קָשַׁח (qa.shach)

The Hebrew verb qashach, appearing in the Hiphil stem, carries the core meaning of making something hard or treating someone severely. In its most common usage, it describes an act of hardening, specifically regarding a person’s heart or spirit, rendering them stubborn or unyielding. The sources indicate that this hardening is not merely passive but involves active treatment, often implying roughness or severity in how one party deals with another.

This word appears only twice in the Hebrew Bible, both within prophetic and wisdom literature: Isaiah 63:17 and Job 23:5. In Isaiah, it describes God hardening the hearts of people, a theological concept where divine action results in human stubbornness. In Job, the context is different; Job uses it to express his desire that God would not treat him harshly or make his case difficult by hiding His face. The distinction here highlights the word’s range: it can describe a moral obstinacy induced from outside, or simply the experience of being dealt with in a rigid, unforgiving manner.

The root relates to hardness or stiffness, contrasting with flexibility or openness. Translators often render it as "harden" when referring to the heart, capturing the idea of a heart becoming like stone—unresponsive to appeal. When applied to interpersonal treatment, it suggests a lack of mercy or gentleness. The rarity of the word in Scripture underscores its specific weight; it is not used for everyday friction but for significant, often painful, rigidity in relationships between God and humanity, or within human conflict.