choq denotes an established requirement, especially commands to be kept, but also a fixed allotment, custom, or imposed limit.

The term most often identifies commands, together with judgments, commandments, or instruction, that people are to keep and do. In smaller groups of verses it marks a fixed provision or required allotment, an established custom, and a limit or determination that cannot be crossed.

1. Commands to be kept and carried out · dominant

   Plural forms occur in calls to hear, learn, keep, and do the requirements set before Israel. In Deuteronomy 4:1 the APB renders a paired set of “statutes and the judgments” that Israel is taught to do; Deuteronomy 26:16 similarly places them under God's command and calls for keeping and doing them wholeheartedly. The construct plural also appears with possessive language, as in 1 Kings 8:58, where walking in God's ways is joined to keeping his commandments, statutes, and judgments.

   Deuteronomy 4:1Deuteronomy 11:32Deuteronomy 26:16Deuteronomy 26:171 Kings 8:58Ezekiel 36:27
2. Fixed provision or required allotment · occasional

   Singular forms can occur in clauses concerning an assigned share, measure, or obligation. In Genesis 47:22 the APB describes a provision for the priests from Pharaoh and what they received from it; Exodus 5:14 concerns the required number of bricks. Ezekiel 45:14 introduces the specified measure for oil.

   Genesis 47:22Exodus 5:14Ezekiel 16:27Ezekiel 45:14Job 23:12
3. Established rule or continuing custom · occasional

   A singular form marks something formally set in place for continuing observance. Exodus 12:24 calls for keeping a word for the speaker and his sons forever, while 1 Samuel 30:25 says David made a matter a standing rule for Israel. In 2 Chronicles 35:25, the laments for Josiah are said to have been made a custom in Israel.

   Exodus 12:24Exodus 29:28Exodus 30:211 Samuel 30:252 Chronicles 35:25Genesis 47:26
4. Set boundary or determined outcome · rare

   The singular form is used for a limit or determination imposed on what cannot go beyond it. Jeremiah 5:22 describes the sand as the sea's enduring boundary, which the waves cannot cross; Job 14:5 speaks of a person's determined days and a limit not to be passed. Job 38:10 places the term in the setting of prescribing for the sea and setting bars and doors.

   Jeremiah 5:22Job 14:5Job 23:14Job 38:10

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly presents the term as “statute” or “statutes,” especially where the clause calls for keeping or doing them. Elsewhere it uses wording such as “required number,” “allowance,” “custom,” “boundary,” and “decree”; These render the verse's clause rather than fixing an English equivalent for every occurrence.