טָהֵר
to cleanse
‘to cleanse’ 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
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”). Here: ‘be clean’
- Hithpael
- The reflexive or reciprocal stem (the subject acts on itself). Here: ‘purify oneself’
- Piel
- An intensive or resultative active stem. Here: ‘cleanse’
- Pual
- The passive counterpart of the Piel.
Form
- Sequential Perfect
- A perfect with prefixed waw continuing a preceding imperfect or command (waw-consecutive perfect).
- 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”).
- Sequential Imperfect
- An imperfect with prefixed waw — the standard past-narrative form (waw-consecutive imperfect).
- Imperative
- A direct command (“write!”).
- Perfect
- A completed action or state — Hebrew marks aspect (completeness) more than strict tense (“he wrote”).
- Participle Passive
- A verbal adjective expressing action received (“written”).
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
- 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).
Grammatical forms 35 distinct
- Verb, Qal, Sequential Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 13 times (14%)
- Verb, Hithpael, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 12 times (13%)
- Verb, Piel, Sequential Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 11 times (12%)
- Verb, Piel, Infinitive Construct 11 times (12%)
- Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 5 times (5%)
- Verb, Piel, Sequential Perfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular 2 times (2%)
- Verb, Piel, Sequential Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural 2 times (2%)
- Verb, Piel, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural 2 times (2%)
+27 more forms (37 occurrences)
Parsed forms decoded from the imported morphology (morphhb / Westminster Leningrad Codex — WLC text public domain, morphhb tagging CC BY 4.0), counted across 95 parsed occurrences — not distinct verses.
Every verse where H2891 appears — 80 distinct verses across 15 books. 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.
Genesis 1 verse
Leviticus 35 verses
- Leviticus 11:32 וְ/טָהֵֽר conj + Qal wpf 3ms On whatever any of them falls when they are dead, it shall be unclean; whether it is any vessel of wood, or clothing, or skin, or sack, whatever vessel it is, with which any work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the evening; then it will be clean.
- Leviticus 12:7 וְ/טָהֲרָ֖ה conj + Qal wpf 3fs and he shall offer it before Yahweh, and make atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the fountain of her blood. "'This is the law for her who bears, whether a male or a female.
- Leviticus 12:8 וְ/טָהֵֽרָה conj + Qal wpf 3fs If she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves, or two young pigeons; the one for a burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering: and the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.'"
- Leviticus 13:6 וְ/טִהֲר֤/וֹ וְ/טָהֵֽר conj + Piel wpf 3ms + sfx pers 3ms conj + Qal wpf 3ms The priest shall examine him again on the seventh day; and, behold, if the plague has faded, and the plague hasn't spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. It is a scab. He shall wash his clothes, and be clean.
- Leviticus 13:13 וְ/טִהַ֖ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms then the priest shall examine him; and, behold, if the leprosy has covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean of the plague. It has all turned white: he is clean.
- Leviticus 13:17 וְ/טִהַ֧ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms and the priest shall examine him; and, behold, if the plague has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him clean of the plague. He is clean.
- Leviticus 13:23 וְ/טִהֲר֖/וֹ conj + Piel wpf 3ms + sfx pers 3ms But if the bright spot stays in its place, and hasn't spread, it is the scar from the boil; and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
- Leviticus 13:28 וְ/טִֽהֲר/וֹ֙ conj + Piel wpf 3ms + sfx pers 3ms If the bright spot stays in its place, and hasn't spread in the skin, but is faded, it is the swelling from the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him clean; for it is the scar from the burn.
- Leviticus 13:34 וְ/טִהַ֤ר וְ/טָהֵֽר conj + Piel wpf 3ms conj + Qal wpf 3ms On the seventh day, the priest shall examine the itch; and, behold, if the itch hasn't spread in the skin, and its appearance isn't deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. He shall wash his clothes, and be clean.
- Leviticus 13:37 וְ/טִהֲר֖/וֹ conj + Piel wpf 3ms + sfx pers 3ms But if in his eyes the itch is arrested, and black hair has grown in it; the itch is healed, he is clean. The priest shall pronounce him clean.
- Leviticus 13:58 וְ/טָהֵֽר conj + Qal wpf 3ms The garment, either the warp, or the woof, or whatever thing of skin it is, which you shall wash, if the plague has departed from them, then it shall be washed the second time, and it will be clean."
- Leviticus 13:59 לְ/טַהֲר֖/וֹ prep + Piel inf.cs + sfx pers 3ms This is the law of the plague of mildew in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp, or the woof, or in anything of skin, to pronounce it clean, or to pronounce it unclean.
- Leviticus 14:4 לַ/מִּטַּהֵ֛ר prep det + Hithpael ptcp.act ms then the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two living clean birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop.
- Leviticus 14:7 הַ/מִּטַּהֵ֛ר וְ/טִ֣הֲר֔/וֹ ptcl def.art + Hithpael ptcp.act ms conj + Piel wpf 3ms + sfx pers 3ms He shall sprinkle on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird go into the open field.
- Leviticus 14:8 הַ/מִּטַּהֵ֨ר וְ/טָהֵ֔ר ptcl def.art + Hithpael ptcp.act ms conj + Qal wpf 3ms "He who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and bathe himself in water; and he shall be clean. After that he shall come into the camp, but shall dwell outside his tent seven days.
- Leviticus 14:9 וְ/טָהֵֽר conj + Qal wpf 3ms It shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he shall shave off. He shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his body in water, then he shall be clean.
- Leviticus 14:11 הַֽ/מְטַהֵ֗ר הַ/מִּטַּהֵ֖ר ptcl def.art + Piel ptcp.act ms ptcl def.art + Hithpael ptcp.act ms The priest who cleanses him shall set the man who is to be cleansed, and those things, before Yahweh, at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
- Leviticus 14:14 הַ/מִּטַּהֵ֖ר ptcl def.art + Hithpael ptcp.act ms The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.
- Leviticus 14:17 הַ/מִּטַּהֵר֙ ptcl def.art + Hithpael ptcp.act ms The priest shall put some of the rest of the oil that is in his hand on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering.
- Leviticus 14:18 הַ/מִּטַּהֵ֑ר ptcl def.art + Hithpael ptcp.act ms The rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, and the priest shall make atonement for him before Yahweh.
- Leviticus 14:19 הַ/מִּטַּהֵ֖ר ptcl def.art + Hithpael ptcp.act ms "The priest shall offer the sin offering, and make atonement for him who is to be cleansed because of his uncleanness: and afterward he shall kill the burnt offering;
- Leviticus 14:20 וְ/טָהֵֽר conj + Qal wpf 3ms and the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the meal offering on the altar. The priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.
- Leviticus 14:25 הַ/מִּטַּהֵ֖ר ptcl def.art + Hithpael ptcp.act ms He shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering. The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.
- Leviticus 14:28 הַ/מִּטַּהֵר֙ ptcl def.art + Hithpael ptcp.act ms Then the priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the trespass offering.
- Leviticus 14:29 הַ/מִּטַּהֵ֑ר ptcl def.art + Hithpael ptcp.act ms The rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before Yahweh.
- Leviticus 14:31 הַ/מִּטַּהֵ֖ר ptcl def.art + Hithpael ptcp.act ms even such as he is able to afford, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, with the meal offering. The priest shall make atonement for him who is to be cleansed before Yahweh."
- Leviticus 14:48 וְ/טִהַ֤ר conj + Piel wpf 3ms "If the priest shall come in, and examine it, and, behold, the plague hasn't spread in the house, after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed.
- Leviticus 14:53 וְ/טָהֵֽר conj + Qal wpf 3ms but he shall let the living bird go out of the city into the open field. So shall he make atonement for the house; and it shall be clean."
- Leviticus 15:13 יִטְהַ֤ר וְ/טָהֵֽר Qal impf 3ms conj + Qal wpf 3ms "'When he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall count to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes; and he shall bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean.
- Leviticus 15:28 טָהֲרָ֖ה תִּטְהָֽר Qal pf 3fs Qal impf 3fs "'But if she is cleansed of her discharge, then she shall count to herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean.
- Leviticus 16:19 וְ/טִהֲר֣/וֹ conj + Piel wpf 3ms + sfx pers 3ms He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and make it holy from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.
- Leviticus 16:30 לְ/טַהֵ֣ר תִּטְהָֽרוּ prep + Piel inf.cs Qal impf 2mp for on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins you shall be clean before Yahweh.
- Leviticus 17:15 וְ/טָהֵֽר conj + Qal wpf 3ms "'Every person that eats what dies of itself, or that which is torn by animals, whether he is native-born or a foreigner, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening: then he shall be clean.
- Leviticus 22:4 יִטְהָ֑ר Qal impf 3ms "'Whoever of the seed of Aaron is a leper or has an issue; he shall not eat of the holy things, until he is clean. Whoever touches anything that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goes from him;
- Leviticus 22:7 וְ/טָהֵ֑ר conj + Qal wpf 3ms When the sun is down, he shall be clean; and afterward he shall eat of the holy things, because it is his bread.
Numbers 8 verses
- Numbers 8:6 וְ/טִהַרְתָּ֖ conj + Piel wpf 2ms "Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them.
- Numbers 8:7 לְ/טַֽהֲרָ֔/ם וְ/הִטֶּהָֽרוּ prep + Piel inf.cs + sfx pers 3mp conj + Hithpael wpf 3cp Thus shall you do to them, to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of cleansing on them, let them shave their whole bodies with a razor, and let them wash their clothes, and cleanse themselves.
- Numbers 8:15 וְ/טִֽהַרְתָּ֣ conj + Piel wpf 2ms "After that, the Levites shall go in to do the service of the Tent of Meeting: and you shall cleanse them, and offer them as a wave offering.
- Numbers 8:21 לְ/טַהֲרָֽ/ם prep + Piel inf.cs + sfx pers 3mp The Levites purified themselves from sin, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them for a wave offering before Yahweh; and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them.
- Numbers 19:12 יִטְהָ֑ר יִטְהָֽר Qal impf 3ms Qal impf 3ms the same shall purify himself therewith on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he doesn't purify himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean.
- Numbers 19:19 וְ/טָהֵ֥ר conj + Qal wpf 3ms and the clean person shall sprinkle on the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify him; and he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even.
- Numbers 31:23 וְ/טָהֵ֔ר conj + Qal wpf 3ms everything that may abide the fire, you shall make to go through the fire, and it shall be clean; nevertheless it shall be purified with the water for impurity: and all that doesn't withstand the fire you shall make to go through the water.
- Numbers 31:24 וּ/טְהַרְתֶּ֑ם conj + Qal wpf 2mp You shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean; and afterward you shall come into the camp.
Joshua 1 verse
2 Kings 4 verses
- 2 Kings 5:10 וּ/טְהָֽר conj + Qal impv 2ms Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall come again to you, and you shall be clean.
- 2 Kings 5:12 וְ/טָהָ֑רְתִּי conj + Qal pf 1cs Aren't Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.
- 2 Kings 5:13 וּ/טְהָֽר conj + Qal impv 2ms His servants came near, and spoke to him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid you do some great thing, wouldn't you have done it? how much rather then, when he says to you, Wash, and be clean?
- 2 Kings 5:14 וַ/יִּטְהָֽר conj + Qal wimpf 3ms Then went he down, and dipped [himself] seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh came again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
2 Chronicles 7 verses
- 2 Chronicles 29:15 לְ/טַהֵ֖ר prep + Piel inf.cs They gathered their brothers, and sanctified themselves, and went in, according to the commandment of the king by the words of Yahweh, to cleanse the house of Yahweh.
- 2 Chronicles 29:16 לְ/טַהֵר֒ prep + Piel inf.cs The priests went in to the inner part of the house of Yahweh, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of Yahweh into the court of the house of Yahweh. The Levites took it, to carry it out abroad to the brook Kidron.
- 2 Chronicles 29:18 טִהַ֖רְנוּ Piel pf 1cp Then they went in to Hezekiah the king within [the palace], and said, We have cleansed all the house of Yahweh, and the altar of burnt offering, with all the vessels of it, and the table of show bread, with all the vessels of it.
- 2 Chronicles 30:18 הִטֶּהָ֔רוּ Hithpael pf 3cp For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the Passover otherwise than it is written. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, The good Yahweh pardon everyone
- 2 Chronicles 34:3 לְ/טַהֵ֔ר prep + Piel inf.cs For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the Asherim, and the engraved images, and the molten images.
- 2 Chronicles 34:5 וַ/יְטַהֵ֥ר conj + Piel wimpf 3ms He burnt the bones of the priests on their altars, and purged Judah and Jerusalem.
- 2 Chronicles 34:8 לְ/טַהֵ֥ר prep + Piel inf.cs Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of Yahweh his God.
Ezra 1 verse
Nehemiah 4 verses
- Nehemiah 12:30 וַ/יִּֽטַּהֲר֔וּ וַֽ/יְטַהֲרוּ֙ conj + Hithpael wimpf 3mp conj + Piel wimpf 3mp The priests and the Levites purified themselves; and they purified the people, and the gates, and the wall.
- Nehemiah 13:9 וַֽ/יְטַהֲר֖וּ conj + Piel wimpf 3mp Then I commanded, and they cleansed the chambers: and there brought I again the vessels of the house of God, with the meal-offerings and the frankincense.
- Nehemiah 13:22 מִֽטַּהֲרִים֙ Hithpael ptcp.act mp I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day. Remember to me, my God, this also, and spare me according to the greatness of your loving kindness.
- Nehemiah 13:30 וְ/טִֽהַרְתִּ֖י/ם conj + Piel pf 1cs + sfx pers 3mp Thus cleansed I them from all foreigners, and appointed charges for the priests and for the Levites, everyone in his work;
Job 3 verses
- Job 4:17 יִטְהַר Qal impf 3ms 'Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his Maker?
- Job 17:9 וּֽ/טֳהָר conj + Adjective Adjective ms cs Yet shall the righteous hold on his way. He who has clean hands shall grow stronger and stronger.
- Job 37:21 וַֽ/תְּטַהֲרֵֽ/ם conj + Piel wimpf 3fs + sfx pers 3mp Now men don't see the light which is bright in the skies, But the wind passes, and clears them.
Psalms 2 verses
Proverbs 1 verse
Isaiah 1 verse
Jeremiah 2 verses
- Jeremiah 13:27 תִטְהֲרִ֔י Qal impf 2fs I have seen your abominations, even your adulteries, and your neighing, the lewdness of your prostitution, on the hills in the field. Woe to you, Jerusalem! you will not be made clean; how long shall it yet be?
- Jeremiah 33:8 וְ/טִ֣הַרְתִּ֔י/ם conj + Piel wpf 1cs + sfx pers 3mp I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, by which they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, by which they have sinned against me, and by which they have transgressed against me.
Ezekiel 9 verses
- Ezekiel 22:24 מְטֹהָרָ֖ה Pual ptcp.pass fs Son of man, tell her, You are a land that is not cleansed, nor rained on in the day of indignation.
- Ezekiel 24:13 טִֽהַרְתִּי/ךְ֙ טָהַ֔רְתְּ תִטְהֲרִי Piel pf 1cs + sfx pers 2fs Qal pf 2fs Qal impf 2fs In your filthiness is lewdness: because I have cleansed you and you weren't cleansed, you shall not be cleansed from your filthiness any more, until I have caused my wrath toward you to rest.
- Ezekiel 36:25 וּ/טְהַרְתֶּ֑ם אֲטַהֵ֥ר conj + Qal wpf 2mp Piel impf 1cs I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
- Ezekiel 36:33 טַהֲרִ֣/י Piel inf.cs + sfx pers 1cs Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built.
- Ezekiel 37:23 וְ/טִהַרְתִּ֤י conj + Piel wpf 1cs neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling-places, in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
- Ezekiel 39:12 טַהֵ֣ר Piel inf.cs Seven months shall the house of Israel be burying them, that they may cleanse the land.
- Ezekiel 39:14 לְ/טַֽהֲרָ֑/הּ prep + Piel inf.cs + sfx pers 3fs They shall set apart men of continual employment, who shall pass through the land, and, with those who pass through, those who bury those who remain on the surface of the land, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
- Ezekiel 39:16 וְ/טִהֲר֥וּ conj + Piel wpf 3cp Hamonah shall also be the name of a city. Thus shall they cleanse the land.
- Ezekiel 43:26 וְ/טִֽהֲר֖וּ conj + Piel wpf 3cp Seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and purify it; so shall they consecrate it.
Malachi 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.
At its core, טהר (ṭâhêr) means “to cleanse.” Translators differ — “is to be cleansed” in the King James Version, then “one to be cleansed” (Berean Standard Bible) and “he will be clean” (unfoldingWord Literal Text), as the renderings breakdown shows. It turns up in 80 verses across 15 books, a moderately common footprint. The word gravitates to Leviticus (44%), then Ezekiel and Numbers. Read the stem: it spans 4 stems, including Qal and Piel. 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 H2891 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 →
- 80
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 80 distinct verses.
- 15 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 15 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #437
- by frequency
- Top 500 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 437 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 80 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 80 distinct verses.
- Torah (Pentateuch) 44 verses · 55%
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 18 verses · 23%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 18 verses · 23%
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: Is to be cleansed 10×, Cleanse 8×, Shall pronounce him clean 7×
- American Standard Version: Is to be cleansed 11×, Shall pronounce him clean 6×, Cleanse 5×
- Berean Standard Bible: One to be cleansed 10×, He will be clean 6×, Cleanse 5×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: He will be clean 10×, Person being cleansed 7×, Cleanse 6×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H2891 across 94 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 51 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 H2891 across 91 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 50 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 H2891 across 94 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 37 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H2891 across 110 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 48 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
17 senses and sub-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 Pual (the passive of Piel) and 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 17 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.
Qal
- Pf. ט׳ Lv 11:32 + 12 times; 3 fs. טָֽהֲרָה Lv 12:7; 15:28; טָהֵ֑רָה Lv 12:8 etc., + 5 times Pf.; Impf. יִטְהַר Lv 15:13 Jb 4:17 etc., + 9 times Impf.; Imv. טְהָ֑ר 2 K 5:10, 13;— e.g. Leviticus 11:32
- 1. be clean, i.e. (miraculously) freed from leprosy by washing in the Jordan 2 K 5:10, 12, 13, 14. e.g. 2 Kings 5:10
- 2. be clean ceremonially (only H P), Lv 15:13, 28(×2) (P), 22:4 (H); by washing with water, the flesh Lv 22:7 (H); garments Lv 13:6, 34, 58 Nu 31:24 (all P); both flesh and garments Lv 17:5 (H), 14:8, 9; 15:13 Nu 19:19 (all P); other articles Lv 11:32 (P); passing things through the fire Nu 31:23 (P); offering sin-offerings Lv 12:7, 8; 14:20 (P); by the ceremony of the two birds Lv 14:53 (P); by ashes of red heifer Nu 19:12(×2) (P). e.g. Leviticus 15:13
- 3. be clean morally, of people, made clean by י׳’s scattering clean water upon them Ez 36:25; of Jerus., specif. made clean from idolatry, under fig. of adultery Je 13:27; also sq. מִן Ez 24:13(×2) (purification by י׳); made clean מִכָּל־חַטֹּאתֵיכֶם Lv 16:30 (P; by the sin-offering of the atonement day); also of the individual, be clean מֵחַטָּאוֹת Pr 20:9 (‖ זכה); become clean by use of hyssop ψ 51:9 (‖ אַלְבִּין); more generally אִם־מֵעֹשֵׂהוּ יִטְהַר־גָּ֑בֶר Jb 4:17 shall a man be more pure than his maker? (‖ יִצְדָּ֑ק). e.g. Ezekiel 36:25
Piel
- Pf. טִהַר Lv 13:3 + 4 times; sf. טִהֲרוֹ Lv 13:6 + 5 times; 2 ms. טִהַרְתָּ Nu 8:6, 15 etc. + 7 times Pf.; Impf. יְטַהֵר 2 Ch 34:5 etc. + 4 times Impf.; Imv. sf. טַהֲרֵנִי ψ 51:4; Inf. cstr. טַהֵר Ez 39:12 + 5 times; sf. טַהֲרִי Ez 36:33 etc. + 4 times Inf.; Pt. מְטַחֵר Lv 14:11 Mal 3:3;—chiefly P; e.g. Leviticus 13:3
- 1. cleanse, purify:
- a. physically, metals from dross Mal 3:3; land from corpses Ez 39:12, 14, 16; heavens from clouds Jb 37:21; temple from unclean things 2 Ch 29:15, 16, 18; land and city from Asherim and images 2 Ch 34:3, 5, 8; store-chambers of temple from household stuff Ne 13:9; priesthood by exclusion of alien blood Ne 13:30. e.g. Malachi 3:3
- b. ceremonially, the altar of incense by the blood of the annual sin-offering Lv 16:19 (P); the people, gates, and wall (by some undefined ceremony) Ne 12:30; the altar of the court by the blood of sin-offerings Ez 43:26; of consecration of Levites by מֵי חטאת Nu 8:6, 7 (P), and חטאת Nu 8:15, 21 (P). e.g. Leviticus 16:19
- c. morally Lv 16:30 (P), Ez 37:23 Mal 3:3; מֵחַטָּאֹת ψ 51:4; מֵעונ(ות) Je 33:8 Ez 36:33; מִטּמא(ו)ת Ez 24:13; 36:25. e.g. Leviticus 16:30
- 2. pronounce clean, ceremonially Lv 13:6, 13, 17, 23, 28, 34, 37, 59; 14:7, 48 (all P). e.g. Leviticus 13:6
- 3. perform the ceremony of cleansing Lv 14:11 (P). e.g. Leviticus 14:11
Pual
- Pf. 3 ms. טֹהַר 1 S 20:26 (so read for MT טהור 𝔊 We Dr, he is not clean, because he hath not been cleansed); Pt. אֶרֶץ לֹא מְטֹהָרָה a land not cleansed Ez 22:24 (but 𝔊 Hi Ew Co SS read a land not rained upon, v. מטר). e.g. 1 Samuel 20:26
Hithpael
- Pf. 3 pl. הִטָּֽהֲרוּ Ezr 6:20; הִטֶּהָ֑רוּ (Köi 271) 2 Ch 30:18; Nu 8:7; 1 pl. הִטַּהַרְנוּ Jos 22:17; Impf. יִטָּֽהֲרוּ Ne 12:30; Imv. הִטָּֽהֲרוּ Gn 35:2; Pt. מִטַּהֵר Lv 14:7 + 11 times; pl. מִטַּהֲרִים Ne 13:22 Is 66:17;—reflexive: e.g. Ezra 6:20
- 1. purify oneself:
- a. ceremonially, especially in preparation for sacred duties Gn 35:2 (R), Nu 8:7 2 Ch 30:18 Ezr 6:20 Ne 13:22; also for heathen mysteries Is 66:17; of purifying priests, people, and wall Ne 12:30 (cf. Pi. 1 b). e.g. Genesis 35:2
- b. morally Jos 22:17 (P). e.g. Joshua 22:17
- 2. present oneself for purification, only pt. הַמִּטַּהֵר the candidate for purificaion Lv 14:4, 7, 8, 11, 14, 17, 18, 19, 25, 28, 29, 31 (P). e.g. Leviticus 14:4
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 clean, pure (Arabic طَهَرَ, طَهُرَ id.; NH id., Pi. make or declare ceremonially clean; Aramaic טְהַר emptiness, טִיהֲרָא brightness; Sab. טהר Hal 682; Ethiopic አጥሀረ, ተጣሀረ purify, wash oneself with water)—
— 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.
טָהֵר
- [to be bright, to glitter,]
- 1. to be clean, pure, esp. to be levitically clean; to be unsusceptible of levitical uncleanness. Neg. X, 8 שט׳ שעה אחת which has been declared clean once. Mikv. II, 2 עד שיודע שט׳ until it is ascertained that it has become clean. Ib. III, 2 ויִטְהֲרוּ העליונים מן וכ׳ so that the waters coming from above become cleansed from the impurity of the lower waters. Neg. VII, 4 ויִטְהַר ממנו and is declared clean from it (the last scall); a. fr.
- 2. to be cleared, removed. Ber. 2ᵇ, v. next w.
- 1. to purify, make (levitically) clean; to absolve from sin. Yoma VIII, 9 מי מְטַהֵר וכ׳ who is it that absolves you? Ib. (ref. to Jer. XVII, 13) מה מקוה מט׳ וכ׳ as the ritual bath (v. מִקְוֶה) cleanses the unclean, so does the Lord &c.; a. fr. e.g. Jeremiah 17:13
- 2. to keep clean, guard against contact with unclean things. R. Hash. 16ᵇ חייב … לטַהֵר את עצמו וכ׳ one is bound to keep one’s self clean for the festive days.
- 3. to declare טָהוֹר, to decide in favor of cleanness. Snh. 17ᵃ bot. מי שיודע לטַ׳ וכ׳ one who knows how to prove a creeping thing to be clean. Ib. אני אדון ואֲטַהֲרֶנוּ I will argue and prove it to be clean. Eduy. VIII, 7 לטמא ולטַ׳ to decide on unclean and clean; a. v. fr.—Part. pass. מְטוֹהָר, pl. מְטוֹהָרִים. Ber. 2ᵇ, v. preced.
- 4. to become clean. Snh. 94ᵇ מיד ט׳ it becomes clean at once. Ḥull. 60ᵇ טִיהֲרוּ; Gitt. 38ᵃ טהרו, v. סִיחוֹן.
- to become clean. Tanḥ. Metsora 7 נִטְהֲרָה וכ׳ she became clean on the eighth day. Ib. ונִטְהֶרֶת and becomes clean; a. fr.
- to be cleansed, to cleanse one’s self; to amend. Yoma 38ᵇ בא לִטָּהֵר מסייעים אותו (Ms. M. 2 להִטָּהֵר) if one is willing to do good, he will be assisted; Sabb. 104ᵃ; Yalk. Prov. 935 לִיטָּהֵר; a. e.—Yoma VIII, 9 (85ᵇ) לפני מי אתם מִיטַּהֲרִים Mish. a. Y. ed. (Bab. ed. מִטַּ׳) before whom do you cleanse yourselves (from sin)?; a. e.
טְהֵר
- 1. to be clean (usually דכי). Ber. 2ᵇ וט׳ גברא, v. infra.
- 2. to be cleared away, be gone. Ib. 2ᵃ, sq. (ref. to Lev. XXII, 7 ובא השמש וטהר) ממאי דהאי … והאי וטהר ט׳ יומא דלמא … ט׳ גברא how do you know that this uba hash-shemesh means his sunset (the finished sunset of the seventh day, v. Ms. M. in Rabb. D. S. a. l.), and v’taher means, the day is gone; may be uba &c. means the approach of his evening (beginning sunset. Tosaf. a. l.; Rashi: the arrival of his (eighth) morning), and v’taher (referring to the man) means, the man becomes clean (by means of his sacrifice, Rashi). e.g. Leviticus 22:7
- 3. (denom. of טִיהֲרָא) to be noon-time. Yoma 59ᵃ, a. e., v. טִיהֲרָא a. next w.
- to declare clean. B. Mets. 84ᵇ טַהֲרִינְהוּ he declared them clean.
טֹהַר
- preced. wds.)
- 1. the pure, real surface (of gold). Yoma V, 6 על טָהֳרוֹ של מזבח (or טְהָרוֹ) immediately on the top of the golden altar (free from coals or ashes, v. גִּילּוּיָא). Men. 97ᵃ על טהרו של שולחן (Ms. M. על השל׳) immediately on the golden table.
- 2. (cmp. חָזֶה) the centre of the front. Yoma 59ᵃ (one opinion explain. טהרו של מזבח, v. supra) פלגיה דמזבח the centre of the altar front, as people say, טהר טיהרא והוי פלגא דיומא ‘the noon-light shines’ meaning by tihara the middle of the day; ib. 15ᵃ; Zeb. 38ᵇ
טִהָר
- v. sub. טִיה׳.
טִיהָר
- (v. טַהֲרָה) bright sky after rain. Ber. 59ᵃ Ms. F.; Y. ib. IX, 13ᵈ; Yalk. Is. 335 נראה שמים בטִהֲרוֹ (read: רקיע).
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 74 distinct written forms H2891 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.
The 60 most common forms are shown; 14 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H2891, 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
Compare all same-root words → They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 76 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 80 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 35:2
- Leviticus 11:32
- Numbers 8:6
- Joshua 22:17
- 2 Kings 5:10
- 2 Chronicles 29:15
- Ezra 6:20
- Job 4:17
- Psalms 51:2
- Proverbs 20:9
- Isaiah 66:17
- Jeremiah 13:27
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.
