עִיר
city
‘city’ 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 Absolute-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.
- Proper
- A name of a specific person, place, or people (e.g. Abraham, Zion, Israel).
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).
Gender
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
27 verses where H5892 appears in the Absolute state in the Book of 2 Samuel. Filtered view — show all forms. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
2 Samuel
- 2 Samuel 10:3 הָ/עִיר֙ ptcl def.art + n c fs But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, Do you think that David honors your father, in that he has sent comforters to you? Hasn't David sent his servants to you to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it?
- 2 Samuel 10:14 הָ/עִ֑יר ptcl def.art + n c fs When the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, they likewise fled before Abishai, and entered into the city. Then Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.
- 2 Samuel 11:16 הָ/עִ֑יר ptcl def.art + n c fs It happened, when Joab kept watch on the city, that he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew that valiant men were.
- 2 Samuel 11:17 הָ/עִיר֙ ptcl def.art + n c fs The men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and there fell some of the people, even of the servants of David; and Uriah the Hittite died also.
- 2 Samuel 11:20 הָ/עִ֖יר ptcl def.art + n c fs it shall be that, if the king's wrath arise, and he tells you, 'Why did you go so near to the city to fight? Didn't you know that they would shoot from the wall?
- 2 Samuel 11:25 הָ/עִ֛יר ptcl def.art + n c fs Then David said to the messenger, Thus shall you tell Joab, Don't let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another; make your battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage you him.
- 2 Samuel 12:1 בְּ/עִ֣יר prep + n c fs Yahweh sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, "There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.
- 2 Samuel 12:28 הָ/עִ֖יר הָ/עִ֔יר ptcl def.art + n c fs ptcl def.art + n c fs Now therefore gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against the city, and take it; lest I take the city, and it be called after my name.
- 2 Samuel 12:30 הָ/עִ֛יר ptcl def.art + n c fs He took the crown of their king from off his head; and the weight of it was a talent of gold, and [in it were] precious stones; and it was set on David's head. He brought forth the spoil of the city, exceeding much.
- 2 Samuel 15:2 עִיר֙ n c fs Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man had a suit which should come to the king for judgment, then Absalom called to him, and said, Of what city are you? He said, Your servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.
- 2 Samuel 15:14 הָ/עִ֖יר ptcl def.art + n c fs David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee; for else none of us shall escape from Absalom: make speed to depart, lest he overtake us quickly, and bring down evil on us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.
- 2 Samuel 15:24 הָ/עִֽיר ptcl def.art + n c fs Behold, Zadok also [came], and all the Levites with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God; and they set down the ark of God; and Abiathar went up, until all the people had done passing out of the city.
- 2 Samuel 15:25 הָ/עִ֑יר ptcl def.art + n c fs The king said to Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find favor in the eyes of Yahweh, he will bring me again, and show me both it, and his habitation:
- 2 Samuel 15:27 הָ/עִ֖יר ptcl def.art + n c fs The king said also to Zadok the priest, "Aren't you a seer? Return into the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar.
- 2 Samuel 15:34 הָ/עִ֣יר ptcl def.art + n c fs but if you return to the city, and tell Absalom, I will be your servant, O king; as I have been your father's servant in time past, so will I now be your servant; then will you defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel.
- 2 Samuel 15:37 הָ/עִ֑יר ptcl def.art + n c fs So Hushai, David's friend, came into the city; and Absalom came into Jerusalem.
- 2 Samuel 17:13 עִיר֙ הָ/עִ֥יר n c fs ptcl def.art + n c fs Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there not be one small stone found there.
- 2 Samuel 17:17 הָ/עִֽירָ/ה ptcl def.art + n c fs + sfx dem Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying by En Rogel; and a maid-servant used to go and tell them; and they went and told king David: for they might not be seen to come into the city.
- 2 Samuel 18:3 מֵ/עִ֖יר prep + n c fs But the people said, You shall not go forth: for if we flee away, they will not care for us; neither if half of us die, will they care for us: but you are worth ten thousand of us; therefore now it is better that you are ready to help us out of the city.
- 2 Samuel 19:3 הָ/עִ֑יר ptcl def.art + n c fs The people got them by stealth that day into the city, as people who are ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.
- 2 Samuel 20:6 עָרִ֥ים n c fp David said to Abishai, Now will Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than did Absalom: take your lord's servants, and pursue after him, lest he get him fortified cities, and escape out of our sight.
- 2 Samuel 20:15 הָ/עִ֔יר ptcl def.art + n c fs They came and besieged him in Abel of Beth Maacah, and they cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart; and all the people who were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down.
- 2 Samuel 20:16 הָ/עִ֑יר ptcl def.art + n c fs Then cried a wise woman out of the city, "Hear, hear! Please say to Joab, 'Come near here, that I may speak with you.'"
- 2 Samuel 20:19 עִ֤יר n c fs I am of those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel: you seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel: why will you swallow up the inheritance of Yahweh?
- 2 Samuel 20:21 הָ/עִ֑יר ptcl def.art + n c fs The matter is not so: but a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, has lifted up his hand against the king, even against David; deliver him only, and I will depart from the city. The woman said to Joab, Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall.
- 2 Samuel 20:22 הָ/עִ֖יר ptcl def.art + n c fs Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom. They cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and threw it out to Joab. He blew the trumpet, and they were dispersed from the city, every man to his tent. Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.
- 2 Samuel 24:5 הָ/עִ֛יר ptcl def.art + n c fs They passed over the Jordan, and encamped in Aroer, on the right side of the city that is in the middle of the valley of Gad, and to Jazer:
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.
The Hebrew noun עיר centers on the idea of “city.” Its earliest occurrence is Genesis 4:17. It turns up in 936 verses across 37 books, one of the most common footprint. The lexicon spreads it across several senses; see its full sense range. It shares a root with עור, עיר and עיר. For the data behind this summary, explore the sense tree and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H5892 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 →
- 936
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 936 distinct verses.
- 37 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 37 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #35
- by frequency
- Top 50 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 35 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 936 occurrences in the concordance →
Most concentrated in
- Joshua 128 verses 14%
- Jeremiah 118 verses 13%
- 2 Chronicles 74 verses 8%
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 936 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 602 verses · 64%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 191 verses · 20%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 143 verses · 15%
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).
BDB lists this Strong’s number as 4 distinct words (homographs). Each count above pools all of them and is not split by sense — see the Senses section below. A low-frequency rendering may belong to a different one of those words, not the primary meaning.
- King James Version†: City 554×, Cities 316×, All the cities 34×
- American Standard Version†: City 504×, Cities 294×, All the cities 32×
- Berean Standard Bible†: City 567×, Cities 332×, Towns 20×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text†: City 486×, Cities 246×, Cities of 115×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H5892 across 1,081† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 100 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 8 further occurrences.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H5892 across 1,079† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 157 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 H5892 across 1,034† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 56 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 58 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H5892 across 1,092† 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.
12 senses and sub-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 12 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.
עיר I [m.] agitation
עיר II
- 1. city, town, abode of men Gn 4:17 (J) and often; גְּדֹלָה 10:12 (J), +, or קְטַנָּה Ec 9:14 (cf. Gn 19:20); especially e.g. Genesis 4:17
- a. fortified: עָרִים בְּצֻרוֹת 2 S 20:6 +, etc., v. בָּצַר, מִבְצָר; עִיר מִבְצַר־צֹר Jos 19:29 (P) fortified city (of) Tyre, ע׳ מָצוֹר ψ 31:22 +, etc., v. מָצוֹר, מְצוּרָה sub צוּר (Mi 7:12 v. מָצוֹר p. 596 a); ע׳ עָז־לָנוּ Is 26:1, עָרֵי מָעוּזּוֹ 17:9; ע׳ דְּלָתַים וּבְרִיחַ 1 S 23:7; ע׳ חוֹמָה Lv 25:29, cf. v 30 (P), 1 K 4:13; on Ho 10:14 v. i. עַם 2 b (1 S 9:14 read הַשַּׁעַר 𝔊 We Dr al.). e.g. 2 Samuel 20:6
- b. opp. כֹּפֶר הַפְּרָוִי 1 S 6:18, עָרֵי הַפּ׳ Dt 3:5, ע׳ הַפְּרָזוֹת Est 9:19; disting. from dependencies חֲצֵרִים Jos 13:23 + often P e.g. 1 Samuel 6:18
- c. עָרֶיהָ are dependent towns Jos 13:17 (P), Je 19:15. e.g. Joshua 13:17
- d. עָרֵי הַמַּמְלָכָה Jos 10:2 (JE) royal cities (i.e. with a king, cf. Tel Am. al šarri;), so sg. 1 S 27:5, opp. עָרֵי הַשָּׂדֶה v 5 rural towns; ע׳ הַמְּלוּכָה 2 S 12:26 (but read ע׳ הַמַּיִם We Bu Kit Löhr HPS, v. 2 infr.). e.g. Joshua 10:2
- e. עָרֵי מִסְכְּנוֹת Ex 1:11 storage-cities, so 1 K 9:19 = 2 Ch 8:6; 2 Ch 8:4; 17:12; for מ׳ ע׳ נַפְתָּלִי 16:4 read prob. כִּנְרוֹת עַל־וגו׳ (as 1 K 15:20; Be Kit Buhl); cf. ע׳ הָרֶכֶב 1 K 9:19; 10:26 = 2 Ch 8:6; 9:25; 2 Ch 1:14; ע׳ הַפָּרָשִׁים 1 K 9:19 = 2 Ch 8:6. e.g. Exodus 1:11
- f. ע׳ (הַ)מִקְלָט (P) asylum-cities Nu 35:11, 13, 14; Jos 20:2, cf. Nu 35:25, 26, 27, 28, 32, ע׳ לְמִקְלָט v 12; ע׳ מִקְלַט הָרֹצֵחַ Jos 21:13 + 4 times 21. e.g. Numbers 35:11
- g. ע׳ (הָ)אֱלֹהִים = Jerus.: ψ 46:5; 87:3, cf. 48:2, 9; ע׳ י׳ Is 60:14 ψ 101:8; ע׳ י׳ צְבָאוֹת 48:9. e.g. Psalms 46:5
- h. city = inhabitants 1 S 4:13; 5:12; Is 22:2 Ru 1:19, so 2 S 20:22 (reading הָעִיר for MT הָעָם) 𝔊 We Dr al. (cf. also foll.). e.g. 1 Samuel 4:13
- i. combinations are: ע׳ רֹכְלִים Ez 17:4 city of merchants; ע׳ מוֹשָׁב ψ 107:4, 7, 36 city for dwelling; especially of character or condition: †ע׳ הַצֶּדֶק Is 1:26, †ע׳ הָאֱמֶת Zc 8:3; †ע׳ הַקֹּדֶשׁ Is 48:2; 52:1 Ne 11:1, 18, cf. Dn 9:24, all of Jerus.; עָרֵי קָדְשֶׁ֑ךָ Je 5:17 of Judaean cities; of foreign cities, ע׳ תְּהִלָּה Je 49:25, הַהֻלָּלָה הָע׳ Ez 26:17, הָע׳ הָעַלִּיזָה Zp 2:15; of Jerus. also הָע׳ הַיּוֹנָה Zp 3:1 oppressive city, ע׳ (הַ)דָּמִים bloody city Ez 22:2; 24:6, 9 and (of Nineveh) Na 3:1. e.g. Ezekiel 17:4
- 2. of fortress in a city especially עִיר דָּוִד 2 S 5:7, 9; 6:10 + often (v. דָּוִד); ע׳ בֵּית הַבָּ֑עַל 2 K 10:25 (crpt.; Klo proposes דְּבִיר for ע׳, cf. Kmp Benz Kit); ע׳ הַמַּיִם 2 S 12:27 (so read also v 26, see 1 d). e.g. 2 Samuel 5:7
- 3. appar. fortified place, of any size, בְּכָל־עָרֵיהֶם מִמִּגְדַּל נוֹצְרִים עַד־ עִיר מִבְצָר 2 K 17:9 = 18:8; cf. Nu 13:9 (P; but on comp. of ver. see Di); perhaps also ע׳ עֲמָלֵק 1 S 15:5 (HPS).—Ho 7:4 v. I. עור Hiph. e.g. 2 Kings 17:9
עיר III m. in בְּנֵי ע׳ 1 Ch 7
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
I. n.[m.] agitation;—of terror, ע׳ וּבֶהָלוֹת Je 15:8; of rage (si vera l.), לֹא אָבוֹא בְּעִיר Ho 11:9, but St proposes לְבָעֵר cf. We Oort Now GASm.—בָּעִיר ψ 73:20 v. עור Hiph.—ii, iii. עִיר v. p. 746 infr.
III. n.f. Gn 10:12 (AlbrechtZAW xvi. 49 f.) city, town (√ unkn.; NH id.;? Ph. ער Lzb345; Sab. ער fortified height (cf. 3) PräZMG xxvi (1872), 437, ערן, עהרן city CISiv. pp. 94, 95, 173);—ע׳ abs. Gn 4:17 +, cstr. 24:10 +; הָעִ֫ירָה 1 K 14:12 + 7 times; sf. עִירִי 2 S 19:38 + 2 times, etc.; pl. עָרִים Is 6:11 +, עֲיָרִים Ju 10:4 (textual error, or word-play, cf. GFM); cstr. עָרֵי Gn 19:29 +; sf. עָרַי Zc 1:17, עָרֵיכֶם Is 1:7 +, etc.;—
IV. n.pr.m. in בְּנֵי ע׳ 1 Ch 7:12, text dub., v. Be Kau.
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from עור (ʻûwr) (H5782) — to awake.
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.
עֲיָירוֹת
- , pl. of עִיר.
*עַיִר
- (= h. עַיִר; v. עוּר; cmp. נַעַר) foal. Targ. Zech. IX, 9.—Pl. עַיְרִין. Targ. Jud. X, 4; v. עִיל.
עִיר I
- (עוּר) guardian, angel. Midr. Till. to Ps. CXVIII, 8 ולא ירד עמו לא ע׳ ולא שרף וכ׳ ed. Bub. (oth. ed. לא ע׳ ולא קדיש, borrowed from Dan. IV, 10) nor went down with him (Abraham) a guardian, or Seraph, or angel. Ib. to Ps. 1 (play on עיר, Gen. XI, 4) ואין ע׳ אלא אלוה ʿir means a deity (ref. to Dan. l. c.).—Pl. עִירִין. Pes. 33ᵃ (quot. fr. Dan. IV, 14) בגזירת ע׳ וכ׳ by the decree of the guardians (scholars) the word (is established) &c., i.e. they have so decided at college.—[עִיר awake, v. עוּר ch.] e.g. Daniel 4:10
עִיר II
- [watch-tower, fort,] town, city. B. Kam. 80ᵇ הלוקח ע׳ בארץ וכ׳ he who buys a township in Palestine, is bound by law to buy also the accesses to it on four sides. Snh. 17ᵇ כל ע׳ שאין בה עשרה וכ׳ in a town in which there are not the following ten things (institutions), a scholar is not permitted to live. Snh. I, 6 וכמה יהא בע׳ וכ׳ and how large must the population of a town be, to be fit as a seat for a Sanhedrin? Yoma 20ᵇ הָעִ׳ (Ms. M. רומי) the City of Rome; Pes. 119ᵃ בָּעִ׳ (Ms. M. ברומי) in Rome; a. v. fr.—Pl. עָרִים, עֲיָירוֹת. Tosef. Macc. III (II), 1; Macc. 9ᵇ שלש ע׳ הבדיל וכ׳ Moses set apart three towns (of refuge). Ib. II, 4, a. fr. עָרֵי מקלט, v. מִקְלָט. Meg. I, 1, sq.; a. fr.
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 276 distinct written forms H5892 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.
The 60 most common forms are shown; 216 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H5892, 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
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
- עירא ʻÎyrâʼ H5896 Ira
- ער ʻÊr H6147 Er
- ערי ʻÊrîy H6179 Eri
- ערן ʻÊrân H6197 Eran
- עיר ʻÎyr H5893 Ir
- עיר המלח ʻÎyr ham-Melach H5898 Ir-hammelech
- עיר התמרים ʻÎyr hat-Tᵉmârîym H5899 the city of palmtrees
- עירו ʻÎyrûw H5900 Iru
- עירי ʻÎyrîy H5901 Iri
- עירם ʻÎyrâm H5902 Iram
- עיר נחש ʻÎyr Nâchâsh H5904 Ir-nahash
- עיר שמש ʻÎyr Shemesh H5905 Ir-shemesh
- ער ʻÂr H6144 Ar
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 18 — not the complete family. 13 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 879 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 936 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 4:17
- Exodus 1:11
- Leviticus 14:40
- Numbers 13:19
- Deuteronomy 1:22
- Joshua 3:16
- Judges 1:8
- Ruth 1:19
- 1 Samuel 1:3
- 2 Samuel 2:1
- 1 Kings 2:10
- 2 Kings 2:19
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.
