זָכַר
za.khar (H2142)
to remember
AI Word Study
# Zakar (זָכַר): The Hebrew Concept of Remembering The Hebrew verb *zakar* appears 232 times throughout the Hebrew Bible, making it a frequently employed term for the mental and religious act of remembering. The lexical data provided indicates this word carries the fundamental meaning "to remember," encompassing the basic human cognitive function of recalling something from the past. Its high frequency of occurrence suggests that the concept of remembrance held substantial importance in biblical Hebrew thought and religious practice. The sheer number of occurrences—over 200 instances—indicates that remembering was not merely a casual mental process in biblical contexts but a significant theme woven throughout Hebrew scripture. The repetition of this vocabulary suggests that remembrance functioned as an important theological and practical concern, likely tied to maintaining awareness of covenants, divine acts, laws, and religious obligations. The prominence of this single verb in the biblical corpus demonstrates that the act of calling something to mind was central to how ancient Hebrew speakers and writers conceptualized both personal and communal religious life. While the lexicon data provided offers only the basic definition and frequency, this information alone reveals that *zakar* was a foundational concept in biblical language—a word speakers reached for repeatedly when discussing how individuals and communities maintained connection with their past, their obligations, and their identity.
AI synthesis uses only provided lexicon data -- never training knowledge.
God remembered Noah, all the animals, and all the livestock that were with him in the ship; and God made a wind to pass over the earth. The waters subsided.
I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters will no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
The rainbow will be in the cloud. I will look at it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
When God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.
God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her, and opened her womb.
But remember me when it is well with you. Please show kindness to me, and make mention of me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house.
Yet the chief cup bearer didn’t remember Joseph, but forgot him.
Then the chief cup bearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “I remember my faults today.
Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land.”
God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
Moreover I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered my covenant.
Moses said to the people, “Remember this day, in which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand Yahweh brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten.
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
You shall make an altar of earth for me, and shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your cattle. In every place where I record my name I will come to you and I will bless you.
“Be careful to do all things that I have said to you; and don’t invoke the name of other gods or even let them be heard out of your mouth.
Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of the sky, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ”
“All that opens the womb is mine; and all your livestock that is male, the firstborn of cow and sheep.
then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham; and I will remember the land.
But I will for their sake remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I am Yahweh.’ ”
then the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring her offering for her: one tenth of an ephah of barley meal. He shall pour no oil on it, nor put frankincense on it, for it is a meal offering of jealousy, a meal offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to memory.
When you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets. Then you will be remembered before Yahweh your God, and you will be saved from your enemies.
We remember the fish, which we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic;
It shall be to you for a fringe, that you may see it, and remember all Yahweh’s commandments, and do them; and that you don’t follow your own heart and your own eyes, after which you used to play the prostitute;
so that you may remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.
You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore Yahweh your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
you shall not be afraid of them. You shall remember well what Yahweh your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt:
You shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.
But you shall remember Yahweh your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers, as it is today.
Remember, and don’t forget, how you provoked Yahweh your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you left the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against Yahweh.
Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Don’t look at the stubbornness of this people, nor at their wickedness, nor at their sin,
You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you. Therefore I command you this thing today.
You shall eat no leavened bread with it. You shall eat unleavened bread with it seven days, even the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste) that you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.
You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt. You shall observe and do these statutes.
Remember what Yahweh your God did to Miriam, by the way as you came out of Egypt.
but you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you there. Therefore I command you to do this thing.
You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. Therefore I command you to do this thing.
Remember what Amalek did to you by the way as you came out of Egypt;
Remember the days of old. Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you.
“Remember the word which Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you, saying, ‘Yahweh your God gives you rest, and will give you this land.
that you not come among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow down yourselves to them;
The children of Israel didn’t remember Yahweh their God, who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side;
“Please speak in the ears of all the men of Shechem, ‘Is it better for you that all the sons of Jerubbaal, who are seventy persons, rule over you, or that one rule over you?’ Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.”
Samson called to Yahweh, and said, “Lord Yahweh, remember me, please, and strengthen me, please, only this once, God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.”
She vowed a vow, and said, “Yahweh of Armies, if you will indeed look at the affliction of your servant and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a boy, then I will give him to Yahweh all the days of his life, and no razor shall come on his head.”
They rose up in the morning early and worshiped Yahweh, then returned and came to their house to Ramah. Then Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and Yahweh remembered her.
When he made mention of God’s ark, Eli fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck broke, and he died, for he was an old man and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.
that this shall be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. When Yahweh has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”
Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder,
Then she said, “Please let the king remember Yahweh your God, that the avenger of blood destroy not any more, lest they destroy my son.” He said, “As Yahweh lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the earth.”
Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself the pillar which is in the king’s valley, for he said, “I have no son to keep my name in memory.” He called the pillar after his own name. It is called Absalom’s monument, to this day.
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