Word studies · Hebrew · Strong's H3519
כָּבוֹד · kâbôwd · appears 200 times in the Old Testament
In one line: The weight and substance of God's presence.
And they were calling out to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory.”
Isaiah 6:3
Kabod is glory — weight, substance and honor, the visible heaviness of who God is.
Kabod describes the glory that fills the tabernacle and the temple, the glory Moses asks to see, and the honor due to God and given by Him to others. It can also mean wealth or reputation, so the same word covers a man's standing and God's presence.
Kabod comes from kabad, “to be heavy,” whose everyday uses are physical — a heavy load, a heavy famine, hands too heavy to hold up. Glory in Hebrew is therefore weightiness: what has substance, as opposed to what is light, empty and passing.
English “glory” drifts toward brightness and fame; the Hebrew is about mass. It also explains a piece of biblical wordplay that vanishes in translation — the words for glory and for vanity or vapor sit at opposite ends of the same scale, weight against breath.
Kabod (H3519) appears 176 times in the Hebrew Bible, and comes from a root meaning “heavy” — the same word used for a heavy load or a heavy famine.
God's glory is His presence made perceptible, which is why its departure from the temple in Ezekiel is catastrophic and its return is the promise. The New Testament claims that weight settled on a person: “we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.”
Ask what carries real weight in your week and what is merely loud. Give one hour to something with substance — Scripture, worship, or a person who needs you — instead of something that only feels urgent.
properly, weight, but only figuratively in a good sense, splendor or copiousness
Now Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken away all that belonged to our father and built all this wealth at our father’s expense.”
Genesis 31:1and in the morning you will see the LORD’s glory, because He has heard your grumbling against Him. For who are we, that you should grumble against us?”
Exodus 16:7And Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded you to do, so that the glory of the LORD may appear to you.”
Leviticus 9:6But the whole congregation threatened to stone Joshua and Caleb. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to all the Israelites at the Tent of Meeting.
Numbers 14:10and you said, “Behold, the LORD our God has shown us His glory and greatness, and we have heard His voice out of the fire. Today we have seen that a man can live even if God speaks with him.
Deuteronomy 5:24So Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and make a confession to Him. I urge you to tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me.”
Joshua 7:19Press and hold glory in any chapter and this study opens on the verse you are reading, with the lexicons, every occurrence and the commentaries beside it. The Bible is free to read.
Scripture quoted from the Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Strong's definitions are public domain. Counts come from The Pillar's own tagged text.