Lexical Summary
kabed: Heavy, weighty, burdensome, honored, important
Original Word: כָּבֵד
Part of Speech: Adjective
Transliteration: kabed
Pronunciation: kah-BAYD
Phonetic Spelling: (kaw-bade')
KJV: (so) great, grievous, hard(-ened), (too) heavy(-ier), laden, much, slow, sore, thick
NASB: heavy, severe, great, large, difficult, slow, burdensome
Word Origin: [from H3513 (כָּבַד כָּבֵד - honored)]
1. heavy
2. figuratively in a good sense (numerous) or in a bad sense (severe, difficult, stupid)
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
so great, grievous, hardened, too heavier, laden, much, slow, sore,
From kabad; heavy; figuratively in a good sense (numerous) or in a bad sense (severe, difficult, stupid) -- (so) great, grievous, hard(-ened), (too) heavy(-ier), laden, much, slow, sore, thick.
see HEBREW kabad
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Originfrom
kabadDefinitionheavy
NASB Translationburdensome (1), difficult (2), great (4), grievous (1), heavier (1), heavy (11), huge (1), large (4), large number (1), much (1), numerous (1), rich (1), severe (7), slow (2), sorrowful (1), stubborn (1), thick (1), weighed down (1).
Brown-Driver-Briggs
; —
Genesis 41:31+ 34 t.; construct
Exodus 4:10 (twice in verse);
Isaiah 1:4; plural
Exodus 17:12; construct
Ezekiel 3:5,6; —
heavy, a burden Psalm 38:5; hands (weary of holding up) Exodus 17:12 (E), hair of head 2 Samuel 14:26, a corpulent old man 1 Samuel 4:18; Isaiah 1:4 a people heavy with (the burden of) iniquity; a cloud charged with rain Exodus 19:16 (E); a rock of large size Isaiah 32:2; oppressive, grievous, burdensome, a yoke 1 Kings 12:4,11 2Chronicles 10:4,11; a famine Genesis 12:10; Genesis 41:31; Genesis 43:1; Genesis 47:4,13 (J); the vexation () of a fool Proverbs 27:3; vehement, sore, of a mourning Genesis 50:11(J).
massive, abundant, numerous, of a people Numbers 20:20 (J) 1 Kings 3:9; army 2 Kings 6:14; 2 Kings 18:14 = Isaiah 36:2 insect swarm Exodus 8:20 (J).
heavy, dull of speech and tongue Exodus 4:10 (twice in verse) (JE); of the , hard Exodus 7:14 (J).
hard, difficult, of a thing to be done Exodus 18:18 (E) Numbers 11:14 (J); of a language to be understood Ezekiel 3:5,6.
is frequent:
very oppressive, grievous, of hail Exodus 9:18,24; murrain Exodus 9:8; lamentation Genesis 50:10.
very numerous, cattle Exodus 12:38; army, Genesis 50:9; locusts Exodus 10:14; so 1 Kings 10:2 2Chronicles 9:1.
very rich, in cattle Genesis 13:2.
Topical Lexicon
Overview The adjective kāvēd (Strong’s 3515) portrays something weighty in mass, intensity, or significance. Its thirty-nine Old Testament appearances move between literal heaviness, oppressive burden, and the moral gravity that both invites and resists the glory belonging to God alone. By following those movements, one sees how Israel’s history, worship, and prophetic hope are repeatedly interpreted through the idea of “weight.”
Physical Heaviness and Severity
1. Famine: Genesis 12:10; 41:31—“the famine…was so severe.”
2. Plagues: Exodus 9:3, 24; 10:14—hail and locusts “so severe” that nothing like them had been seen.
3. Battle and thunder: Exodus 19:16—“there were thunders and lightning flashes and a thick cloud on the mountain.”
4. Human mass: Eli’s death, 1 Samuel 4:18—“he was old and heavy.”
The tangible sense of weight grounds the word in Israel’s concrete experience. Life in a fallen world can literally crush.
The Weight of Divine Judgment
“Now the hand of the LORD was heavy on the people of Ashdod” (1 Samuel 5:6, 11). When the ark was misappropriated, God’s “heavy” hand vindicated His holiness. Similarly, Pharaoh’s livestock-plague (Exodus 9:3) and the hailstorm (9:24) show that divine retribution can come with unbearable intensity. The adjective underscores that God’s judgments are never casual; they land with full moral force.
Stubborn Hearts and Moral Gravity
“Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding” (Exodus 7:14). The same term that can describe a stone’s weight also depicts a conscience deadened under sin. The irony is deliberate: the heavier the heart grows in self-will, the less responsive it becomes to the God whose glory is true weight. In later prophetic literature, Israel herself becomes “laden with iniquity” (Isaiah 1:4), proving that hardness is not limited to pagan rulers.
Heavy Burdens in Covenant Life
1. Administrative overload: Jethro warns Moses, “The task is too heavy for you” (Exodus 18:18).
2. Forced labor and taxation: “Your father made our yoke heavy” (1 Kings 12:4; 2 Chronicles 10:4).
These texts acknowledge legitimate social burdens while insisting that covenant leaders must not add crushing loads to God’s people. The concept prepares the way for the Messiah who declares, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30).
From Weight to Honor
Though 3515 itself never means “glory,” it shares the root k-b-d with kābōd (3519, “glory”). This linguistic kinship hints that true honor is never light or trivial. The Old Testament’s “weight of glory” (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:17) stands opposite the hollow vanity of idolatry (Isaiah 44:9). What God counts weighty is what ultimately lasts.
Prophetic and Poetic Nuances
• Psalm 38:4 pictures sin as “a heavy burden…too much for me to bear,” driving the sufferer to repentance.
• Proverbs 27:3 compares a fool’s provocation to “a stone…heavy,” warning that moral folly exerts crushing pressure on a community.
• Isaiah 32:2 depicts leadership that shields like “streams of water in a dry land,” the implied contrast being rulers whose oppressions are heavy.
Worship and Reverence
Tabernacle and Temple liturgies assume that those who approach God sense His “weight.” The thunder at Sinai (Exodus 19:16) and the train of His robe filling the Temple (Isaiah 6:1) communicate the same theological reality: God’s presence is substantial, not lightweight. Every appearance of kāvēd that speaks of unbearable circumstance serves as a darkened mirror to that positive glory.
Christological Fulfillment
In the Gospels, the incarnate Son carries humanity’s heaviest load—sin itself (Isaiah 53:4-5; 1 Peter 2:24). When He dies, the weight of divine judgment falls on Him, so that all who believe experience instead “an eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17). The trajectory from oppressive heaviness to redemptive glory culminates at the cross and empty tomb.
Pastoral and Ministry Implications
• Burden-Bearing: Galatians 6:2 calls believers to “carry one another’s burdens.” The Old Testament backdrop exposes how devastating unchecked weight can be.
• Leadership: Shepherds must avoid the folly of Rehoboam, refusing to compound the load God’s flock already carries.
• Counseling Hardened Hearts: Pharaoh’s “heavy” heart warns that prolonged resistance to God may become immovable without sovereign mercy.
• Worship Planning: Services that trivialize holiness fail to convey the Bible’s sense of divine weight. Balancing reverent awe with gospel freedom reflects the full biblical tension.
Historical Resonance
Throughout Israel’s story—patriarchal famines, Exodus judgments, monarchic taxation, exilic woes—the adjective kāvēd registers crisis points when life became almost too heavy to bear. Remembering those moments gives believers today historical assurance that God both sends and lifts burdens in perfect wisdom.
Summary Insight
Strong’s 3515 charts a path from crushing circumstances and hardened hearts to the discovered glory of God. Whether describing famine, hail, yokes, or moral insensibility, the word insists that weight belongs finally to the Lord and to all that accords with His righteous purposes.
Forms and Transliterations
הַכָּבֵ֖ד הַכָּבֵ֛ד הכבד וְכִבְדֵ֣י וְכִבְדֵ֥י וְכָבֵ֑ד וְכָבֵ֖ד וּכְבַ֥ד וכבד וכבדי כְּבֵדִ֔ים כְבַד־ כֶּ֣בֶד כָ֝בֵ֗ד כָּבֵ֑ד כָּבֵ֔ד כָּבֵ֖ד כָּבֵ֣ד כָּבֵ֥ד כָּבֵד֙ כָבֵ֖ד כָבֵ֤ד כָבֵ֥ד כבד כבד־ כבדים chaVed chevad hak·kā·ḇêḏ hakkāḇêḏ hakkaVed kā·ḇêḏ ḵā·ḇêḏ kāḇêḏ ḵāḇêḏ kaVed ḵə·ḇaḏ- kə·ḇê·ḏîm ke·ḇeḏ ḵəḇaḏ- keḇeḏ kəḇêḏîm Keved keveDim ū·ḵə·ḇaḏ ucheVad ūḵəḇaḏ vechaVed vechivDei wə·ḵā·ḇêḏ wə·ḵiḇ·ḏê wəḵāḇêḏ wəḵiḇḏê
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