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Hebrew verb · H5564

סָמַךְ

samaksaw-mak'

to support

48 uses in the Hebrew text, one for each word STEP Bible has tagged with this key

Concordance spelling: çâmak

Word page · Part of the concordance, one page for every word of the Hebrew and Greek text. Strong's H5564is this word's number in James Strong's 1890 index of the King James Bible.

  • 13 of 39
    Old Testament books
  • 37
    spellings

The definition in full

Strong's key (1890) · H5564

to prop (literally or figuratively); reflexively, to lean upon or take hold of (in a favorable or unfavorable sense)

The King James renders it: bear up, establish, (up-) hold, lay, lean, lie hard, put, rest self, set self, stand fast, stay (self), sustain.

James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), public domain. Strong indexed the King James text, and this site quotes his entry as that index.

Summary

samak is rendered "to support". It stands 48 times in the Hebrew text, across thirteen books.

  • Fourteen of the uses stand in Leviticus, more than in any other book.
  • Its first use in canonical order opens the ledger below.Genesis 27:37But Isaac answered Esau: “Look, I have made him your master and given him all his relatives as servants; I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?”
  • The Greek text spells it thirty-seven different ways.

The first use

But Isaac answered Esau: “Look, I have made him your master and given him all his relatives as servants; I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?”

Genesis 27:37סְמַכְתִּ֑יו

The first use, in the order of the Old Testament's books.

Where the word stands

Fourteen of the word's forty-eight uses are in Leviticus.

The other 26 Old Testament books never use the word.

What the word means

Each meaning, and the words it is translated by

How the Greek text is glossed, word by word

  • and he will lean9
  • and he will lay2
  • and they leaned2
  • and they will lay2
  • and they will lean2
  • he will support himself2
  • sustain me2
  • a sustainer1
  • and he laid1
  • and he leaned1
  • and he leans1
  • and he supported himself1

and 22 more, 48 uses in all

The words built on the same word-part

Each word below begins with the same letters this one begins with. A shared word-part shows a family. It does not settle what any one of them means, so each word carries its own uses on its own page. Scholars call that shared part the stem.

סָמַרsamarto bristle upUses2
סָמַןsamanto appointUses1

The words it stands beside

All 48, in canonical order

Every use, in order

Every use, grouped by book, with its verse.

37 spellings and their grammar

STEP Bible tags every word of the Hebrew and Greek text with its spelling and its grammar. Both lists below count the rows printed underneath, written out in English, with the code beside each one as it was tagged.

How it is spelled

  • וְסָמַ֤ךְ6
  • וְסָמַ֨ךְ3
  • וַֽיִּסְמְכ֞וּ2
  • וְסָמַךְ֙2
  • וְסָמְכ֧וּ2
  • יִסָּמֵ֥ךְ2
  • בְּֽסֹמְכֵ֥י1
  • וַיִּסְמֹ֨ךְ1
  • וַיִּסְמֹ֧ךְ1
  • וַיִּסָּמֵ֖ךְ1
  • וַיִּסְמְכ֥וּ1
  • וַיִּסָּמְכ֣וּ1

and 25 more spellings in the ledger below.

The grammar of each form

  • Hc/Vqq3ms12Hc/Vqq3ms
  • Hc/Vqq3cp4Hc/Vqq3cp
  • Hc/Vqw3mp3Hc/Vqw3mp
  • verb · simple (qal), participle · masculine singular3HVqrmsa
  • Hc/Vqw3ms2Hc/Vqw3ms
  • verb · passive or reflexive (niphal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singular2HVNi3ms
  • verb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singular2HVqp3ms
  • verb · simple (qal), passive participle · masculine singular2HVqsmsa
  • Hc/VNw3mp1Hc/VNw3mp
  • Hc/VNw3ms1Hc/VNw3ms
  • Hc/Vqq2ms1Hc/Vqq2ms
  • conjunction (“and”) + verb · simple (qal), participle · masculine singular1HC/Vqrmsa

Genesis

one use
  • But Isaac answered Esau: “Look, I have made him your master and given him all his relatives as servants; I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?”

    Genesis 27:37

    • סְמַכְתִּ֑יוsemakhtivverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 1st person common singular + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: I have sustained him

Exodus

three uses
  • You are to present the bull at the front of the Tent of Meeting, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on its head.

    Exodus 29:10

    • וְסָמַ֨ךְvesamakhHc/Vqq3mstagged: and he will lay
  • Take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head.

    Exodus 29:15

    • וְסָ֨מְכ֜וּvesamekhuHc/Vqq3cptagged: and they will lay
  • Take the second ram, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on its head.

    Exodus 29:19

    • וְסָמַ֨ךְvesamakhHc/Vqq3mstagged: and he will lay

Leviticus

fourteen uses
  • He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, so it can be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.

    Leviticus 1:4

    • וְסָמַ֣ךְvesamakhHc/Vqq3mstagged: and he will lean
  • He is to lay his hand on the head of the offering and slaughter it at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood on all sides of the altar.

    Leviticus 3:2

    • וְסָמַ֤ךְvesamakhHc/Vqq3mstagged: and he will lean
  • He is to lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it in front of the Tent of Meeting. Then Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle its blood on all sides of the altar.

    Leviticus 3:8

    • וְסָמַ֤ךְvesamakhHc/Vqq3mstagged: and he will lean
  • He must lay his hand on its head and slaughter it in front of the Tent of Meeting. Then Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle its blood on all sides of the altar.

    Leviticus 3:13

    • וְסָמַ֤ךְvesamakhHc/Vqq3mstagged: and he will lean
  • He must bring the bull to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the LORD, lay his hand on the bull’s head, and slaughter it before the LORD.

    Leviticus 4:4

    • וְסָמַ֤ךְvesamakhHc/Vqq3mstagged: and he will lean
  • The elders of the congregation are to lay their hands on the bull’s head before the LORD, and it shall be slaughtered before the LORD.

    Leviticus 4:15

    • וְ֠סָמְכוּvesamekhuHc/Vqq3cptagged: and they will lean
  • He is to lay his hand on the head of the goat and slaughter it at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered before the LORD. It is a sin offering.

    Leviticus 4:24

    • וְסָמַ֤ךְvesamakhHc/Vqq3mstagged: and he will lean
  • He is to lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it at the place of the burnt offering.

    Leviticus 4:29

    • וְסָמַךְ֙vesamakhHc/Vqq3mstagged: and he will lean
  • And he is to lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it as a sin offering at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered.

    Leviticus 4:33

    • וְסָמַךְ֙vesamakhHc/Vqq3mstagged: and he will lean
  • Moses then brought the bull near for the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head.

    Leviticus 8:14

    • וַיִּסְמֹ֨ךְvaiyismokhHc/Vqw3mstagged: and he leaned
  • Then Moses presented the ram for the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head.

    Leviticus 8:18

    • וַֽיִּסְמְכ֞וּvaiyismekhuHc/Vqw3mptagged: and they leaned
  • After that, Moses presented the other ram, the ram of ordination, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head.

    Leviticus 8:22

    • וַֽיִּסְמְכ֞וּvaiyismekhuHc/Vqw3mptagged: and they leaned
  • Then he is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities and rebellious acts of the Israelites in regard to all their sins. He is to put them on the goat’s head and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man appointed for the task.

    Leviticus 16:21

    • וְסָמַ֨ךְvesamakhHc/Vqq3mstagged: and he will lean
  • “Take the blasphemer outside the camp, and have all who heard him lay their hands on his head; then have the whole assembly stone him.

    Leviticus 24:14

    • וְסָמְכ֧וּvesamekhuHc/Vqq3cptagged: and they will lean

Numbers

four uses
  • You are to present the Levites before the LORD and have the Israelites lay their hands upon them.

    Numbers 8:10

    • וְסָמְכ֧וּvesamekhuHc/Vqq3cptagged: and they will lay
  • And the Levites are to lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and offer to the LORD one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, to make atonement for the Levites.

    Numbers 8:12

    • יִסְמְכ֣וּyismekhuverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine pluraltagged: they will lay
  • And the LORD replied to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man with the Spirit in him, and lay your hands on him.

    Numbers 27:18

    • וְסָמַכְתָּ֥vesamakhtaHc/Vqq2mstagged: and you will lay
  • and laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the LORD had instructed through Moses.

    Numbers 27:23

    • וַיִּסְמֹ֧ךְvaiyismokhHc/Vqw3mstagged: and he laid

Deuteronomy

one use
  • Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites obeyed him and did as the LORD had commanded Moses.

    Deuteronomy 34:9

    • סָמַ֥ךְsamakhverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: he had laid

Judges

one use
  • And Samson reached out for the two central pillars supporting the temple. Bracing himself against them with his right hand on one pillar and his left hand on the other,

    Judges 16:29

    • וַיִּסָּמֵ֖ךְvaiyisamekhHc/VNw3mstagged: and he supported himself

2 Kings

one use
  • Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.

    2 Kings 18:21

    • יִסָּמֵ֥ךְyisamekhverb · passive or reflexive (niphal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: he will support himself

2 Chronicles

two uses
  • Then they brought the goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly, who laid their hands on them.

    2 Chronicles 29:23

    • וַיִּסְמְכ֥וּvaiyismekhuHc/Vqw3mptagged: and they laid
  • With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.” So the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

    2 Chronicles 32:8

    • וַיִּסָּמְכ֣וּvaiyisamekhuHc/VNw3mptagged: and they supported themselves

Psalms

eleven uses
  • I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the LORD sustains me.

    Psalms 3:5

    • יִסְמְכֵֽנִי׃yismekheniverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singular + pronoun suffix · 1st person masculine or feminine singulartagged: he sustains me
  • For the arms of the wicked will be broken, but the LORD upholds the righteous.

    Psalms 37:17

    • וְסוֹמֵ֖ךְvesomekhconjunction (“and”) + verb · simple (qal), participle · masculine singulartagged: and sustaining
  • Though he falls, he will not be overwhelmed, for the LORD is holding his hand.

    Psalms 37:24

    • סוֹמֵ֥ךְsomekhverb · simple (qal), participle · masculine singulartagged: supporting
  • Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit.

    Psalms 51:12

    • תִסְמְכֵֽנִי׃tismekheniverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person feminine singular + pronoun suffix · 1st person masculine or feminine singulartagged: you will sustain me
  • Surely God is my helper; the Lord is the sustainer of my soul.

    Psalms 54:4

    • בְּֽסֹמְכֵ֥יbesomekheipreposition + verb · simple (qal), participle · masculine plural · in construct (“…of”)tagged: in sustain
  • I have leaned on You since birth; You pulled me from my mother’s womb. My praise is always for You.

    Psalms 71:6

    • נִסְמַ֬כְתִּיnismakhtiverb · passive or reflexive (niphal), qatal (perfect) · 1st person common singulartagged: I have supported myself
  • Your wrath weighs heavily upon me; all Your waves have submerged me. Selah

    Psalms 88:7

    • סָמְכָ֣הsamekhahverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person feminine singulartagged: it has lain
  • They are upheld forever and ever, enacted in truth and uprightness.

    Psalms 111:8

    • סְמוּכִ֣יםsemukhimverb · simple (qal), passive participle · masculine pluraltagged: sustained
  • His heart is assured; he does not fear, until he looks in triumph on his foes.

    Psalms 112:8

    • סָמ֣וּךְsamukhverb · simple (qal), passive participle · masculine singulartagged: supported
  • Sustain me as You promised, that I may live; let me not be ashamed of my hope.

    Psalms 119:116

    • סָמְכֵ֣נִיsamekheniverb · simple (qal), command · 2nd person masculine singular + pronoun suffix · 1st person masculine or feminine singulartagged: sustain me
  • The LORD upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.

    Psalms 145:14

    • סוֹמֵ֣ךְsomekhverb · simple (qal), participle · masculine singulartagged: sustaining

Song of Solomon

one use
  • Sustain me with raisins; refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love.

    Song of Solomon 2:5

    • סַמְּכ֙וּנִי֙samekhuniverb · intensive (piel), command · 2nd person masculine plural + pronoun suffix · 1st person masculine or feminine singulartagged: sustain me

Isaiah

six uses
  • You will keep in perfect peace the steadfast of mind, because he trusts in You.

    Isaiah 26:3

    • סָמ֔וּךְsamukhverb · simple (qal), passive participle · masculine singulartagged: firm
  • Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.

    Isaiah 36:6

    • יִסָּמֵ֥ךְyisamekhverb · passive or reflexive (niphal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: he will support himself
  • who indeed call yourselves after the holy city and lean on the God of Israel; the LORD of Hosts is His name.

    Isaiah 48:2

    • נִסְמָ֑כוּnismakhuverb · passive or reflexive (niphal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person common pluraltagged: they have supported themselves
  • He saw that there was no man; He was amazed that there was no one to intercede. So His own arm brought salvation, and His own righteousness sustained Him.

    Isaiah 59:16

    • סְמָכָֽתְהוּ׃semakhatehuverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person feminine singular + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: it sustained him
  • I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled that no one assisted. So My arm brought Me salvation, and My own wrath upheld Me.

    Isaiah 63:5

    • סוֹמֵ֑ךְsomekhverb · simple (qal), participle · masculine singulartagged: a sustainer
    • סְמָכָֽתְנִי׃semakhateniverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person feminine singular + pronoun suffix · 1st person masculine or feminine singulartagged: it sustained me

Ezekiel

two uses
  • “Son of man, write down today’s date, for on this very day the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem.

    Ezekiel 24:2

    • סָמַ֤ךְsamakhverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: he has leaned
  • For this is what the LORD says: The allies of Egypt will fall, and her proud strength will collapse. From Migdol to Syene they will fall by the sword within her, declares the Lord GOD.

    Ezekiel 30:6

    • סֹמְכֵ֣יsomekheiverb · simple (qal), participle · masculine plural · in construct (“…of”)tagged: supporters of

Amos

one use
  • It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a snake.

    Amos 5:19

    • וְסָמַ֤ךְvesamakhHc/Vqq3mstagged: and he leans

The letters

Gematria 120· 600 mispar gadol

Where it leads

How the numbers are counted

Every count on this page comes from STEP Bible's tagged Hebrew and Greek text, the same text the ledger prints. A use is counted once each time the tagging marks a word with this key.

Spellings are counted as the Greek text spells them, with the sentence's own punctuation taken off the word first, so a form that ends a clause is not counted as a second spelling.

The words it stands beside are the nouns, verbs and adjectives immediately before or after it, counted in every verse where the word stands. The article, the conjunctions and the prepositions are left out, because they stand beside every word.

The family is read from the lexicon by the stem the two words share, with the accents off, and a person or a place named on the stem is left out.

Hebrew and Greek text, word tagging and grammar: STEP Bible (www.STEPBible.org), Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0. Their grammar codes are written out in English here and shown as tagged beside each one.

Meaning and senses: STEP Bible TBESH gloss (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary key: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890, public domain). English verse text: Berean Standard Bible (public domain, 2023).

Revised 2026-09-05. Every cited work, the sources registry →