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יָעַץ

to counsel

‘to counsel’ is one of 3 main senses fuller range ↓

H3289 Strong's Hebrew
yâʻats Transliteration
/yaw-ats'/ Pronunciation
Usage in the Hebrew Bible 79 appearances

Compare with another word →

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 counsel” is the headline sense of the Hebrew verb יעץ (yâʻats). The King James Version usually renders it “counsellors,” while modern versions prefer “counselor” (Berean Standard Bible) and “and” (unfoldingWord Literal Text) — see the renderings breakdown. With 73 verses in 18 books, it is a moderately common word in the Hebrew Bible. Scripture first uses it in Exodus 18:19. As a verb its force shifts by stem, across 3 stems (Qal, Niphal, and more). See the sense tree, 73-verse concordance, and the renderings breakdown below.

Gloss history

Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship

Strong's · 1890
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Modern gloss
to counsel
Strong's 1890 sometimes compressed multiple senses — or homonymous roots — under one number, and used 19th-century English phrasing that no longer carries the same connotation. The modern gloss reflects current BDB scholarship; open the Lexicon Entry tab for the full sense breakdown. Download share card

About this word

Strong's H3289 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 →

73
distinct verses
The word appears in 73 distinct verses.
18 / 39
OT books
The word appears in 18 of 39 Old Testament books.
Exodus 18:19
first appearance
The earliest occurrence is in Exodus 18:19.
Habakkuk 2:10
last appearance
The latest occurrence is in Habakkuk 2:10.
#506
by frequency
Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 506 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).

View all 73 occurrences in the concordance →


Most concentrated in

By section of the Old Testament

  • Pentateuch 2 · 3%
  • Historical 32 · 44%
  • Wisdom 14 · 19%
  • Prophets 25 · 34%

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 73 distinct verses.

  • Prophets (Nevi'im) 38 verses · 52%
  • Writings (Ketuvim) 33 verses · 45%
  • Torah (Pentateuch) 2 verses · 3%

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: Counsellors 11×, Counsellor 6×, Consulted 5×
  • American Standard Version: Counsellors 11×, Hath purposed 4×, Took counsel 4×
  • Berean Standard Bible: Counselor 9×, Counselors 9×, Consulted 3×
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text: And 7×, Consulted 6×, Counselors 5×

King James Version Public Domain

Renders H3289 across 79 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Counsellors” 11×
  • “Counsellor” 6×
  • “Consulted” 5×
  • “Took counsel” 5×
  • “Counsel” 3×
  • “Hath purposed” 3×
  • “Counsel give” 2×
  • “He hath taken” 2×

Plus 42 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 H3289 across 79 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Counsellors” 11×
  • “Hath purposed” 4×
  • “Took counsel” 4×
  • “Counsellor” 3×
  • “'s counsellor” 2×
  • “Counsel” 2×
  • “He hath taken” 2×
  • “He took counsel” 2×
  • “Him” 2×
  • “Them” 2×
  • “They had given” 2×

Plus 43 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 H3289 across 73 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Counselor” 9×
  • “Counselors” 9×
  • “Consulted” 3×
  • “Has drawn up” 3×
  • “Advise” 2×
  • “Advise me” 2×
  • “Conspire” 2×
  • “Instead he consulted” 2×

Plus 41 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 5 further occurrences.

unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Renders H3289 across 88 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “And” 7×
  • “Consulted” 6×
  • “Counselors” 5×
  • “He consulted” 5×
  • “Counselor” 3×
  • “Advise” 2×
  • “Advising” 2×
  • “Are” 2×
  • “Counsel” 2×
  • “Counseled” 2×
  • “Do” 2×
  • “Has counseled” 2×

Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 40 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 3 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. 3 ms. יָעַץ Is 7:5 + 11 times; יָעָ֑ץ 14:27 + 2 times; sf. יְעָצָ֑נִי ψ 16:7; יְעָצָהּ Is 23:9 + יְעָצָהוּ Baer 2 Ch 10:8; 3 pl. יָֽעֲצוּ ψ 62:5; sf. יְעָצֻהוּ 1 K 12:8 + 2 times (incl. 2 Ch 10:8, Baer יְעָצָ֑הוּ), etc.; Impf. אִיעֲצָה ψ 32:8 (Ol Che אִיעָֽצְךָ); אִיעָֽצְךָ Ex 18:19; Nu 24:14 (not elsewhere Hex), Je 38:15, cf. also foregoing; אִיעָצֵךְ 1 K 1:12; Pt. act. יוֹעֵץ Is 3:3 + 9 times; cstr. יֹעֵץ Na 1:11, יוֹעֵץ 2 S 15:12; יוֹעֲצֵךְ Mi 4:9; pl. יוֹעֲצִים Jb 12:17 + 3 times; יֹעֲצִים Ez 11:2; cstr. יֹעֲצֵי Is 19:11 + 2 times, etc.; fs. sf. יוֹעַצְתּוֹ 2 Ch 22:3; Pt. pass. f. יְעוּצָה Is 14:26;—advise, counsel, c. acc. Is 32:7, 8; 23:9 (subj. י׳) Mi 6:5; sq. בְּלִיַּ֫עַל Na 1:11 רָעָה Is 7:5 (sq. עַל), 19:12 (sq. id.), 23:8 (sq. id.), Hb 2:10 (sq. לְ); often c. acc. cogn. 2 S 16:23; 17:7 Ez 11:2; sq. אֶל against Je 49:20; 50:45 (in both of י׳); sq. עַל against 49:30 Is 19:17 (of י׳); cf. pass. pt. Is 14:26; c. acc. cogn. + sf. pers. 1 K 12:8, 13 2 Ch 10:8; c. acc. pers. 2 S 17:15 ψ 16:7 Ex 18:19 Nu 24:14 (+ rel. cl.) Je 38:15; abs. (of י׳) Is 14:24 (c. adv. כאשׁר), v 27; of man 2 S 17:15 (כזאת וכזאת), v 21 (ככה + על); sq. inf. ψ 62:5 2 Ch 25:16 (of אלהים); sq. cl. without connective 2 S 17:11; sq. לְלֹא חָכְמָה Jb 26:3;—אִיעֲצָה עליך עיני ψ 32:8 (v. supr.).—Pt. act. as subst. = counsellor, king’s adviser 2 S 15:12; 1 Ch 27:33; 2 Ch 22:4; 25:16; Ezr 7:28; 8:25; Is 19:11; so fem. 2 Ch 22:3; prob. also 1 Ch 27:32 (‖ אִישׁ מֵבִין וְסוֹפֵר); cf. Mi 4:9, also Is 1:26 (‖ שֹׁפְטִים), Jb 12:17 (‖ id.);—in these three, of importance for people; so also Is 3:3; Pr 11:4 = 24:6; cf. Jb 3:14, and particularly פֶּלֶא יוֹעֵץ Is 9:5 wonder of a counsellor, of the ideal ruler predicted. More generally, counsellor, adviser Pr 15:22; יו׳ בְּשֶׂכֶל 1 Ch 26:14 (specific reason for title unknown); יֹעֲ׳ שָׁלוֹם Pr 12:20; = prophet Is 41:28, nearly = agents (hired by adversaries of Judah) Ezr 4:5. e.g. Isaiah 7:5

Niphal

  • (reflex. or recipr.) Pf. נֵוֹעַץ Is 40:14; נוֹעֲצוּ ψ 71:10; 83:6; Impf. וַיִּוָּעַץ 1 K 12:6 + 10 times; יִוָּֽעֲצוּ Is 45:21; וַיִּוָּֽעֲצוּ 2 Ch 30:23; נִוָּֽעֲצָה Ne 6:7; Pt. pl. נוֹעָצִים 1 K 12:6 + 4 times;—consult together, exchange counsel, of king with advisers, sq. אֶת־ 1 K 12:6, 8 = 2 Ch 10:6, 8; and so of י׳ Is 40:14; sq. אֶל־ 2 K 6; 2 Ch 20:21; sq. עִם 1 Ch 13:1; 2 Ch 32:3; abs. consider 1 K 12:28; 2 Ch 25:17; 30:2; cf. 1 K 12:6 (sq. inf.) = 2 Ch 10:6, 1 K 12:9 (sq. Impf. + ו subord.) = 2 Ch 10:9; gen. consult, take counsel, abs. Pr 13:10; יַחְדָּו ψ 71:10; Ne 6:7; Is 45:21; sq. לֵב יַחְדָּו (with heart together) ψ 83:6 nearly = determine, sq. inf. 2 Ch 30:23. e.g. Isaiah 40:14

Hithpael

  • Impf. יִתְיָעֲצוּ ψ 83:4 conspire against, sq. עַל (‖ יַעֲרִימוּ סוֹד על). e.g. Psalms 83:4

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. advise, counsel (only twice in Hex) (Aramaic יְעַט; Arabic وَعَظَ exhort, admonish)—

— 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

Part of speech: Verb TWOT: 887


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.

יָעַץ

  • v. עוּץ, [to press,] to encourage, plan; to advise. Ber. 61ᵃ כליות יוֹעֲצוֹת the kidneys are the seat of deliberation. Ib. אחת יוֹעַצְתּוֹ לטובה וכ׳ one (kidney) urges him to do good etc.—Snh. 76ᵇ היוֹעֶצְךָ וכ׳, v. זָהִיר. Ber. 8ᵇ וכשיוֹעֲצִים אין יועצים וכ׳ and when they (the Medians) hold council, they meet in open air. Snh. 87ᵃ ממך זה יוֹעֵץ ‘hidden from thee’ (Deut. XVII, 8) that means (the need of) a counselor (Sifré Deut. 152 זו עצה). Ḥull. 11ᵃ (expl. לעמת הֶעָצֶה, Lev. III, 9) ממקים שהכליות יועצות from where the deliberating kidneys are seated, v. supra.—Tem. 16ᵃ (play on י̇ע̇ב̇ץ̇, I Chr. IV, 9) שי̇ע̇ץ וריב̇ץ̇ וכ׳ he advised and advanced the study of the Law &c. Snh. 106ᵃ, a. e. בלעם שי׳ Balaam who gave his advice (encouraging the oppression of the Israelites); a. fr.—[Ber. 3ᵇ; Snh. 16ᵃ, v. infra.] e.g. Deuteronomy 17:8
    • , Nithpa. נִתְיָעֵץ to ask advice; to consult with (with ב). Yalk. Ps. 776 מִתְיָעֲצִים באחיתופל (Ber. 3ᵇ; Snh. 16ᵃ יועצין, read: נוֹעָצִין, Nif.) they deliberated with Ah.—Erub. 53ᵇ (in enigmatic speech) נתי׳ במכתיר took counsel of the Nasi (v. כָּתַר). Sifré Num. 157 שהיו מתייעצים על וכ׳ they were planning against Israel; Yalk. Num. 785 מִיָּעֲצִים.

יְעַץ

  • Targ. Prov. XII, 20.
    • same. Meg. 15ᵇ עצה קא מְיַיעֲצֵי עילויה וכ׳ Ms. M. (ed. שקלי) they plan against this man (me).
    • to take counsel. Targ. Jud. XIX, 30.—V. עוּץ.

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 58 distinct written forms H3289 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
וַ/יִּוָּעַ֗ץ Verb, Niphal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 1 Kings 12:8 4
נֽוֹעָצִ֔ים Verb, Niphal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Absolute 1 Kings 12:6 4
יוֹעֵ֣ץ Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 1 Chronicles 26:14 3
אִיעָ֣צְ/ךָ֔ Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular Exodus 18:19 3
יָעַ֥ץ Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 2 Samuel 17:7 3
יָעַץ֙ Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 2 Samuel 16:23 3
וַ/יִּוָּעַ֞ץ Verb, Niphal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 1 Kings 12:6 2
וַ/יִּוָּעַ֣ץ Verb, Niphal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 1 Chronicles 13:1 2
וַ/יִּוָּעַץ֙ Verb, Niphal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 2 Chronicles 20:21 2
יְעָצֻ֑/הוּ Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural 1 Kings 12:8 2
יָעַ֤ץ Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 2 Chronicles 25:16 2
יוֹעֲצִ֣ים Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Job 12:17 2
יוֹעֵֽץ Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Proverbs 11:14 2
אִֽיעֲצָ֖ה Verb, Qal, Cohortative, 1st Person, Common, Singular Psalms 32:8 1
אִיעָצֵ֥/ךְ Verb, Qal, Cohortative, 1st Person, Common, Singular 1 Kings 1:12 1
הַ/יְּעוּצָ֖ה Verb, Qal, Participle Passive, Feminine, Singular, Absolute Isaiah 14:26 1
הַ/לְ/יוֹעֵ֤ץ Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 2 Chronicles 25:16 1
וְ/הַ/יֹּעֲצִ֥ים Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Ezekiel 11:2 1
וְ/יֹ֣עֲצֵי Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Construct Job 3:14 1
וְ/יֹעֲצַ֖יִ/ךְ Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Construct Isaiah 1:26 1
וְ/יֹעֲצָ֣י/ו Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Construct Ezra 8:25 1
וְ/יֽוֹעֲצָ֔י/ו Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Construct Ezra 7:28 1
וְ/יוֹעֵ֛ץ Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Isaiah 3:3 1
וְ/נִֽוָּעֲצָ֖ה Verb, Niphal, Cohortative, 1st Person, Common, Plural Nehemiah 6:7 1
וְ֝/יִתְיָעֲצ֗וּ Verb, Hithpael, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Psalms 83:3 1
וַ/יִּוָּֽעֲצוּ֙ Verb, Niphal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural 2 Chronicles 30:23 1
וַ/יִּוָּעַ֨ץ Verb, Niphal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 2 Chronicles 30:2 1
וּֽ/לְ/יֹעֲצֵ֖י Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Construct Proverbs 12:20 1
יְעָצָ֑/הּ Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Isaiah 23:9 1
יְעָצָ֑/נִי Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Psalms 16:7 1
יְעָצֻֽ/הוּ Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural 1 Kings 12:13 1
יִֽוָּעֲצ֖וּ Verb, Niphal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Isaiah 45:21 1
יָעֲצ֣וּ Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural Psalms 62:4 1
יָעַ֖צְתִּי Verb, Qal, Perfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular Isaiah 14:24 1
יָעַ֗צְתִּי Verb, Qal, Perfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular 2 Samuel 17:11 1
יָעַ֣ץ Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Isaiah 23:8 1
יָעַ֥צְתִּי Verb, Qal, Perfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular 2 Samuel 17:15 1
יָעַ֥צְתָּ Verb, Qal, Perfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular Habakkuk 2:10 1
יָעַ֨ץ Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Jeremiah 49:30 1
יָעָ֑ץ Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Isaiah 32:8 1
יָעָ֔ץ Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Isaiah 32:7 1
יָעָ֖ץ Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Isaiah 14:27 1
יֹעֵ֖ץ Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Construct Nahum 1:11 1
יָּ֭עַצְתָּ Verb, Qal, Perfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular Job 26:3 1
יָּעַ֗ץ Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Micah 6:5 1
יָּעַ֛ץ Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Isaiah 19:12 1
יֽוֹעֲצִ֗ים Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Absolute 2 Chronicles 22:4 1
יֽוֹעַצְתּ֖/וֹ Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Feminine, Singular, Construct 2 Chronicles 22:3 1
יוֹעֲצִ֖ים Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Ezra 4:5 1
יוֹעֲצֵ/ךְ֙ Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Construct Micah 4:9 1
יוֹעֵ֑ץ Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Isaiah 41:28 1
יוֹעֵ֔ץ Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 1 Chronicles 27:32 1
יוֹעֵ֥ץ Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Isaiah 19:17 1
יוֹעֵץ֙ Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Isaiah 9:6 1
נ֖וֹעָצִ֣ים Verb, Niphal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Proverbs 13:10 1
נוֹעֲצ֣וּ Verb, Niphal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural Psalms 83:5 1
נוֹעֲצ֥וּ Verb, Niphal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural Psalms 71:10 1
נוֹעָץ֙ Verb, Niphal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Isaiah 40:14 1

Same root — word family

Other BDB entries built from the same root as H3289, 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 70 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 73 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.

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