בָּשַׂר
to preach
‘to preach’ is one of 2 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Piel verb in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Stem
- Piel
- An intensive or resultative active stem. Here: ‘gladden with good tidings’
- Hithpael
- The reflexive or reciprocal stem (the subject acts on itself).
Form
- Participle Active
- A verbal adjective expressing ongoing or characteristic action (“writing / one who writes”).
- Infinitive Construct
- A bound verbal noun, frequently with prepositions (“to write / in writing”).
- Imperfect
- An incomplete, ongoing, or future action (“he will / would write”).
- Imperative
- A direct command (“write!”).
- Cohortative
- A first-person volitional form expressing wish or resolve (“let me / let us write”).
- Sequential Perfect
- A perfect with prefixed waw continuing a preceding imperfect or command (waw-consecutive perfect).
- Jussive
- A third- or second-person volitional form expressing wish or command (“let him write”).
- Perfect
- A completed action or state — Hebrew marks aspect (completeness) more than strict tense (“he wrote”).
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
Person
- 2nd Person
- The one addressed (“you”).
- 1st Person
- The speaker (“I / we”).
- 3rd Person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
- Common
- Either gender — not distinguished for this form.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
20 distinct verses where H1319 appears in the Piel stem, across 8 books. Filtered view — show all forms. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
1 Samuel 2 verses
- 1 Samuel 4:17 הַֽ/מְבַשֵּׂ֜ר ptcl def.art + Piel ptcp.act ms He who brought the news answered, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there has been also a great slaughter among the people, and your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken.
- 1 Samuel 31:9 לְ/בַשֵּׂ֛ר prep + Piel inf.cs They cut off his head, and stripped off his armor, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry the news to the house of their idols, and to the people.
2 Samuel 5 verses
- 2 Samuel 1:20 תְּבַשְּׂר֖וּ Piel juss 2mp Don't tell it in Gath, Don't publish it in the streets of Ashkelon; Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.
- 2 Samuel 4:10 כִ/מְבַשֵּׂר֙ prep + Piel ptcp.act ms when one told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, thinking to have brought good news, I took hold of him, and killed him in Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news.
- 2 Samuel 18:19 וַ/אֲבַשְּׂרָ֖ה conj + Piel coh 1cs Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok, Let me now run, and bear the king news, how that Yahweh has avenged him of his enemies.
- 2 Samuel 18:20 וּ/בִשַּׂרְתָּ֖ תְבַשֵּׂ֔ר conj + Piel wpf 2ms Piel impf 2ms Joab said to him, You shall not be the bearer of news this day, but you shall bear news another day; but this day you shall bear no news, because the king's son is dead.
- 2 Samuel 18:26 מְבַשֵּֽׂר Piel ptcp.act ms The watchman saw another man running; and the watchman called to the porter, and said, Behold, [another] man running alone. The king said, He also brings news.
1 Kings 1 verse
1 Chronicles 2 verses
- 1 Chronicles 10:9 לְ/בַשֵּׂ֛ר prep + Piel inf.cs They stripped him, and took his head, and his armor, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry the news to their idols, and to the people.
- 1 Chronicles 16:23 בַּשְּׂר֥וּ Piel impv 2mp Sing to Yahweh, all the earth; Show forth his salvation from day to day.
Psalms 3 verses
- Psalms 40:9 בִּשַּׂ֤רְתִּי Piel pf 1cs I have proclaimed glad news of righteousness in the great assembly. Behold, I will not seal my lips, Yahweh, you know.
- Psalms 68:11 הַֽ֝/מְבַשְּׂר֗וֹת ptcl def.art + Piel ptcp.act fp The Lord announced the word. The ones who proclaim it are a great company.
- Psalms 96:2 בַּשְּׂר֥וּ Piel impv 2mp Sing to Yahweh! Bless his name! Proclaim his salvation from day to day!
Isaiah 5 verses
- Isaiah 40:9 מְבַשֶּׂ֣רֶת מְבַשֶּׂ֖רֶת Piel ptcp.act fs cs Piel ptcp.act fs cs You who tell good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain; you who tell good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength; lift it up, don't be afraid; say to the cities of Judah, Behold, your God!
- Isaiah 41:27 מְבַשֵּׂ֥ר Piel ptcp.act ms [I am the] first [who says] to Zion, Behold, behold them; and I will give to Jerusalem one who brings good news.
- Isaiah 52:7 מְבַשֵּׂ֗ר מְבַשֵּׂ֥ר Piel ptcp.act ms Piel ptcp.act ms How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of good, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, Your God reigns!
- Isaiah 60:6 יְבַשֵּֽׂרוּ Piel impf 3mp The multitude of camels shall cover you, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praises of Yahweh.
- Isaiah 61:1 לְ/בַשֵּׂ֣ר prep + Piel inf.cs The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is on me; because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble; he has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening [of the prison] to those who are bound;
Jeremiah 1 verse
Nahum 1 verse
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
“to preach” is the headline sense of the Hebrew verb בשר (bâsar). Scripture first uses it in 1 Samuel 4:17. With 21 verses in 8 books, it is an uncommon word in the Hebrew Bible. It concentrates in 2 Samuel, which alone accounts for 29% of its uses. Different stems carry different senses — BDB groups them under 2 stems, among them Piel and Hithpael. See the sense tree, 21-verse concordance, and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H1319 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 21
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 21 distinct verses.
- 8 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 8 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #1,327
- by frequency
- Top 2500 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 1,327 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 21 occurrences in the concordance →
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 21 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 16 verses · 76%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 5 verses · 24%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
- King James Version: Bringeth good tidings 3×, Tidings 3×, Bringest good tidings 2×
- American Standard Version: Bringeth good tidings 3×, Tidings 3×, Carry the tidings 2×
- Berean Standard Bible: Herald of good news 3×, Proclaim 3×, Proclaim the news 2×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Announce 3×, Herald 2×, Herald of 2×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H1319 across 26 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 14 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H1319 across 26 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 14 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H1319 across 23 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 15 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 1 further occurrence.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H1319 across 32 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 21 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Senses in the full BDB
Hebrew verbs can shift meaning by stem (binyan): Qal is the basic action, Niphal is often passive or reflexive, Piel often intensifies or makes it factitive, and Hiphil is typically causative. The senses below are grouped under the stem BDB assigns to each. This entry also uses Hithpael (reflexive or reciprocal).
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 5 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
Piel
- Pf. בִּשַּׂר Je 20:15 + 2 times; Impf. תְּבַשֵּׂר 2 S 18:20 + 4 times; אֲבַשְּׂרָה 2 S 18:19; Imv. בַּשְּׂרוּ 1 Ch 16:23 = ψ 96:2; Inf. לְבַשֵּׂר 1 S 31:9 + 2 times; Pt. מְבַשֵּׂר Is 41:27 + 6 times; f. מְבַשֶּׂרֶת Is 40:9x2; pl. מְבַשְּׂרוֹת ψ 68:12;— e.g. Jeremiah 20:15
- 1. gladden with good tidings: birth of a son Je 20:15; victory 1 S 31:9; 2 S 1:20; 1 Ch 10:9 ψ 68:12; היה כמבשׂר בעיניו he was in his eyes as a bearer of good tidings 2 S 4:10. e.g. Jeremiah 20:15
- 2. bear tidings 2 S 18:19, 20(×2), 26; even of evil 1 S 4:17, and so with acc. בשׂר טוב 1 K 1:42. e.g. 2 Samuel 18:19
- 3. herald as glad tidings: the salvation of God, preach (chiefly exilic usage) the advent of י׳ in salvation Na 2:1; Is 40:9(×2); 41:27; 52:7(×2); the praises of Yahweh 60:6; His righteousness in the great congregation ψ 40:10; His salvation daily ψ 96:2 = 1 Ch 16:23; the Messianic servant preaches good tidings to the meek Is 61:1. e.g. Nahum 2:1
Hithpael
- Impf. יִתְבַּשֵּׂר 2 S 18:31 receive good tidings (so Kirkp. Klo; cf. Arabic بَشِرَ iv. x; otherwise AV). e.g. 2 Samuel 18:31
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
vb. bear tidings (√ rub, smooth the face; cf. Arabic بَشَرَ remove the face or surface of a thing, cf. Arabic بَشِرَ be glad, joyful; بَشَّرَهُ بِمَوْلُودٍ he rejoiced him with the message of a new-born son; Ethiopic አብሰረ bring a joyful message, so Assyrian bussuru (Pa.) DlPr 170, Sab. תבשר DHMMV, also בשר n.pr.dei, بشير DHM ZMG 1883, 358, CISiv. 1, 41, 1. 3)—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Origin: a primitive root
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
בָּשַׂר
- (v. בָּסַר II a. בָּסַם)to be sweet, pleasant.
- to gladden, to bring good tidings to; in gen. to announce. Ḥull. 87ᵃ מְבַשֵּׂר טובות וכ׳ I am bringing good news. Sabb. 63ᵃ, v. בְּשׂוֹרָה; a. fr.—Part. pass. מְבוּשָּׂר informed of good news, assured. Y. Kil. IX, 32ᵇ top יהא מב׳ מחיי העו"הב he shall receive a message from the life in the world to come, i.e. he may be assured of salvation; Y. Keth. XII, 35ᵃ מכושר לחיי וכ׳ … (corr. acc.); Y. Shek. III, end, 47ᶜ יהא מב׳ שבן עו"הב הוא. Ex. R. s. 46 אתה מב׳ שמחלתי וכ׳ thou art informed that I have forgiven thee &c. Y. Ber. V, end, 9ᵈ; a. e.
- to be gladdened, to receive good tidings. Pesik. R. s. 42 נ׳ בבנים he was assured that he would have children. Gen. R. s. 47; s. 53 נתבשרה בחלב she was assured that she would nurse her child. [V. בָּסַר II.]
בְּשַׂר
- 1. to be glad;—
- *2. = Pa. Targ. Y. Gen. XXI, 7. Targ. Y. II ib. XLIX, 21 למִיבְשַׂר.
- as preced. Pi. Targ. Y. I Gen. XLIX, 21. Targ. Jer. XX, 15; a. fr. [Targ. Y. II, Deut. IV, 34, v. בַּשְׁקַר.]
- as preced. Nithpa. Targ. Ruth I, 6; a. e.
בְּשַׂר ²
- , v. בִּשְׂרָא
בָּשָׂר
- v. preced.) [ripe, warm, sweet, well-looking; v. Freitag Arab. Dict. s. v. bšr, a. cmp. לֶחֶם] body (b. h.); flesh, meat. Ḥull. VIII, 1 כל הב׳ any kind of meat. Ib. 16ᵇ בְּשַׂר תאוה meat eaten for satisfying the appetite, i.e. secular meal of meat, opp. to sacrificial meals (v. Deut. XII, 20). Ib. 17ᵃ, v. נְחִירָה; a. fr.—ב׳ ודם (abbr. ב"וד) flesh and blood, i.e. mortal man. Ber. 33ᵃ; a. v. fr. e.g. Deuteronomy 12:20
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 21 distinct written forms H1319 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that stem’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H1319, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derived from this word
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
Compare all same-root words → 1 of the same-root words is a proper name (a person or place). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 20 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 21 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
