Bible word study

Chanan (Strong’s H2603): Meaning in the Bible

Chanan (חָנַן) is the Hebrew word numbered H2603 in Strong’s concordance of the Bible. Strong’s defines it as properly, to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior; to favor, bestow; causatively to implore (i.e. move to favor by petition). In the King James Bible it is translated beseech, (be, find, shew) favour(-able), be (deal.

• Original wordחָנַן
• Transliterationchânan
• Pronunciationkhaw-nan'
• Part of speechverb (v)
• Strong’s numberH2603
• LanguageHebrew

The full Strong’s definition

Derivation. a primitive root (compare H2583);

How the King James Bible translates it

Where Chanan appears in the Bible

In the King James Bible’s text tagged with Strong’s numbers, Chanan (H2603) stands behind 77 English renderings in 72 verses across 19 of the 66 books. It is most frequent in Psalms (32), Job (6), Proverbs (6).

How the King James Bible renders Chanan, by count

• mercy16 of 77 (21 percent)
• gracious13 of 77 (17 percent)
• merciful12 of 77 (16 percent)
• supplication10 of 77 (13 percent)
• favour7 of 77 (9 percent)
• besought4 of 77 (5 percent)

Three places to read Chanan

• Genesis 33:5 And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are those with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant.
• Job 19:21 Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.
• Psalms 109:12 Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children.

Counts are made at build time from the King James text tagged with Strong’s numbers (eBible.org, public domain). Verses are read from the stored King James text, never typed.

Why the word matters

Every word the biblical writers chose carries weight. Studying Chanan in the original Hebrew lets you read the passages where it appears more carefully, closer to what the first hearers understood, so the meaning is drawn from the text itself rather than from the English alone.

The lexical data on this page comes from the public-domain Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890), a Hebrew and Greek dictionary keyed to the King James Bible. It is a reference tool, not a settled verdict: no single word decides a doctrine, and meaning is finally shaped by how a word is used in its sentences. Read the passages themselves, prayerfully, and in full.

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