chukok, a place in Palestine
Definition
Chukkok (or Chukok) is a proper noun referring to a town in the territory of the tribe of Naphtali, located in ancient Palestine. It is mentioned as a border town in the description of Naphtali's inheritance in Joshua 19:34. The same location is later referenced in 1 Chronicles 6:75 (verse 60 in some English versions) as one of the Levitical cities given to the Gershonites from the tribe of Naphtali. There are no other distinct biblical meanings for this word; it functions solely as a geographical place name.
Biblical Usage
The word is used exclusively as a geographical place name in two Old Testament passages. It appears in a list of border towns defining the territory of the tribe of Naphtali (Joshua 19:34). It is used again in a list of cities allotted to the Levites from the various tribal territories (1 Chronicles 6:75). There are no other usages or patterns.
Etymology
The name חֻקֹּק (Chuqqôq) is derived from the Hebrew root חָקַק (ḥāqaq, H2710), which means 'to engrave,' 'to inscribe,' 'to decree,' or 'to appoint.' As a place name, it likely carries the sense of something 'decreed' or 'appointed,' possibly referring to a boundary marker or a designated location. The full form חוּקֹק (Chuqqôq) appears in 1 Chronicles 6:75.
Semantic Range
As a place name, Chukkok represents a specific, though now unidentifiable, location in ancient Israel's tribal geography. Its inclusion in border descriptions (Joshua 19:34) highlights the importance of defined tribal territories as part of God's covenantal land grant to Israel. Its later designation as a Levitical city (1 Chronicles 6:75) reflects the system of providing for the priestly tribe from the other tribes' inheritances, a key socio-religious structure in ancient Israel.
Word Details
How this works
Definitions are from the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (BDB, 1906, public domain). Concordance and morphology data are from the OSHB (Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible).
Full methodology & sources →References
- Abbott-Smith, G. (1921) A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Brown, F., Driver, S.R. and Briggs, C.A. (1906) A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press. [Public Domain]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Tyndale Brief lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (TBESG). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Formatted full LSJ (TFLSJ). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Thayer, J.H. (1889) A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. [Public Domain]
- Gesenius, W. (1846) Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament. [Public Domain]
- Dodson, J. (2010) Greek Lexicon. Biblical Humanities. [CC0]