ka.ved describes what is weighty in physical mass, severe in scale, or too burdensome to bear or carry out.

The word most often marks something as weighty in scale or severity, including famine, hail, pestilence, military force, and mourning. It also describes burdens that are hard to carry or perform, literal bodily or material weight, and conditions associated with refusal or iniquity.

1. Severe or weighty in scale · dominant

   The adjective marks conditions and forces whose scale or severity is emphasized: in Genesis 12:10 the APB renders the famine as “heavy,” while Exodus 9:18 and Exodus 9:24 describe exceptionally severe hail. In 2 Kings 18:17 it occurs with the Assyrian force sent to Jerusalem, and Genesis 50:10 describes an extensive mourning.

   Genesis 12:10Genesis 47:13Exodus 9:18Exodus 9:242 Kings 18:17Genesis 50:10
2. Burdensome or difficult to carry out · common

   The term characterizes demands that press upon people: 1 Kings 12:4 places it with a yoke and service the people ask to have lightened, while Numbers 11:14 uses it of carrying the people alone. Exodus 4:10 applies the form twice in Moses’ statement about lip and tongue, and Ezekiel 3:5 occurs in the description of speech and language the APB calls difficult.

   1 Kings 12:41 Kings 12:11Numbers 11:14Exodus 18:18Exodus 4:10Ezekiel 3:5
3. Physical weight or heaviness · occasional

   The adjective can describe tangible bodily or material heaviness. In 1 Samuel 4:18 the APB says the old man was “heavy”; Exodus 17:12 describes Moses’ hands as heavy and needing support; Exodus 12:38 applies it to livestock. Isaiah 32:2 uses it of a rock whose shadow gives shelter in a faint land.

   1 Samuel 4:18Exodus 17:12Exodus 12:38Isaiah 32:2Proverbs 27:3
4. A weighty inner or moral condition · rare

   In Exodus 7:14 the adjective occurs in the statement that Pharaoh’s heart is heavy, followed by his refusal to let the people go. Isaiah 1:4 places it with a people’s iniquity; the APB renders the phrase “people heavy with iniquity.”

   Exodus 7:14Isaiah 1:4

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB variously presents the surrounding clauses with “heavy,” “harsh,” “strong,” “difficult,” and “grievous,” according to the situation. These renderings show the verse contexts rather than fixed English equivalents for the term.