Bible word study

Camak (Strong’s H5564): Meaning in the Bible

Camak (סָמַךְ) is the Hebrew word numbered H5564 in Strong’s concordance of the Bible. Strong’s defines it as to prop (literally or figuratively); reflexively, to lean upon or take hold of (in a favorable or unfavorable sense). In the King James Bible it is translated bear up, establish, (up-) hold, lay, lean.

• Original wordסָמַךְ
• Transliterationçâmak
• Pronunciationsaw-mak'
• Part of speechverb (v)
• Strong’s numberH5564
• LanguageHebrew

The full Strong’s definition

Derivation. a primitive root;

How the King James Bible translates it

Where Camak appears in the Bible

In the King James Bible’s text tagged with Strong’s numbers, Camak (H5564) stands behind 48 English renderings in 47 verses across 13 of the 66 books. It is most frequent in Leviticus (14), Psalms (11), Isaiah (6).

How the King James Bible renders Camak, by count

• lay12 of 48 (25 percent)
• laid6 of 48 (12 percent)
• put5 of 48 (10 percent)
• uphold5 of 48 (10 percent)
• sustained3 of 48 (6 percent)
• upholdeth3 of 48 (6 percent)

Three places to read Camak

• Genesis 27:37 And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?
• Leviticus 8:22 And he brought the other ram, the ram of consecration: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram.
• Psalms 54:4 Behold, God is mine helper: the Lord is with them that uphold my soul.

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 Camak 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.

Related words