יָסַד
to found
also: fix, establish, lay foundation fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Qal verb in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Stem
- Pual
- The passive counterpart of the Piel.
- Piel
- An intensive or resultative active stem. Here: ‘found’
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”).
- Hophal
- The passive counterpart of the Hiphil (“he was caused to…”). Here: ‘be founded’
- Niphal
- Usually the simple passive or reflexive of the Qal (“he was written”). Here: ‘fix or seat themselves close together’
Form
- Perfect
- A completed action or state — Hebrew marks aspect (completeness) more than strict tense (“he wrote”).
- 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”).
- Participle Passive
- A verbal adjective expressing action received (“written”).
- Sequential Perfect
- A perfect with prefixed waw continuing a preceding imperfect or command (waw-consecutive perfect).
- Imperfect
- An incomplete, ongoing, or future action (“he will / would write”).
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).
Grammatical forms 19 distinct
- Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 6 times (14%)
- Verb, Piel, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 5 times (12%)
- Verb, Qal, Perfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular 5 times (12%)
- Verb, Pual, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 4 times (10%)
- Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct 4 times (10%)
- Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 2 times (5%)
- Verb, Hophal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 2 times (5%)
- Verb, Piel, Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural 2 times (5%)
+11 more forms (12 occurrences)
Parsed forms decoded from the imported morphology (morphhb / Westminster Leningrad Codex — WLC text public domain, morphhb tagging CC BY 4.0), counted across 42 parsed occurrences — not distinct verses.
Every verse where H3245 appears — 41 distinct verses across 16 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.
Exodus 1 verse
Joshua 1 verse
1 Kings 4 verses
- 1 Kings 5:17 לְ/יַסֵּ֥ד prep + Piel inf.cs The king commanded, and they hewed out great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with worked stone.
- 1 Kings 6:37 יֻסַּ֖ד Pual pf 3ms In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of Yahweh laid, in the month Ziv.
- 1 Kings 7:10 וּ/מְיֻסָּ֕ד conj + Pual ptcp.pass ms The foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.
- 1 Kings 16:34 יִסְּדָ֗/הּ Piel pf 3ms + sfx pers 3fs In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid the foundation of it with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates of it with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of Yahweh, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.
1 Chronicles 1 verse
2 Chronicles 2 verses
- 2 Chronicles 3:3 הוּסַ֣ד Hophal pf 3ms Now these are the foundations which Solomon laid for the building of the house of God. The length by cubits after the first measure was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.
- 2 Chronicles 31:7 לְ/יִסּ֑וֹד prep + Qal inf.cs In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month.
Ezra 4 verses
- Ezra 3:6 יֻסָּֽד Pual pf 3ms From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings to Yahweh: but the foundation of the temple of Yahweh was not yet laid.
- Ezra 3:10 וְ/יִסְּד֥וּ conj + Piel pf 3cp When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of Yahweh, they set the priests in their clothing with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise Yahweh, after the order of David king of Israel.
- Ezra 3:11 הוּסַ֥ד Hophal pf 3ms They sang one to another in praising and giving thanks to Yahweh, [saying], For he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever toward Israel. All the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised Yahweh, because the foundation of the house of Yahweh was laid.
- Ezra 3:12 בְּ/יָסְד֔/וֹ prep + Qal inf.cs + sfx pers 3ms But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' [houses], the old men who had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:
Esther 1 verse
Job 1 verse
Psalms 10 verses
- Psalms 2:2 נֽוֹסְדוּ Niphal pf 3cp The kings of the earth take a stand, And the rulers take counsel together, Against Yahweh, and against his anointed, saying,
- Psalms 8:2 יִסַּ֪דְתָּ֫ Piel pf 2ms From the lips of babes and infants you have established strength, Because of your adversaries, that you might silence the enemy and the avenger.
- Psalms 24:2 יְסָדָ֑/הּ Qal pf 3ms + sfx pers 3fs For he has founded it on the seas, And established it on the floods.
- Psalms 31:13 בְּ/הִוָּסְדָ֣/ם prep + Niphal inf.cs + sfx pers 3mp For I have heard the slander of many, terror on every side, While they conspire together against me, They plot to take away my life.
- Psalms 78:69 יְסָדָ֥/הּ Qal pf 3ms + sfx pers 3fs He built his sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which he has established forever.
- Psalms 89:11 יְסַדְתָּֽ/ם Qal pf 2ms + sfx pers 3mp The heavens are yours. The earth also is yours; The world and its fullness. You have founded them.
- Psalms 102:25 יָסַ֑דְתָּ Qal pf 2ms Of old, you laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the work of your hands.
- Psalms 104:5 יָֽסַד Qal pf 3ms He laid the foundations of the earth, That it should not be moved forever.
- Psalms 104:8 יָסַ֬דְתָּ Qal pf 2ms The mountains rose, The valleys sank down, To the place which you had assigned to them.
- Psalms 119:152 יְסַדְתָּֽ/ם Qal pf 2ms + sfx pers 3mp Of old I have known from your testimonies, That you have founded them forever.
Proverbs 1 verse
Song of Solomon 1 verse
Isaiah 8 verses
- Isaiah 14:32 יִסַּ֣ד Piel pf 3ms What then shall one answer the messengers of the nation? That Yahweh has founded Zion, and in her shall the afflicted of his people take refuge.
- Isaiah 23:13 יְסָדָ֣/הּ Qal pf 3ms + sfx pers 3fs Behold, the land of the Chaldeans: this people was not; the Assyrian founded it for those who dwell in the wilderness; they set up their towers; they overthrew the palaces of it; they made it a ruin.
- Isaiah 28:16 יִסַּ֥ד מוּסָּ֔ד Piel pf 3ms Hophal ptcp.pass ms therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner -[stone] of sure foundation: he who believes shall not be in haste.
- Isaiah 44:28 תִּוָּסֵֽד Niphal impf 3fs Who says of Cyrus, [He is] my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure, even saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built; and of the temple, Your foundation shall be laid.
- Isaiah 48:13 יָ֣סְדָה Qal pf 3fs Yes, my hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand has spread out the heavens: when I call to them, they stand up together.
- Isaiah 51:13 וְ/יֹסֵ֣ד conj + Qal ptcp.act ms and have forgotten Yahweh your Maker, who stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and fear continually all the day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he makes ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?
- Isaiah 51:16 וְ/לִ/יסֹ֣ד conj + prep + Qal inf.cs I have put my words in your mouth, and have covered you in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and tell Zion, You are my people.
- Isaiah 54:11 וִ/יסַדְתִּ֖י/ךְ conj + Qal wpf 1cs + sfx pers 2fs you afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in beautiful colors, and lay your foundations with sapphires.
Amos 1 verse
Habakkuk 1 verse
Haggai 1 verse
Zechariah 3 verses
- Zechariah 4:9 יִסְּד֛וּ Piel pf 3cp "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house. His hands shall also finish it; and you will know that Yahweh of Hosts has sent me to you.
- Zechariah 8:9 יֻסַּ֨ד Pual pf 3ms Thus says Yahweh of Hosts: "Let your hands be strong, you who hear in these days these words from the mouth of the prophets who were in the day that the foundation of the house of Yahweh of Hosts was laid, even the temple, that it might be built.
- Zechariah 12:1 וְ/יֹסֵ֣ד conj + Qal ptcp.act ms An oracle. The word of Yahweh concerning Israel. Yahweh, who stretches out the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him says:
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.
יסד (yâçad) is a Hebrew verb most often rendered “to found.” The verb spans 5 stems, from Qal to Niphal. The Hebrew Bible uses it across 41 verses — moderately common. Debuting at Exodus 9:18, it then recurs through the corpus. Related forms include יסד, יסוד and מוסד. The sections below give every sense, occurrence, and version rendering.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H3245 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 →
- 41
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 41 distinct verses.
- 16 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 16 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #864
- by frequency
- Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 864 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 41 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 41 distinct verses.
- Writings (Ketuvim) 21 verses · 51%
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 19 verses · 46%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 1 verse · 2%
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: Foundation 6×, Hath founded 3×, Was laid 3×
- American Standard Version: Foundation 5×, Laid 3×, Was laid 3×
- Berean Standard Bible: Founded 3×, Foundation 2×, Was laid 2×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Was founded 4×, Founded 3×, Founding of 3×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H3245 across 46 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 28 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.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H3245 across 46 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 31 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 H3245 across 43 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 34 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 H3245 across 46 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 32 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
9 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 Hophal (the passive of Hiphil).
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 9 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. יָסַד ψ 104:5; Pr 3:19; sf. יְסָדָהּ ψ 24:2 + 3 times; 3 fs. יָסְֽדָה Is 48:13; יָסַדְתָּ ψ 104:8; יָסַ֑֫דְתָּ 102:26; sf. יְסַדְתּוֹ Hab 1:12; יְסַדְתָּם ψ 89:12; 119:152; וִיסַדְתִּיךְ consec. Is 54:11; Inf. וִיסוֹד 2 Ch 24:27; לִיסּוֹד 31:7 (v. Ges§ 69, 2, R. 1; Baer לְיִסּוֹד); לִיסֹד Is 51:16; יָסְדִי Jb 38:4; יָסְדוֹ Ezr 3:12; Pt. יֹסֵד Is 51:13 Zc 12:1 + Is 28:16 (Che crit. n., MT יִסַּד);—found, establish, c. acc., the earth ψ 24:2 (‖ כונן), cf. 78:69 (obj. om.), 89:12; 102:26; 104:5 cf. v 8 (sq. לְ), Pr 3:19; Is 48:13; Jb 38:4; Is 51:13, 16; Zc 12:1, vault of heaven Am 9:6; of founding the second temple Ezr 3:12, of restoration under Joash, Inf. יְסוֹד 2 Ch 24:27; metaph. of future Israel Is 54:11; of י׳, establish the Chaldaean (as his instrument) להוכיח for correction Hb 1:12 (‖ שִׂים), his commandments ψ 119:152; in weakened sense (si vera l.) יָסַד לְצִיִּים Is 23:13 appoint a city for desert-creatures (on meaning in context, v. Di); appoint, fix Ezr 7:9 emend. (v. יְסֻד); found, begin, heaps of offerings in י׳’s house 2 Ch 31:7. e.g. Psalms 104:5
Niphal
- Pf. 3 pl. נוֹסְדוּ ψ 2:2; Impf. 2 ms. תִּוָּסֵד Is 44:28; Inf. הִוָּסְדָהּ Ex 9:18; הִוָּֽסְדָם ψ 31:14;— e.g. Psalms 2:2
- 1. fix or seat themselves close together, sit in conclave ψ 2:2; 31:14 (> Bae from ܣܘܳܕܳܐ ὁμιλία), but Lag’s emend. נוֹעֲדוּ is prob. (cf. Ne 6:2). e.g. Psalms 2:2
- 2. be founded, Is 44:28 (temple), Ex 9:18 (Egypt). e.g. Isaiah 44:28
Piel
- Pf. יִסַּד Is 14:32 + 3 times, יִסְּדָהּ 1 K 16:34; יִסַּ֫דְתָּ ψ 8:3; יִסְּדוּ Zc 4:9 Ezr 3:10; Impf. יְיַסְּדֶנָּה Jos 6:26; Inf. לְיַסֵּד 1 K 5:31— e.g. Isaiah 14:32
- 1. found (= Qal), sq. acc., city Jos 6:26 (JE), 1 K 16:34, temple 1 K 5:31; Zc 4:9; Ezr 3:10; Zion Is 14:32; 28:16 הִנְנִי יִסַּד (read יֹסֵד; v. supr.) e.g. Joshua 6:26
- 2. establish ψ 8:3 sq. עֹז; appoint, ordain (late) 1 Ch 9:22 (sq. acc.), Est 1:8 (abs.) e.g. Psalms 8:3
Pual
- Pf. יֻסַּד 1 K 6:37 + 2 times; יֻסָּ֑ד Ezr 3:6; Pt. מְיֻסָּ֑ד 1 K 7:10; מְיֻסָּדִים Ct 5:15; be founded, be laid, of a foundation 1 K 6:37; Ezr 3:6; Hg 2:18; Zc 8:9; Pt. = subst. foundation 1 K 7:10, cf. מוסד infr.; pillars set on bases, sim. of legs Ct 5:15. e.g. 1 Kings 6:37
Hophal
- be founded: Inf. הוּסַד 2 Ch 3:3 Ezr 3:11; Pt. מוּסָּד Is 28:16;—the being founded, founding, עַל הוּסַד בֵּית י׳ Ezr 3:11 because of the founding (laying the foundation) of the house of י׳; וְאֵלֶּה הוּסַד שְׁלֹמֹה לִבְנוֹת וגו׳ 2 Ch 3:3 and this is (lit. these are) the founding Solomon to build the house of God. i.e this is the foundation which Solomon laid for building, etc.; Pt. מוּסָד מוּסָּד Is 28:16 a foundation founded, i.e. well laid (cf. חֵפֵשׂ מְחֻפָּשׂ, חָכָם מְחֻכָּם). e.g. 2 Chronicles 3:3
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. establish, found, fix (NH id. especially Pi; Aramaic יְסַד perhaps orig. fix firm or close; Arabic وِسَادٌ pillow; vb. denom. ii. fix as a pillow against one; v. lean against, recline, Lane 2940 Saad Gn 28:11; in Heb. usually fix firm so as to found)—
— 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.
יָסַד
- v. סַד) [to join, fasten; denom. יְסוֹד, whence יָסַד] to found, establish. Tanḥ. B’resh. 1 ובה … וי׳ ארץ and with it (the Torah) he stretched the heavens and established the earth. Meg. 3ᵃ; Sabb. 104ᵃ; Succ. 44ᵃ וחזרו וִיסָדוּם and they reintroduced them. Ib. 20ᵃ, v. עֶזְרָא; a. fr. e.g. Genesis 1:1
- 1. to establish; to join in between. Y. Erub. V, 22ᶜ שער היסוד ששם היו מְיַיסְּדִין וכ׳ the Eastern Gate was named the Foundation Gate, because there they (in their meetings) established the decisions of the Law; a. e.—Part. pass. מְיוּסָּד. Ib. שער התווך שהוא מי׳ בין וכ׳ it was named the Middle Gate because it was fastened in between two gates; a. e.
- 2. to rebuild (a ruin). Tosef. B. Mets. XI, 4 לא יאמר לו הריני מייסד עמך מכנגד וכ׳ (not עמו) he has no right to say, I will help thee rebuild the party wall from where my (higher situated) ground commences and upward, אלא מייסד עמו וכ׳ but he must help him build from the bottom (of the neighbor’s ground) &c.; Y. ib. X, beg. 12ᶜ; (B. Bath. 6ᵇ מסייע מלמטה). [Cant. R. to I, 2 שהרי חבירו בא ליַסֵּד עליו כן the next following sentence comes to found upon it a base (thus proving that the reading is דּוֹדֶיךָ and not דּוֹדַיִךְ). Some eds. read לימד; Ab. Zar. II, 5 חבירו מלמד; Yalk. Cant. 981 מוכיח.]
- to be established. Tanḥ. l. c. העולם לא נ׳ וכ׳ the world has been founded on nothing but the Law.
יְסַד
- Targ. Ps. LXXVIII, 69; a. e.
- same. Ib. CIV, 5.
- , Ittof. אִתּוֹסָד to be fastened, supported, founded. Targ. Job. XLI, 15, sq.—Targ. Ps. LXXXVII, 1.—Targ. II Chr. XXXI, 7 לאִתּוֹסָדָא (ed. Lag. לאִתְיַסְּרָא).
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 36 distinct written forms H3245 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 H3245, 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
- יסד yᵉçud H3246 foundation
- יסוד yᵉçôwd H3247 foundation
- מוסד mûwçâd H4143 foundation
- מוסד môwçâd H4144 foundation
- מיסדה mᵉyuççâdâh H4328 foundation
- מסד maççad H4527 foundation
- סוד çôwd H5475 council
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 8 — not the complete family. They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 36 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 41 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
- Exodus 9:18
- Joshua 6:26
- 1 Kings 5:17
- 1 Chronicles 9:22
- 2 Chronicles 3:3
- Ezra 3:6
- Esther 1:8
- Job 38:4
- Psalms 2:2
- Proverbs 3:19
- Song of Solomon 5:15
- Isaiah 14:32
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.
