אָבָה
to be willing
‘to be willing’ is one of 4 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Stem
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”).
Form
- Perfect
- A completed action or state — Hebrew marks aspect (completeness) more than strict tense (“he wrote”).
- Imperfect
- An incomplete, ongoing, or future action (“he will / would write”).
- Jussive
- A third- or second-person volitional form expressing wish or command (“let him write”).
- Participle Active
- A verbal adjective expressing ongoing or characteristic action (“writing / one who writes”).
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
Person
- 3rd Person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
- 2nd Person
- The one addressed (“you”).
- 1st Person
- The speaker (“I / we”).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
- Common
- Either gender — not distinguished for this form.
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
Every verse where H14 appears in the Book of 2 Kings — 3 distinct verses. 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.
2 Kings
- 2 Kings 8:19 אָבָ֤ה Qal pf 3ms However Yahweh would not destroy Judah, for David his servant's sake, as he promised him to give to him a lamp for his children always.
- 2 Kings 13:23 אָבָה֙ Qal pf 3ms But Yahweh was gracious to them, and had compassion on them, and had respect to them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet.
- 2 Kings 24:4 אָבָ֥ה Qal pf 3ms and also for the innocent blood that he shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood: and Yahweh would not pardon.
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.
At its core, אבה (ʼâbâh) means “to be willing.” Translators differ — “would” in the King James Version, then “willing” (unfoldingWord Literal Text), as the renderings breakdown shows. With 52 verses in 17 books, it is a moderately common word in the Hebrew Bible. First canonically at Genesis 24:5, it enters the text early. Carrying more than one sense, it rewards its full sense range. Each statement above links to its evidence; the full detail follows below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H14 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 →
- 52
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 52 distinct verses.
- 17 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 17 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #696
- by frequency
- Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 696 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 52 occurrences in the concordance →
Most concentrated in
- 2 Samuel 9 verses 17%
- Deuteronomy 7 verses 13%
- Isaiah 5 verses 10%
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 52 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 30 verses · 58%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 11 verses · 21%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 11 verses · 21%
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: Would 21×, He would 6×, Will 4×
- American Standard Version: Would 14×, He would 6×, They would 3×
- Berean Standard Bible: Would 5×, Willing 3×, Consent 2×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Willing 40×, Was 14×, He was 10×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H14 across 54 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 12 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 H14 across 54 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 20 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 H14 across 35 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 19 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H14 across 105 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 16 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
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 1 sense 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.
Qal
- (c. לֹא, אַל except Is 1:19 Jb 39:9; in Hex. rare & only JED, incl. Lv 26:21); Pf. אָבָה Ex 10:27 + אָבוּ Ju 19:25 + 7 times; אָבוּא Is 28:12 (Sta§ 31 R. 2; KöI, 414); Impf. יֹאבֶה Dt 29:19 + 2 times; 2 ms. juss. תֹּבֵא Pr 1:10 (Sta§ 143 e 1 fin; KöI, 576 f) etc.; Pt. אֹבִים Ez 3:7;—be willing, sq. Inf. with ל Ex 10:27 + 29 times; without ל Dt 2:30 + 8 times; subj. י׳ Dt 10:10; 23:6; 29:19 Jos 24:10 2 K 8:19; 13:23; 24:4 2 Ch 21:7; human subj. Gn 24:5, 8 Ju 19:10 2 S 2:21; 13:25; 14:29(×2); 23:16, 17 = 1 Ch 11:18, 19 1 Ch 19:19; in bad sense Ex 10:27 Dt 2:30; 25:7 Ju. 19:25; 20:13 2 S 13:14, 16; especially of perverse Isr. Lv 26:21 Dt 1:26 1 S 15:9 Is 28:12; 30:9; 42:24 Ez 3:7(×2); 20:8; subj. animal, רֵים Jb 39:9; abs. (no Inf.) 2 S 12:17 1 K 20:8; 22:50; cf. Pr 6:35, of jealous man; bad sense Ju 11:17 Is 30:15; good sense 1 S 22:17; 26:23; 31:4 = 1 Ch 10:4 2 S 6:10 Pr 1:10; + vb. fin. Is 1:19 (אִם תֹּאבוּ וּשְׁמַעְתֶּם) consent, yield to, sq. לוֹ Dt 13:9 (good sense); sq. לִי ψ 81:12; sq. לַעֲצָתִי Pr 1:30; sq. acc. תּוֹכַחְתִּי v 25 (all in bad sense). e.g. Isaiah 1:19
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. be willing, consent (cf. Assyrian abîtu, desire, DlW, Ethiopic አበየ: refuse, Arabic أَبَى, id., Nejd be willing SoDe Jes 3, p. 26; LCB 1880, 817)—
— 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.
אַבָּה
- Abbah; father of Samuel; v. אַבָּא II.
אָבָה
- , v. אבי
אָבֵי
- to be willing. Targ. O. Deut. XXV, 7; a. fr.—[Targ. Prov. XXIX, 11, ed. Wil. מאבה, read מֵאֲכָהּ, v. מאך.]
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 31 distinct written forms H14 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.
| Form | Parsing | Example | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| אָבָ֖ה | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Deuteronomy 25:7 | 9 |
| אָבָ֣ה | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | 1 Chronicles 19:19 | 4 |
| אָבָה֙ | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | 1 Chronicles 10:4 | 4 |
| אָבָ֤ה | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | 1 Chronicles 11:18 | 3 |
| אָבָ֥ה | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Deuteronomy 10:10 | 3 |
| תֹאבֶ֣ה | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular | Deuteronomy 13:8 | 2 |
| אֲבִיתֶֽם | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural | Isaiah 30:15 | 2 |
| אָב֤וּ | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural | Isaiah 42:24 | 2 |
| אָב֥וּ | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural | Isaiah 30:9 | 2 |
| אָבוּ֙ | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural | Ezekiel 20:8 | 2 |
| אֲבִיתֶ֖ם | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural | Deuteronomy 1:26 | 1 |
| אָ֥בָה | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Psalms 81:11 | 1 |
| אָב֖וּ | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural | 1 Samuel 15:9 | 1 |
| אָב֖וּא | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural | Isaiah 28:12 | 1 |
| אָב֞וּ | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural | 1 Samuel 22:17 | 1 |
| אָבִ֔יתִי | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular | 1 Samuel 26:23 | 1 |
| אָבִ֖יתִי | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular | Joshua 24:10 | 1 |
| אָבָ֑ה | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Judges 11:17 | 1 |
| אָבָ֔ה | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | 2 Samuel 12:17 | 1 |
| אָבָ֗ה | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Deuteronomy 2:30 | 1 |
| אָבָ֞ה | Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Deuteronomy 23:5 | 1 |
| אֹבִ֖ים | Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Absolute | Ezekiel 3:7 | 1 |
| הֲ/יֹ֣אבֶה | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Job 39:9 | 1 |
| יֹ֝אבֶ֗ה | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Proverbs 6:35 | 1 |
| יֹאבֶ֣ה | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Deuteronomy 29:20 | 1 |
| יֹאבוּ֙ | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural | Ezekiel 3:7 | 1 |
| תֹאב֖וּ | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural | Leviticus 26:21 | 1 |
| תֹאבֶ֤ה | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Genesis 24:8 | 1 |
| תֹאבֶֽה | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular | 1 Kings 20:8 | 1 |
| תֹּאב֖וּ | Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural | Isaiah 1:19 | 1 |
| תֹּבֵֽא | Verb, Qal, Jussive, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular | Proverbs 1:10 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H14, 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
- אבה ʼâbeh H15 desire
- אבה ʼêbeh H16 reed
- אבוי ʼăbôwy H17 woe
- אביון ʼebyôwn H34 needy
- אביונה ʼăbîyôwnâh H35 caper berry
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 6 — not the complete family. They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 50 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 52 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
- Genesis 24:5
- Exodus 10:27
- Leviticus 26:21
- Deuteronomy 1:26
- Joshua 24:10
- Judges 11:17
- 1 Samuel 15:9
- 2 Samuel 2:21
- 1 Kings 20:8
- 2 Kings 8:19
- 1 Chronicles 10:4
- 2 Chronicles 21:7
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.
