3515. kabed
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 Origin
from kabad
Definition
heavy
NASB Translation
burdensome (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
כָּבֵד adjective heavy; — ׳כ Genesis 41:31+ 34 t.; construct כְּבַד Exodus 4:10 (twice in verse); כֶּבֶד Isaiah 1:4; plural כְּבֵדִים Exodus 17:12; construct כִּבְדֵי Ezekiel 3:5,6; —

1. a. 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; עַם כֶבֶד עָוֺן 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 (כַּעַס) of a fool Proverbs 27:3; vehement, sore, of a mourning Genesis 50:11(J).

b. massive, abundant, numerous, of a people עַם Numbers 20:20 (J) 1 Kings 3:9; army חיל 2 Kings 6:14; 2 Kings 18:14 = Isaiah 36:2 insect swarm Exodus 8:20 (J).

c. heavy, dull of speech and tongue Exodus 4:10 (twice in verse) (JE); of the לֵב, hard Exodus 7:14 (J).

d. 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.

2 in the usage of J כָּבֵד מְאֹד is frequent:

a. very oppressive, grievous, of hail Exodus 9:18,24; murrain Exodus 9:8; lamentation Genesis 50:10.

b. very numerous, cattle Exodus 12:38; army, מַחֲנֶה Genesis 50:9; locusts Exodus 10:14; so חַיִל 1 Kings 10:2 2Chronicles 9:1.

c. very rich, במקנה 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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Englishman's Concordance
Genesis 12:10
HEB: שָׁ֔ם כִּֽי־ כָבֵ֥ד הָרָעָ֖ב בָּאָֽרֶץ׃
NAS: for the famine was severe in the land.
KJV: there; for the famine [was] grievous in the land.
INT: there for was severe the famine the land

Genesis 41:31
HEB: כֵ֑ן כִּֽי־ כָבֵ֥ד ה֖וּא מְאֹֽד׃
NAS: famine; for it [will be] very severe.
KJV: for it [shall be] very grievous.
INT: after that for severe he it very

Genesis 43:1
HEB: וְהָרָעָ֖ב כָּבֵ֥ד בָּאָֽרֶץ׃
NAS: Now the famine was severe in the land.
KJV: And the famine [was] sore in the land.
INT: now the famine was severe the land

Genesis 47:4
HEB: לַעֲבָדֶ֔יךָ כִּֽי־ כָבֵ֥ד הָרָעָ֖ב בְּאֶ֣רֶץ
NAS: for the famine is severe in the land
KJV: for the famine [is] sore in the land
INT: servants' for is severe the famine the land

Genesis 47:13
HEB: הָאָ֔רֶץ כִּֽי־ כָבֵ֥ד הָרָעָ֖ב מְאֹ֑ד
NAS: was very severe, so that the land
KJV: [was] very sore, so that the land
INT: the land because severe the famine was very

Genesis 50:9
HEB: וַיְהִ֥י הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֖ה כָּבֵ֥ד מְאֹֽד׃
NAS: and it was a very great company.
KJV: and it was a very great company.
INT: become company great A very

Genesis 50:10
HEB: מִסְפֵּ֛ד גָּד֥וֹל וְכָבֵ֖ד מְאֹ֑ד וַיַּ֧עַשׂ
NAS: great and sorrowful lamentation;
KJV: and very sore lamentation:
INT: lamentation great and sorrowful A very observed

Genesis 50:11
HEB: וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ אֵֽבֶל־ כָּבֵ֥ד זֶ֖ה לְמִצְרָ֑יִם
NAS: This is a grievous mourning
KJV: they said, This [is] a grievous mourning
INT: said mourning grievous This Egyptian

Exodus 4:10
HEB: עַבְדֶּ֑ךָ כִּ֧י כְבַד־ פֶּ֛ה וּכְבַ֥ד
NAS: to Your servant; for I am slow of speech
KJV: unto thy servant: but I [am] slow of speech,
INT: your servant for I am slow of speech and slow

Exodus 4:10
HEB: כְבַד־ פֶּ֛ה וּכְבַ֥ד לָשׁ֖וֹן אָנֹֽכִי׃
NAS: of speech and slow of tongue.
KJV: of speech, and of a slow tongue.
INT: I am slow of speech and slow of tongue I

Exodus 7:14
HEB: אֶל־ מֹשֶׁ֔ה כָּבֵ֖ד לֵ֣ב פַּרְעֹ֑ה
NAS: heart is stubborn; he refuses
KJV: heart [is] hardened, he refuseth
INT: to Moses is stubborn heart Pharaoh's

Exodus 8:24
HEB: וַיָּבֹא֙ עָרֹ֣ב כָּבֵ֔ד בֵּ֥יתָה פַרְעֹ֖ה
NAS: And there came great swarms
KJV: so; and there came a grievous swarm
INT: came swarms great the house of Pharaoh

Exodus 9:3
HEB: וּבַצֹּ֑אן דֶּ֖בֶר כָּבֵ֥ד מְאֹֽד׃
NAS: [with] a very severe pestilence
KJV: [there shall be] a very grievous murrain.
INT: the flocks pestilence severe a very

Exodus 9:18
HEB: מָחָ֔ר בָּרָ֖ד כָּבֵ֣ד מְאֹ֑ד אֲשֶׁ֨ר
NAS: I will send a very heavy hail, such
KJV: a very grievous hail,
INT: tomorrow hail heavy A very such

Exodus 9:24
HEB: בְּת֣וֹךְ הַבָּרָ֑ד כָּבֵ֣ד מְאֹ֔ד אֲ֠שֶׁר
NAS: very severe, such
KJV: very grievous, such as there was none
INT: the midst of the hail severe very such

Exodus 10:14
HEB: גְּב֣וּל מִצְרָ֑יִם כָּבֵ֣ד מְאֹ֔ד לְ֠פָנָיו
NAS: [they were] very numerous. There had never
KJV: very grievous [were they]; before
INT: the territory of Egypt numerous very before

Exodus 12:38
HEB: וּבָקָ֔ר מִקְנֶ֖ה כָּבֵ֥ד מְאֹֽד׃
NAS: a very large number of livestock.
KJV: and herds, [even] very much cattle.
INT: and herds of livestock large A very

Exodus 17:12
HEB: וִידֵ֤י מֹשֶׁה֙ כְּבֵדִ֔ים וַיִּקְחוּ־ אֶ֛בֶן
NAS: But Moses' hands were heavy. Then they took
KJV: hands [were] heavy; and they took
INT: hands Moses' were heavy took A stone

Exodus 18:18
HEB: עִמָּ֑ךְ כִּֽי־ כָבֵ֤ד מִמְּךָ֙ הַדָּבָ֔ר
NAS: is too heavy for you; you cannot
KJV: that [is] with thee: for this thing [is] too heavy for thee; thou art not able
INT: with for heavy is too the task

Exodus 19:16
HEB: וּבְרָקִ֜ים וְעָנָ֤ן כָּבֵד֙ עַל־ הָהָ֔ר
NAS: and lightning flashes and a thick cloud
KJV: and lightnings, and a thick cloud
INT: and lightning cloud thick upon the mountain

Numbers 11:14
HEB: הַזֶּ֑ה כִּ֥י כָבֵ֖ד מִמֶּֽנִּי׃
NAS: because it is too burdensome for me.
KJV: alone, because [it is] too heavy for me.
INT: this because burdensome is too

Numbers 20:20
HEB: לִקְרָאת֔וֹ בְּעַ֥ם כָּבֵ֖ד וּבְיָ֥ד חֲזָקָֽה׃
NAS: out against him with a heavy force
KJV: against him with much people,
INT: against force A heavy hand A strong

1 Samuel 4:18
HEB: זָקֵ֥ן הָאִ֖ישׁ וְכָבֵ֑ד וְה֛וּא שָׁפַ֥ט
NAS: for he was old and heavy. Thus he judged
INT: was old man and heavy he judged

1 Kings 3:9
HEB: אֶת־ עַמְּךָ֥ הַכָּבֵ֖ד הַזֶּֽה׃
NAS: to judge this great people of Yours?
KJV: to judge this thy so great a people?
INT: to judge people great this

1 Kings 10:2
HEB: יְרוּשָׁלְַ֗מָה בְּחַיִל֮ כָּבֵ֣ד מְאֹד֒ גְּ֠מַלִּים
NAS: with a very large retinue,
KJV: with a very great train,
INT: to Jerusalem retinue large A very camels

39 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 3515
39 Occurrences


ḵā·ḇêḏ — 7 Occ.
ḵə·ḇaḏ- — 1 Occ.
hak·kā·ḇêḏ — 3 Occ.
kā·ḇêḏ — 21 Occ.
ke·ḇeḏ — 1 Occ.
kə·ḇê·ḏîm — 1 Occ.
ū·ḵə·ḇaḏ — 1 Occ.
wə·ḵā·ḇêḏ — 2 Occ.
wə·ḵiḇ·ḏê — 2 Occ.

3514
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