מַחֲשָׁבָה
thought
‘thought’ is one of 4 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Construct-state word in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
Noun type
- Common
- A common noun — a general class of person, place, or thing (“king,” “city,” “water”), not a specific name.
State
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
Gender
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
Number
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
- Singular
- One.
Grammatical forms
- Noun, Common, Feminine, Plural, Construct 35 times (63%)
- Noun, Common, Feminine, Plural, Absolute 12 times (21%)
- Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Construct 5 times (9%)
- Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Absolute 4 times (7%)
Parsed forms decoded from the imported morphology (morphhb / Westminster Leningrad Codex — WLC text public domain, morphhb tagging CC BY 4.0), counted across 56 parsed occurrences — not distinct verses.
Every verse where H4284 appears — 52 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
Exodus 4 verses
- Exodus 31:4 מַחֲשָׁבֹ֑ת n c fp to devise skillful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,
- Exodus 35:32 מַֽחַשָׁבֹ֑ת n c fp and to make skillful works, to work in gold, in silver, in brass,
- Exodus 35:33 מַחֲשָֽׁבֶת n c fs in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all kinds of skillful workmanship.
- Exodus 35:35 מַחֲשָׁבֹֽת n c fp He has filled them with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of workmanship, of the engraver, of the skillful workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of those who do any workmanship, and of those who make skillful works.
2 Samuel 1 verse
1 Chronicles 2 verses
- 1 Chronicles 28:9 מַחֲשָׁב֖וֹת n c fp You, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for Yahweh searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts: if you seek him, he will be found of you; but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.
- 1 Chronicles 29:18 מַחְשְׁב֖וֹת n c fp cs Yahweh, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of your people, and prepare their heart to you;
2 Chronicles 2 verses
- 2 Chronicles 2:14 מַחֲשָׁ֑בֶת n c fs the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan; and his father was a man of Tyre, skillful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson, also to engrave any manner of engraving, and to devise any device; that there may be [a place] appointed to him with your skillful men, and with the skillful men of my lord David your father.
- 2 Chronicles 26:15 מַחֲשֶׁ֣בֶת n c fs cs He made in Jerusalem engines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and on the battlements, with which to shoot arrows and great stones. His name spread far abroad; for he was marvelously helped, until he was strong.
Esther 3 verses
- Esther 8:3 מַֽחֲשַׁבְתּ֔/וֹ n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms Esther spoke yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and begged him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews.
- Esther 8:5 מַחֲשֶׁ֜בֶת n c fs cs She said, If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the king's provinces:
- Esther 9:25 מַחֲשַׁבְתּ֧/וֹ n c fs cs + sfx pers 3ms but when [the matter] came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he had devised against the Jews, should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.
Job 2 verses
Psalms 6 verses
- Psalms 33:10 מַחְשְׁב֥וֹת n c fp cs Yahweh brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He makes the thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect.
- Psalms 33:11 מַחְשְׁב֥וֹת n c fp cs The counsel of Yahweh stands fast forever, The thoughts of his heart to all generations.
- Psalms 40:5 וּ/מַחְשְׁבֹתֶ֗י/ךָ conj + n c fp cs + sfx pers 2ms Many, Yahweh, my God, are the wonderful works which you have done, And your thoughts which are toward us. They can't be set in order to you; If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
- Psalms 56:5 מַחְשְׁבֹתָ֣/ם n c fp cs + sfx pers 3mp All day long they twist my words. All their thoughts are against me for evil.
- Psalms 92:5 מַחְשְׁבֹתֶֽי/ךָ n c fp cs + sfx pers 2ms How great are your works, Yahweh! Your thoughts are very deep.
- Psalms 94:11 מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת n c fp cs Yahweh knows the thoughts of man, That they are futile.
Proverbs 8 verses
- Proverbs 6:18 מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת n c fp cs A heart that devises wicked schemes, Feet that are swift in running to mischief,
- Proverbs 12:5 מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת n c fp cs The thoughts of the righteous are just, But the advice of the wicked is deceitful.
- Proverbs 15:22 מַ֭חֲשָׁבוֹת n c fp Where there is no counsel, plans fail; But in a multitude of counselors they are established.
- Proverbs 15:26 מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת n c fp cs Yahweh detests the thoughts of the wicked, But the thoughts of the pure are pleasing.
- Proverbs 16:3 מַחְשְׁבֹתֶֽי/ךָ n c fp cs + sfx pers 2ms Commit your deeds to Yahweh, And your plans shall succeed.
- Proverbs 19:21 מַחֲשָׁב֣וֹת n c fp There are many plans in a man's heart, But Yahweh's counsel will prevail.
- Proverbs 20:18 מַ֭חֲשָׁבוֹת n c fp Plans are established by advice; By wise guidance you wage war!
- Proverbs 21:5 מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת n c fp cs The plans of the diligent surely lead to profit; And everyone who is hasty surely rushes to poverty.
Isaiah 6 verses
- Isaiah 55:7 מַחְשְׁבֹתָ֑י/ו n c fp cs + sfx pers 3ms let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
- Isaiah 55:8 מַחְשְׁבוֹתַ/י֙ מַחְשְׁב֣וֹתֵי/כֶ֔ם n c fp cs + sfx pers 1cs n c fp cs + sfx pers 2mp For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says Yahweh.
- Isaiah 55:9 וּ/מַחְשְׁבֹתַ֖/י מִ/מַּחְשְׁבֹתֵי/כֶֽם conj + n c fp cs + sfx pers 1cs prep + n c fp cs + sfx pers 2mp For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
- Isaiah 59:7 מַחְשְׁבֽוֹתֵי/הֶם֙ מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת n c fp cs + sfx pers 3mp n c fp cs Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their paths.
- Isaiah 65:2 מַחְשְׁבֹתֵי/הֶֽם n c fp cs + sfx pers 3mp I have spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts;
- Isaiah 66:18 וּ/מַחְשְׁבֹ֣תֵי/הֶ֔ם conj + n c fp cs + sfx pers 3mp For I [know] their works and their thoughts: [the time] comes, that I will gather all nations and languages; and they shall come, and shall see my glory.
Jeremiah 11 verses
- Jeremiah 4:14 מַחְשְׁב֥וֹת n c fp cs Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?
- Jeremiah 6:19 מַחְשְׁבוֹתָ֑/ם n c fp cs + sfx pers 3mp Hear, earth: behold, I will bring evil on this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not listened to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it.
- Jeremiah 11:19 מַחֲשָׁב֗וֹת n c fp But I was like a gentle lamb that is led to the slaughter; and I didn't know that they had devised devices against me, [saying], Let us destroy the tree with the fruit of it, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered.
- Jeremiah 18:11 מַֽחֲשָׁבָ֑ה n c fs Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return you now everyone from his evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.
- Jeremiah 18:12 מַחְשְׁבוֹתֵ֨י/נוּ֙ n c fp cs + sfx pers 1cp But they say, It is in vain; for we will walk after our own devices, and we will do everyone after the stubbornness of his evil heart.
- Jeremiah 18:18 מַחֲשָׁבוֹת֒ n c fp Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
- Jeremiah 29:11 הַ/מַּחֲשָׁבֹ֗ת מַחְשְׁב֤וֹת ptcl def.art + n c fp n c fp cs For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says Yahweh, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope in your latter end.
- Jeremiah 49:20 וּ/מַ֨חְשְׁבוֹתָ֔י/ו conj + n c fp cs + sfx pers 3ms Therefore hear the counsel of Yahweh, that he has taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely they shall drag them away, [even] the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them.
- Jeremiah 49:30 מַחֲשָׁבָֽה n c fs Flee you, wander far off, dwell in the depths, you inhabitants of Hazor, says Yahweh; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you, and has conceived a purpose against you.
- Jeremiah 50:45 וּ/מַ֨חְשְׁבוֹתָ֔י/ו conj + n c fp cs + sfx pers 3ms Therefore hear the counsel of Yahweh, that he has taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely they shall drag them away, [even] the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them.
- Jeremiah 51:29 מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת n c fp cs The land trembles and is in pain; for the purposes of Yahweh against Babylon do stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.
Lamentations 2 verses
Ezekiel 1 verse
Daniel 2 verses
- Daniel 11:24 מַחְשְׁבֹתָ֖י/ו n c fp cs + sfx pers 3ms In time of security shall he come even on the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them prey, and spoil, and substance: yes, he shall devise his devices against the strongholds, even for a time.
- Daniel 11:25 מַחֲשָׁבֽוֹת n c fp He shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall war in battle with an exceeding great and mighty army; but he shall not stand; for they shall devise devices against him.
Micah 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.
מחשבה (machăshâbâh) is a Hebrew noun most often rendered “thought.” It is not a single-sense word — see its full sense range. The Hebrew Bible uses it across 52 verses — moderately common. Debuting at Genesis 6:5, it then recurs through the corpus. Related forms include חשב, חשב and חשב. The sections below give every sense, occurrence, and version rendering.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H4284 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.
- 15 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 15 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #678
- by frequency
- Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 678 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 52 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 52 distinct verses.
- Writings (Ketuvim) 27 verses · 52%
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 20 verses · 38%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 5 verses · 10%
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: Thoughts 22×, Devices 7×, Device 3×
- American Standard Version: Thoughts 20×, Purposes 6×, Devices 5×
- Berean Standard Bible: Thoughts 13×, Plans 8×, Artistic 3×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Thoughts 14×, Plans 9×, Plans of 6×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H4284 across 56 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 17 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 H4284 across 56 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 17 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 H4284 across 52 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 4 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H4284 across 51 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.
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 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.
- 1. thought:
- a. of man מ׳ אדם ψ 94:11; מ׳ לֵב ψ 33:11 thoughts of the mind; (כל) יצר מ׳ (לב) Gn 6:5 (J), 1 Ch 28:9; 29:18. e.g. Psalms 94:11
- b. of God מ׳ יהוה Mi 4:12; c. אֶל־ ψ 40:6; עַל־ Je 51:29; the thoughts of God are exceeding deep ψ 92:6; higher than man’s thoughts Is 55:8(×2), 9(×2). e.g. Micah 4:12
- 2. device, plan, purpose Is 55:7; 59:7; 65:2; 66:18 Je 6:19; 18:12 ψ 56:6 Pr 19:21 Jb 21:27 La 3:60, 61 Est 8:5; מ׳ חָרוּץ Pr 21:5; מ׳ עֲרוּמִים Jb 5:12; מ׳ צדיקים Pr 12:5; מ׳ עמים ψ 33:10; מ׳ און Is 59:7 Je 4:14 Pr 6:18; מ׳ רע Pr 15:26; מ׳ שָׁלוֹם Je 21:11; חשׁב מ׳ devise devices 2 S 14:14 Je 11:19; 18:11, 18; 29:11; 49:20, 30; 50:45 Ez 38:10 Dn 11:24, 25 Est 8:3; 9:25; מ׳ as subj. of נָכוֹן be established Pr 16:3; 20:18; הפר מ׳ break plans Pr 15:22. e.g. Isaiah 55:7
- 3. invention Ex 31:4; 35:32, 33, 35 (all P), 2 Ch 2:13; 26:15 (v. חָשַׁב I 5). e.g. Exodus 31:4
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
n.f. thought, device (chiefly poet. and late)—abs. מ׳ Je 18:11; 49:30; מַחֲשֶׁ֫בֶת Ez 38:10; מַחֲשָׁ֑בֶת Ex 35:33 2 Ch 2:13; cstr. מַחֲשֶׁ֫בֶת Est 8:5 2 Ch 26:15; sf. מַחֲשַׁבְתּוֹ Est 8:3; 9:25; pl. מַחֲשָׁבוֹת Je 11:19 + 7 times; מַחֲשָׁבֹת Ex 31:4 + 3 times; cstr. מַחְשְׁבוֹת Is 59:7 + 13 times; מַחְשְׁבֹת Gn 6:5; sf. מַחְשְׁבוֹתַי Is 55:8 etc. + 19 times sfs.;—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from חשב (châshab) (H2803) — to think.
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.
מַחֲשָׁבָה
- 1. thought, plan. Ber. 61ᵃ בתחלה עלה במ׳ וכ׳ it was the original plan to create &c.—Kidd. 40ᵃ מ׳ שעושה פרי an intention which bears fruit (is carried out). Ib. מ׳ טובה מצרפה וכ׳ the merit of a good intention does the Lord (in rewarding) add to that of a good deed; Y. Peah I, 16ᵇ top; a. fr.
- 2. troubled mind, care, apprehension. Snh. 26ᵇ מ׳ מועלת וכ׳ trouble (about sustenance) affects the memory even for the words of the Law (makes one forget one’s learning).—Pl. מַחֲשָׁבוֹת. Ib. 19ᵇ, v. בַּצַל. Ib. 26ᵇ (ref. to Ps. XI, 3) אילו מַחְשְׁבוֹתָיו וכ׳ if this wicked man’s plans be not frustrated, what will the righteous man do? e.g. Psalms 11:3
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 42 distinct written forms H4284 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’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 H4284, 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.
Derives from
Shares the same root
- חשב chăshab H2804 to think
- חשב chêsheb H2805 girdle
- חשבון cheshbôwn H2808 reckoning
- חשבון chishshâbôwn H2810 device
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.
- חשבדנה Chashbaddânâh H2806 Hashbadana
- חשבה Chăshubâh H2807 Hashubah
- חשביה Chăshabyâh H2811 Hashabiah
- חשוב Chashshûwb H2815 Hashub
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 11 — not the complete family. 4 of the same-root words are proper names (people or places). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 48 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 6:5
- Exodus 31:4
- 2 Samuel 14:14
- 1 Chronicles 28:9
- 2 Chronicles 2:14
- Esther 8:3
- Job 5:12
- Psalms 33:10
- Proverbs 6:18
- Isaiah 55:7
- Jeremiah 4:14
- Lamentations 3:60
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.
