צְבִי
beauty
also: glory, honour 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.
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
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
- Both
- Attested as both masculine and feminine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
Grammatical forms
- Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 12 times (38%)
- Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute 10 times (31%)
- Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct 6 times (19%)
- Noun, Common, Both, Plural, Absolute 4 times (13%)
Parsed forms decoded from the imported morphology (morphhb / Westminster Leningrad Codex — WLC text public domain, morphhb tagging CC BY 4.0), counted across 32 parsed occurrences — not distinct verses.
Every verse where H6643 appears — 32 distinct verses across 10 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.
Deuteronomy 4 verses
- Deuteronomy 12:15 כַּ/צְּבִ֖י prep det + n c bs Notwithstanding, you may kill and eat flesh within all your gates, after all the desire of your soul, according to the blessing of Yahweh your God which he has given you: the unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle, and as of the hart.
- Deuteronomy 12:22 הַ/צְּבִי֙ ptcl def.art + n c bs Even as the gazelle and as the hart is eaten, so you shall eat of it: the unclean and the clean may eat of it alike.
- Deuteronomy 14:5 וּ/צְבִ֖י conj + n c bs the hart, and the gazelle, and the roebuck, and the wild goat, and the ibex, and the antelope, and the chamois.
- Deuteronomy 15:22 כַּ/צְּבִ֖י prep det + n c bs You shall eat it within your gates: the unclean and the clean [shall eat it] alike, as the gazelle, and as the hart.
2 Samuel 2 verses
1 Kings 1 verse
1 Chronicles 1 verse
Proverbs 1 verse
Song of Solomon 5 verses
- Song of Solomon 2:7 בִּ/צְבָא֔וֹת prep + n c bp I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, By the roes, or by the hinds of the field, That you not stir up, nor awaken love, Until it so desires.
- Song of Solomon 2:9 לִ/צְבִ֔י prep + n c bs My beloved is like a roe or a young hart. Behold, he stands behind our wall! He looks in at the windows. He glances through the lattice.
- Song of Solomon 2:17 לִ/צְבִ֗י prep + n c bs Until the day is cool, and the shadows flee away, Turn, my beloved, And be like a roe or a young hart on the mountains of Bether.
- Song of Solomon 3:5 בִּ/צְבָא֔וֹת prep + n c bp I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, By the roes, or by the hinds of the field, That you not stir up, nor awaken love, Until it so desires.
- Song of Solomon 8:14 לִ/צְבִי֙ prep + n c bs Come away, my beloved! Be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices!
Isaiah 8 verses
- Isaiah 4:2 לִ/צְבִ֖י prep + n c ms In that day, Yahweh's branch will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the beauty and glory of the survivors of Israel.
- Isaiah 13:14 כִּ/צְבִ֣י prep + n c bs It shall happen, that as the chased roe, and as sheep that no man gathers, they shall turn every man to his own people, and shall flee every man to his own land.
- Isaiah 13:19 צְבִ֣י n c ms cs Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
- Isaiah 23:9 צְבִ֔י n c ms Yahweh of hosts has purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth.
- Isaiah 24:16 צְבִ֣י n c ms From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs: Glory to the righteous. But I said, I pine away, I pine away, woe is me! the treacherous have dealt treacherously; yes, the treacherous have dealt very treacherously.
- Isaiah 28:1 צְבִ֣י n c ms cs Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley of those who are overcome with wine!
- Isaiah 28:4 צְבִ֣י n c ms cs and the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be as the first-ripe fig before the summer; which when he who looks on it sees, while it is yet in his hand he eats it up.
- Isaiah 28:5 צְבִ֔י n c ms In that day will Yahweh of Hosts become a crown of glory, and a diadem of beauty, to the residue of his people;
Jeremiah 1 verse
Ezekiel 5 verses
- Ezekiel 7:20 וּ/צְבִ֤י conj + n c ms cs As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty; but they made the images of their abominations [and] their detestable things therein: therefore have I made it to them as an unclean thing.
- Ezekiel 20:6 צְבִ֥י n c ms in that day I swore to them, to bring them forth out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands.
- Ezekiel 20:15 צְבִ֥י n c ms Moreover also I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;
- Ezekiel 25:9 צְבִ֗י n c ms cs therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory of the country, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kiriathaim,
- Ezekiel 26:20 צְבִ֖י n c ms then will I bring you down with those who descend into the pit, to the people of old time, and will make you to dwell in the lower parts of the earth, in the places that are desolate of old, with those who go down to the pit, that you be not inhabited; and I will set glory in the land of the living:
Daniel 4 verses
- Daniel 8:9 הַ/צֶּֽבִי ptcl def.art + n c ms Out of one of them came forth a little horn, which grew exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the glorious [land].
- Daniel 11:16 הַ/צְּבִ֖י ptcl def.art + n c ms But he who comes against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him; and he shall stand in the glorious land, and in his hand shall be destruction.
- Daniel 11:41 הַ/צְּבִ֔י ptcl def.art + n c ms He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many [countries] shall be overthrown; but these shall be delivered out of his hand: Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.
- Daniel 11:45 צְבִי n c ms cs He shall plant the tents of his palace between the sea and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
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 צבי centers on the idea of “beauty.” Older and newer Bibles part ways — “glorious” in the King James Version, “gazelle” (Berean Standard Bible) in modern versions. See the renderings breakdown. It appears 32 verses across 10 books of the Hebrew Bible, among its moderately common vocabulary. The word gravitates to Isaiah (25%), then Song of Solomon and Ezekiel. Beyond “beauty” it also covers “glory” and “honour” — see its full sense range. 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 H6643 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 →
- 32
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 32 distinct verses.
- 10 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 10 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #1,086
- by frequency
- Top 2500 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 1,086 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 32 occurrences in the concordance →
Most concentrated in
- Isaiah 8 verses 25%
- Song of Solomon 5 verses 16%
- Ezekiel 5 verses 16%
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 32 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 17 verses · 53%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 11 verses · 34%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 4 verses · 13%
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†: Glorious 5×, Glory 5×, Roe 5×
- American Standard Version†: Glory 6×, Glorious 4×, Roe 4×
- Berean Standard Bible†: Gazelle 8×, Beautiful 6×, Glory 6×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text†: Gazelle 9×, Splendor 5×, Beautiful 3×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H6643 across 32† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 7 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 H6643 across 32† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 10 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 H6643 across 33† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 9 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 H6643 across 33† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 9 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
20 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.
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 20 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.
צבי I wage war, serve (Sab. צֿבא wage war with, also n. army, campaign HomChrest. 125 CIS iv. 299, 1. 2 DHM VOJ i. 28
Qal
- Pf. 3 mpl. צָֽבְאוּ Ex 38:8 Zc 14:12; Impf. 3 mpl. יִצְבְּאוּ Nu 31:7; Inf. cstr. לִצְבֹּא Is 31:4; לִצְבֹא Nu 4:23; 8:24; Pt. pl. צֹבְאִים Nu 31:42; Is 29:7, 8; sf. צֹבֶיהָ Is 29:7 (Ges§ 75 oo; Di צָרֶיהָ); fpl. צֹבְאֹת Ex 38:8; צֹבְאוֹת 1 S 2:22;— e.g. Exodus 38:8
- 1. wage war, fight, c. עַל against, Nu 31:7 (P) Is 29:7, 8; 31:4; Zc 14:12, c. sf. Is 29:7 (?); abs. Nu 31:42 (P). e.g. Numbers 31:7
- 2. serve at sacred tent, Levites, c. acc. צָבָא Nu 4:23; 8:24 (P); women Ex 38:8(×2) (P) 1 S 2:22. e.g. Numbers 4:23
Hiphil
- Pt. הַמַּצְבִּא אֶת־עַם וגו׳ 2 K 25:19 = Je 52:25 muster. e.g. 2 Kings 25:19
צבי II
- 1. army, host:
- a. organized for war Ju 8:6; 9:29 (J) Is 34:2; Je 51:3; 2 Ch 28:9; צְבָאוֹ his host Nu 2:4, 6 + 10 times 2 (P), לְצִבְאֹתָם 1:3, 52; 2:3, 9 + 11 times 2, 10, 33:1 (P); אַלְפֵי הצ׳ 31:48 (P); צ׳ ישׂראל 2 Ch 25:7; חֵיל (ה)צ׳ 1 Ch 20:1; 2 Ch 26:13; גְּדוּדֵי צ׳ 1 Ch 7:4; כל־הצבא 2 S 3:23; 10:7; 1 Ch 19:8; 2 Ch 26:14; שַׂר (ה)צ׳ captain of (the) host Gn 21:22, 32 (E) 26:26 (J) Ju 4:2, 7; 1 S 12:9 + 21 times; שָׂרֵי (ה)צבא 1 K 1:25 (but read שַׂר), 1 Ch 25:1; 26:26; 2 Ch 33:11; שָׂרִים בצ׳ 1 Ch 12:22; שָׂרֵי (ה)צבאות Dt 20:9; 1 K 2:5; 1 Ch 27:3; רָאשֵׁי הצ׳ 1 Ch 12:14; מַלְכֵי צבאות ψ 68:13; עַל (ה)צ׳ over the host (as captain) Nu 10:14, 15 + 10 times Nu 10 (P), 2 S 8:16 = 1 Ch 18:15; 2 S 17:25; 1 K 2:35; 4:4; אל־כל הצ׳ 2 S 20:23 (אל for על); עַל־צִבְאֹתָם Ex 6:26; 12:51 (P); הוציא צבאות lead out armies Ex 7:4; 12:17 (P); יצא צ׳ army goes forth (to war) Ex 12:41; 1 Ch 7:11; לֹא תֵצֵא בְּצִבְאוֹתֵינוּ ψ 44:10, of י׳ going with our armies = 60:12 = 108:12; fig. of great number, צבא רב 68:12.—On חֲלִיפוֹת וְצָבָא Jb 10:17 v. Di; Bu proposes תַּחֲלֵף צְבָאֲ(ךָ) i.e. thou dost renew (thine) army against me. e.g. Judges 8:6
- b. host (organized body) of angels (cf. Lu 2:13), צבא השׁמים (כל) all the host of heaven 1 K 22:19 = 2 Ch 18:18; Ne 9:6; כל צבאיו ψ 103:21; 148:2; צבא הַמָּרוֹם Is 24:21 host of the high (angel-princes; ‖ earthly monarchs); צבא השׁמים Dn 8:10, הצבא v 10 (al. vb fig. of Israel); שׂר צ׳ י׳ captain of the host of י׳ Jos 5:14, 15 (theophanic angel); שׂר הצבא Dn 8:11 (angel-prince of Israel, others, God). e.g. 1 Kings 22:19
- c. of sun, moon and stars, כל צבא השׁמים Dt 4:19; 17:3; 2 K 17:16; 21:3, 5 = 2 Ch 33:3, 5; 2 K 23:4, 5 Je 8:2; 19:13 (all as objects of worship), Is 34:4; צ׳ השׁמים Je 33:22; Zp 1:5; כל צבאם Ne 9:6 ψ 33:6; Is 34:4; 45:12; צבאם Is 40:26.—Je 3:19 v. i. צְבִי. e.g. Deuteronomy 4:19
- d. of the entire creation, כל צבאם Gn 2:1. e.g. Genesis 2:1
- 2. war, warfare, service: יָצָא צָבָא go out to war Nu 1:3, 20 + 12 times Nu 1, 26:2 (P) 1 Ch 5:18; 7:11; 12:33, 36; 2 Ch 25:5; 26:11; יצא בצ׳ Nu 31:36 (P) Dt 24:5; יצא לצ׳ Nu 31:27, 28 (P); עלה לצ׳ go up to war Jos 22:12, 33 (P); בא מצ׳ come from war Nu 31:14; 2 Ch 28:12; קבץ לצ׳ 1 S 28:1; שׁלח לצ׳ Nu 31:4, 6(×2) (P); התיחשׂם בּצ׳ 1 Ch 7:40; צ׳ תִנָּתֵן Dn 8:12; אַנְשֵׁי (ה)צ׳ men of war Nu 31:21, 53 (P) 1 Ch 12:9, cf. עַם הצ׳ Nu 31:32 (P); v. also II. חלץ; גִבּוֹרֵי חַיִל לצ׳ 1 Ch 12:25; כְּלֵי צ׳ 1 Ch 12:37 instruments of war. e.g. Numbers 1:3
- 3. service:
- a. of Levites in sacred places Nu 4:3, 23, 30, 35, 39, 43; 8:24, 25; קֹדֶשׁ וְצָבָא Dn 8:13 (al. as v 11, 1 b). e.g. Numbers 4:3
- b. of hard service of troubled life Jb 7:1; 14:14; Is 40:2 Dn 10:1. e.g. Job 7:1
- 4. צְבָאוֹת, in name of י׳ as God of war, prob. first in time of warlike David (some connect with sacred ark, but ark older), explained יהוה צבאות אֱלֹהֵי מערכות ישׂראל 1 S 17:45 י׳ Sebaoth God of the battle array of Israel (the thought of angels and stars as army of God is later); e.g. 1 Samuel 17:45
- a. earliest form c. art.: י׳ אֱלֹהֵי הַצְּבָאוֹת Am 3:13; 6:14; 9:5 (אֱלֹהֵי om. by error, cf. We), Ho 12:6. e.g. Amos 3:13
- b. without art., definite by usage, י׳ אֱלֹהֵי צְבָאוֹת 2 S 5:10; Am 5:14, 15, 16; 6:8; 1 K 19:10, 14; Je 5:14; 15:16 ψ 89:9; י׳ אֱלֹהֵי צְבָאֹת אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל Je 35:17; 38:17; 44:7; 2 S 7:27 = 1 Ch 17:24; Is 21:10; 37:16; 1st אֱלֹהֵי om. Je 7:3, 21 + 30 times Je; Zp 2:9; י׳ אלהים צ׳ אלהי ישׂראל ψ 59:6 (אלהים variant of י׳); י׳ א׳ צ׳ שְׁמוֹ, י׳ God of hosts his name Am 4:13; 5:27, later reduced to י׳ צ׳ שְׁמוֹ Is 47:4; 48:2; 51:15; 54:5; Je 10:16; 31:35 + 6 times Je. e.g. 2 Samuel 5:10
- c. as n.pr. Sebaoth: י׳ צבאות, י׳ Sebaoth (Lord of hosts, Vrss, owing to Qr אֲדֹנָי, but this never cstr. אֲדֹנֵי; al. י׳ of hosts, but י׳ is n.pr.; צ׳ for earlier אלהי צ׳; cf. Σαβαωθ Ja 5:4; Rom 9:29): 1 S 1:3, 11; 4:4; 15:2; 17:45; 2 S 6:2, 18; 7:8, 26; 1 K 18:15; 2 K 3:14; 19:31; 1 Ch 11:9; 17:7 ψ 24:10 + 6 times ψψ, Mi 4:4; Na 2:14; 3:5 Hb 2:13; Zp 2:10; Is 1:9; 2:12; 5:7, 9, 16, 24 + 35 times Is 6–39; Is 2 only 44:6; 45:13; Je 6:6, 9; 8:3; 9:6, 16 + 26 times Je, Hg 1:2, 5 + 12 times Hg, Zc 1:3(×3), 4 + 40 times Zc 1–8; 9:15 + 8 times 10–14, Mal 1:4, 6, 8 + 21 times Mal; האדון י׳ צ׳ Is 1:24 + 4 times Is (incl. 10:16 Baer Gi > van d. H. אֲדֹנָי for י׳); אֲדֹנָי י׳ צ׳ 3:15 + (on these phr. v. אָדוֹן 1, 6); אלהים צ׳ (א׳ later Qr for orig. י׳) ψ 80:8, 15; י׳ אלהים צ׳ (earlier י׳ + later [inserted] א׳) ψ 80:5, 20; 84:9.—cf. Driver Hastings DB (1900), Lord of Hosts and reff., Löhr Amos (Belhefte zur ZAW iv (1900), 38–67). e.g. 1 Samuel 1:3
צבי III
- 1.
- a. beauty, decoration, צ׳ עֶדְיוֹ, of silver and gold Ez 7:20, of products of soil Is 4:2 (predict.). e.g. Ezekiel 7:20
- b. elsewhere in fig.: of drunkard’s chaplet, צ׳ תִפְאַרְתּוֹ Is 28:1, 4 (fig. of Samaria); עֲטֶרֶת צ׳ v 5 (of י׳); הַצּ׳ 2 S 1:19 (Saul and Jonathan); גְּאוֹן כָּל־צ׳, of Tyre Is 23:9; צ׳ מַמְלָכוֹת 13:19 (of Bab.); of land of Isr. (Judah), צְבִי הִיא לְכָל־הָאֲרָצוֹת Ez 20:6, 15, נַחֲלַת צְבִי צִבְאוֹת גּוֹיִם Je 3:19 (v. supr.) heritage of the beauty of beauties of the nations, i.e. most beauteous heritage; הַצּ׳ especially of Jerus. and temple Dn 8:9 (Bev), cf. אֶרֶץ הַצּ׳ 11:16, 41 (v. Dr), הַר צ׳־קֹדֶשׁ v 45 (i.e. temple-hill); of cities of Moab, צ׳ אֶרֶץ Ez 25:9. e.g. Isaiah 28:1
- 2. = honour, צ׳ לַצַּדִּיק Is 24:16.—Ez 26:20; read וְתִתְיַצְּבִי for וְנָתַתִּי צְבִי, so 𝔊 Co Berthol Toy Krae al. e.g. Isaiah 24:16
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. vb. wage war, serve (Sab. צֿבא wage war with, also n. army, campaign HomChrest. 125 CIS iv. 299, 1. 2 DHM VOJ i. 28; Ethiopic ጸብአ: (> ፀብአ:) wage war; Assyrian ṣâbu, man, soldier; NöZMG xl (1886), 726 al. cp. (on account of Sab. Ethiopic ץֿ) Arabic ضَبَأَ conceal oneself, hence lie in wait; this is phonetically suitable, but better in meaning would be صَبَأَ go or come forth (against one), etc., so Thes LagBN 21; Frä232 cp. صَبِىٌّ young man);—
II. n.m. 2 Ch 28:9 (poss. f. Is 40:2; Dn 8:12, but v. Albr ZAW xv (1895), 319; Bev Dn) army, war, warfare;—abs. צ׳ Nu 1:3 + (מִצָּבָה Zc 9:8 v. p. 663 a); cstr. צְבָא Nu 10:15 +; sf. צְבָאִי Jb 14:14; צְבָאֲךָ Ju 8:9; 9:29; צְבָאָיו ψ 103:21; 148:2 (Kt צבאו; so read prob. in both), etc.; pl. צְבָאוֹת Nu 20:9 + 278 times; cstr. צִבְאוֹת Ex 12:41 + 2 times; sf. צִבְאֹתַי 7:4; צִבְאֹתָם 6:26 +, etc.;—
I. n.m.2 S 1:19 beauty, honour;—abs. צ 2 S 1:19 +, צֶ֑בִי Dn 8:9; cstr. צְבִי Is 13:19 +; pl. cstr. צִבְאוֹת Je 3:19 (so 𝔗 Ki Thes Hi Gf Ol§ 145 b Köii. 1, 584 al.; > from צבא 𝔙 Gie al.);—
II. n.m.Is 13:14 gazelle;—צ׳ abs. Dt 12:15 +; pl. צְבָיִם 2 S 2:18, צְבָאיִם 1 Ch 12:9 (Gi Baer; van d. H. v 8), צְבָאוֹת Ct 2:7; 3:5;—gazelle, allowed as food Dt 14:5, cf. 12:15, 22 (although not for sacrif., Dr; all + אַיָּל), so 15:22 (+ אַיָּל, יַחְמוּר, etc.), v. 1 K 5:3; sim. of swiftness 2 S 2:18; 1 Ch 12:9; v. supr., Pr 6:5; of grace and beauty Ct 2:9, 17; 8:14 (cf. JacobArab. Dichter iv. 20 f.); hence used in adjuration 2:7; 3:5 (+ אילות); צ׳ מֻדָּח Is 13:14, sim. of fugitives.
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from צבה (tsâbâh) (H6638) — to swell.
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.
צבי
- to swell. Y. B. Kam. VIII, beg. 6ᵇ אם כוייו … וצָבַת if one burnt a person with a heated spit on the palm of his hand, and it swelled; ib. על ראשו וצבת, (read וצבה) a. e.—[Ber. 6ᵇ לִצְבּוֹת Ar., v. צָבַת.]
- same. Y. Sot. V, beg. 20ᵃ (line 20) מים מגולין שתה ונ׳ (ed. Krot. שתת ונצבית, corr. acc.) he drank uncovered water (poisoned by a serpent) and his belly was swollen. Ib. (line 25) שתת ונִצְבֵּית she drank &c.
- 1. to cause to swell. Lev. R. s. 17; Yalk. Ps. 808 [read:] ולא צִבִּיתִים, v. עוֹנָה II.
- 2. to cause the appearance of being swollen. Tosef. Peah IV, 14 המְצַבֶּה את כריסו he that feigns a swollen belly; Y. ib. VIII, 21ᵇ top המְצַבֵּא; Keth. 68ᵃ המצב׳ את בטנו.
צְבֵי
- (cmp. צבת) [to seize; to bend; cmp. חָפַץ,] with ב, to find pleasure in, to choose, desire. Targ. Y. Gen. XXXIV, 19 (h. text חפץ). Targ. Prov. III, 31 (h. text בחר). Targ. O. Ex. II, 21 (h. text יאל). Targ. Y. Deut. XXIII, 6 (h. text אבה); a. fr.—[Targ. Prov. II, 4 תצביה, ed. Wil., v. בְּצָא.]—Part. צָכֵי; f. צַבְיָא; pl. צָבִין; צַבְיָין. Targ. Prov. XI, 20. Targ. II Esth. I, 16. Targ. Prov. XXI, 25 (ed. Lag. עפיין, v. עֲפֵי); a. e.—Tosef. Yeb. XIII, 1 לית היא צביא וכ׳ she refuses to be married to him. Snh. 65ᵇ דמרי צ׳ the master has found pleasure (in that man); שבת נמי מרי צ׳ the Sabbath likewise (is distinguished, because) the Lord has chosen it. Y. Keth. VII, 31ᶜ ולא תִצְבֵּי, v. פּוּתְיָא; a. e.
צְבִי
- 1. desirable thing, beauty. Tanḥ. Mishp. 17 (ref. to Jer. III, 19) נחלת צבי … ארץ שנתאוו וכ׳ ‘an inheritance of choice’ …, a land which the kings of the world coveted. Num. R. s. 23 (ref. to Ez. XX, 6, a. Jer. l. c.) חביבה עלי ארץ וכ׳ the land of Israel is more precious to me than &c.—Pl. צְבִיּוֹת. Yalk. Cant. 988 צְבִיּוֹתֵיהֶן, v. infra. e.g. Jeremiah 3:19
- 2. deer, gazelle. Keth. 112ᵃ (ref. to Jer. l. c.) א"י נמשלה לצ׳ מה צ׳ וכ׳ the land of Israel is compared to a deer, as the skin of a deer (when once taken off) cannot again cover its body, so cannot Palestine contain its fruits; Gitt. 57ᵃ, v. חָזַק; Tanḥ. l. c.; a. e.—Tosef. Sabb. VII (VIII), 13 פסק צ׳ את הדרך וכ׳ a deer cut the way off before me (a superstitious omen); Snh. 65ᵇ צ׳ הפסיקו בדרך a deer cut him (me) off &c.—Y. Gitt. II, 44ᵇ bot.; Tosef. ib. II, 4 כתבו על קרן של צ׳ וכ׳ if he wrote a letter of divorce on the horn of a deer, and cut it off and gave it to her. Keth. XIII, 2 הניח מעותיו על קרן הצ׳ he has put his money on a deer’s horn, i.e. he cannot reclaim the unauthorized expense; a. fr.—Pl. צְבָאִים, צְבָאִין, צְבָיִים. Sabb. 128ᵃ; Tosef. ib. XIV (XV), 8; Y. ib. XVIII, 16ᶜ, v. חֲצָב II. Gen. R. s. 31; a. fr.—Fem. צְבִיָּה, צְבִיָּיה. Ḥull. 79ᵇ, sq. Yalk. Cant. 988 למה … כצ׳ שרבתה צביותיהן וכ׳ why is Jochebed likened to a hind? Because she reared the beauties of Israel (Moses and Aaron); a. e.
צְבִי ²
- desire, v. צְבוּ.
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 22 distinct written forms H6643 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 H6643, 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
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.
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 6 — not the complete family. 2 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 31 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 32 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
- Deuteronomy 12:15
- 2 Samuel 1:19
- 1 Chronicles 12:8
- Proverbs 6:5
- Song of Solomon 2:7
- Isaiah 4:2
- Jeremiah 3:19
- Ezekiel 7:20
- Daniel 8:9
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.
