צָוָה
to command
also: charge, give orders, lay charge, give charge to fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Stem
- Piel
- An intensive or resultative active stem. Here: ‘lay charge’
- Pual
- The passive counterpart of the Piel.
Form
- Perfect
- A completed action or state — Hebrew marks aspect (completeness) more than strict tense (“he wrote”).
- Sequential Imperfect
- An imperfect with prefixed waw — the standard past-narrative form (waw-consecutive imperfect).
- Participle Active
- A verbal adjective expressing ongoing or characteristic action (“writing / one who writes”).
- Imperative
- A direct command (“write!”).
- Imperfect
- An incomplete, ongoing, or future action (“he will / would write”).
- Sequential Perfect
- A perfect with prefixed waw continuing a preceding imperfect or command (waw-consecutive perfect).
- Infinitive Construct
- A bound verbal noun, frequently with prepositions (“to write / in writing”).
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.
Person
- 3rd Person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
- 1st Person
- The speaker (“I / we”).
- 2nd Person
- The one addressed (“you”).
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).
Every verse where H6680 appears in the Book of 1 Chronicles — 12 distinct verses. 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.
1 Chronicles
- 1 Chronicles 6:49 צִוָּ֔ה Piel pf 3ms But Aaron and his sons offered on the altar of burnt offering, and on the altar of incense, for all the work of the most holy place, and to make atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded.
- 1 Chronicles 14:16 צִוָּ֖/הוּ Piel pf 3ms + sfx pers 3ms David did as God commanded him: and they struck the host of the Philistines from Gibeon even to Gezer.
- 1 Chronicles 15:15 צִוָּ֥ה Piel pf 3ms The children of the Levites bore the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles thereon, as Moses commanded according to the word of Yahweh.
- 1 Chronicles 16:15 צִוָּ֖ה Piel pf 3ms Remember his covenant forever, The word which he commanded to a thousand generations,
- 1 Chronicles 16:40 צִוָּ֖ה Piel pf 3ms to offer burnt offerings to Yahweh on the altar of burnt offering continually morning and evening, even according to all that is written in the law of Yahweh, which he commanded to Israel;
- 1 Chronicles 17:6 צִוִּ֛יתִי Piel pf 1cs In all places in which I have walked with all Israel, spoke I a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to be shepherd of my people, saying, Why have you not built me a house of cedar?
- 1 Chronicles 17:10 צִוִּ֤יתִי Piel pf 1cs and [as] from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel; and I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover I tell you that Yahweh will build you a house.
- 1 Chronicles 22:6 וַ/יְצַוֵּ֨/הוּ֙ conj + Piel wimpf 3ms + sfx pers 3ms Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build a house for Yahweh, the God of Israel.
- 1 Chronicles 22:12 וִֽ/יצַוְּ/ךָ֖ conj + Piel impf 3ms + sfx pers 2ms May Yahweh give you discretion and understanding, and put you in charge of Israel; that so you may keep the law of Yahweh your God.
- 1 Chronicles 22:13 צִוָּ֧ה Piel pf 3ms Then shall you prosper, if you observe to do the statutes and the ordinances which Yahweh gave Moses concerning Israel. Be strong, and of good courage. Don't be afraid, neither be dismayed.
- 1 Chronicles 22:17 וַ/יְצַ֤ו conj + Piel wimpf 3ms David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon his son, [saying],
- 1 Chronicles 24:19 צִוָּ֔/הוּ Piel pf 3ms + sfx pers 3ms This was the ordering of them in their service, to come into the house of Yahweh according to the ordinance [given] to them by Aaron their father, as Yahweh, the God of Israel, had commanded 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.
צוה (tsâvâh) is a Hebrew verb most often rendered “to command.” Debuting at Genesis 2:16, it then recurs through the corpus. With 475 verses in 27 books, it is a common word in the Hebrew Bible. The verb spans 2 stems, from Piel to Pual. From the same root come מצוה, צו and צי. 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 H6680 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 →
- 475
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 475 distinct verses.
- 27 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 27 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #103
- by frequency
- Top 250 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 103 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 475 occurrences in the concordance →
Most concentrated in
- Deuteronomy 86 verses 18%
- Exodus 54 verses 11%
- Numbers 45 verses 9%
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 475 distinct verses.
- Torah (Pentateuch) 245 verses · 52%
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 166 verses · 35%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 64 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).
- King James Version: Commanded 165×, Had commanded 30×, I command 30×
- American Standard Version: Commanded 148×, I command 28×, I commanded 26×
- Berean Standard Bible: Had commanded 85×, Commanded 50×, Has commanded 21×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Commanded 108×, Had commanded 74×, And 31×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H6680 across 494 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 82 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 H6680 across 493 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 114 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 H6680 across 491 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 117 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 2 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H6680 across 538 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 71 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. This entry also uses Pual (the passive of Piel).
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.
Piel
- lay charge (upon), give charge (to), charge, command, order (BaZMG xli (1887), 641 Gerber 124 cp. Arabic وَصَى combine, ii. enjoin, iv. charge; وَصِيَّةٌ injunction, command; Syriac ܨܘܳܐ, head up stones, ܨܘܳܝܳܐ, stone-heap, Arabic صُوَّةٌ guide-stone, cf. Schulth 57; Gerber makes Heb. vb. denom. from מִצְוָה, but vb. is much earlier);—Pf. 3 ms. צִוָּה Gn 6:22 +; sf. צִוַּנִי Dt 4:5 +; צִוְּךָ Dt 4:23 +; צִוָּהוּ Gn 7:5 +, etc.; 1 s. צִוִּיתִי Ex 29:35 + 29 times, צִוֵּיתִי Lv 8:31 + 4 times, etc.; Impf. 3 ms. יְצַוֶּה Gn 18:19 + 8 times; יְצַו Dt 28:8; וַיְצַו Gn 2:16 +; sf. וִיצַוְּךָ 1 Ch 22:12, etc.; 1 s. וָאֲצַוֶּה Ezr 8:17 Qr (> Kt ואוצאה); 3 mpl. וַיְצַוּוּ Gn 50:16 +, etc.; Inf. cstr. צַוֹּת 2 S 18:5 +, etc.; Imv. ms. צַוֵּה Jos 4:16 + 2 times; צַו Lv 6:2 + 9 times; mpl. צַוּוּ Jos 1:11; 4:3; Pt. מְצַוֶּה Nu 32:25 +; cstr. מְצַוֵּה Is 55:4, etc.; f. מְצַוָּה Gn 27:8;— e.g. Genesis 6:22
- 1.
- a. lay charge upon, c. עַל pers., Gn 2:16 (J) 28:6 (P) 1 K 2:43; 11:11; Am 2:12; Je 35:6 + 6 times; עַל rei, עַל הֶעָבִים אֲצַוֶּה מֵהַמְטִיר Is 5:6, cf. Jb 36:32, צ׳ עַל־חָגָב 2 Ch 7:13. e.g. Genesis 2:16
- b. give charge to, command to c. לְ pers. Ex 1:22 (E) 1 S 20:29; 1 Ch 22:17; Is 13:3; Jer 32:23; ψ 105:8 תּוֹרָה צ׳ לָנוּ מֹשֶׁה Dt 33:4, cf. Ne 9:14; צַו לְבֵיתֶ֑ךָ 2 K 20:1 give charge to the household (in preparation for death) = Is 38:1 (cf. NH, B.Bath. 151 b, צַוָּאָה ‘verbal will’ Id 147a). e.g. Exodus 1:22
- c. give charge unto, c. אֶל pers. Ex 16:34 (P), 1 K 11:10; וַיְצַו אֶל־בֵּיתוֹ 2 S 17:23 (cf. b). e.g. Exodus 16:34
- d. give charge over, appoint, c. acc. pers. + עַל rei, Ne 7:2; 1 Ch 22:12, נָגִיד עַל (לִהְיוֹת) צ׳ appoint one (to be) ruler over 2 S 6:21; 1 K 1:35; c. לנגיד 1 S 13:14; 25:30; שׁפטים על 2 S 7:11 = 1 Ch 17:10; c. inf. (no על), לִרְעוֹת עמי 2 S 7:7 = 1 Ch 17:6; וְצִוִּיתָה אֹתוֹ לְעֵינֵיהֶם Nu 27:19 (P) and thou shalt install him in their sight, cf. v 23 (P). e.g. Nehemiah 7:2
- e. give one charge, command (often עַל concerning), Gn 12:20 (J), Nu 8:22 (P), 2 S 14:8; 18:5; Je 7:22; 39:11; Is 45:12 (AV RV Che RyKau; > Ges Ew Di Du al. as d), 10:6 (al. against), Na 1:14 (al. id.); c. לְ Nu 9:8; 32:28 (P), ψ 91:11 La 1:17 Est 3:2; c. אֶל Is 23:11 Je 47:7. e.g. Genesis 12:20
- 2. charge, command:
- a. c. acc. pers. + rei, often, especially of the law: Deut. phrases are אשׁר אנכי מצוךָ Ex 34:11 (J), Dt 4:40; 6:2, 6 + 18 times Dt, cf. 15:15; אשׁר אנכי מצוה אתכם Dt 4:2(×2) + 9 times Dt; †הַדֶּרֶךְ אשׁר ע׳ Dt 13:6; Ex 32:8 (E) Dt 5:30; 9:12, 16; 11:28; 31:29. e.g. Exodus 34:11
- b. c. acc. pers. + obj. clause, e.g., Inf. Gn 50:2 +; ו consec. Pf. 18:19 (J), Nu 35:2 (P); ו consec. Impf. 2 S 4:12; 1 K 2:46; weak ו c. Impf. Ex 27:20 (P) Jos 4:16; Imv. Jos 1:9; 1 S 18:22. e.g. Genesis 50:2
- c. acc. pers., acc. rei om., Ex 18:23 (E) Gn 49:33 (P) +; obj. given after לֵאמֹר Gn 26:11; 32:18, 20; Lv 6:2 +; וַיֹּאמֶר, etc., Gn 28:1; 49:29 +. e.g. Exodus 18:23
- d. acc. rei, acc. pers. om., צ׳ לעולם בריתוֹ ψ 111:9; †זֶה הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר צ׳ י׳, Ex 16:16, 32; 35:4; Lv 8:5; 9:6; 17:2; Nu 30:2; 36:6 (P); obj. cl., Lv 8:34 (P), 13:54 (P); Gn 42:25 (E), 1 K 5:20; Ju 4:6 e.g. Psalms 111:9
- e. abs. Gn 50:16 (E), La 3:37. e.g. Genesis 50:16
- 3. charge, command, acc. pers. in phr. כַּאֲשֶׁר צ׳ Ex 23:15 (E) Gn 7:9 (P) +; ככל אשׁר צ׳ Gn 7:5 (J) Ex 29:35 (P) +; כאשׁר צ׳ י׳ משֶׁה Ex 12:28, 50; 39:1, 5 + 37 times P; ככל אשׁר צ׳ י׳ משׁה 39:32, 42 + 5 times P; †לכל אשׁר צ׳ Jos 1:18; 22:2 Je 35:8; acc. pers. om. כאשׁר צ׳ Ex 7:10 Nu 32:25 (P) +; ככל אשׁר צ׳ 2 K 11:9 = 2 Ch 23:8 +; †לכל אשׁר צ׳ Ex 36:1 (P). e.g. Exodus 23:15
- 4. charge, with command to others, commission,
- a. acc. pers. + אֶל pers. (sometimes + acc. rei) Ex 6:13; 25:22; Lv 27:34 (P) Dt 1:3; Je 27:4 Est 4:10; acc. pers. om. Gn 50:16 (E) Est 3:12; 8:9. e.g. Exodus 6:13
- b. בְּיַד of agent, + אֶל, Nu 15:23; 36:13 (P); אֶל om. Lv 8:36 (P), Ezr 9:11; Ne 8:14. e.g. Numbers 15:23
- c. acc. pers. + עַל for אֶל Ezr 8:17; 1 Ch 22:13; Mal 3:22; Est 4:5. e.g. Ezra 8:17
- d. c. acc. rei, וצ׳ בִּרְכָתִי לְ Lv 25:21 (P) and I will command my blessing to you, c. אִתְּךָ Dt 28:8, cf. ψ 133:3; צ׳ חסדוֹ 42:9, בֹּקֶר Jb 38:12, נָחָשׁ, חֶרֶב Am 9:3, 4. e.g. Leviticus 25:21
- 5. command, appoint, ordain, of divine act: in creation Is 45:12 ψ 33:9; 148:5, providence 2 S 17:14; Am 6:11; 9:9; Jb 37:12 ψ 78:23; Is 34:16, redemption ψ 7:7; 44:5; 68:29; 71:3; so of idol Is 48:5 (‖ עשׂה). e.g. Isaiah 45:12
Pual
- Pf. 3 ms. צֻוָּה Nu 3:16; 36:2; 2 ms. צֻוֵּיתָה Gn 45:19, etc.; Impf. 3 ms. יְצֻוֶּה Ex 34:34;—be commanded, i.e. receive command, subj. pers., Gn 45:19 (E), c. בְּ by whom Nu 36:2 (P); אשׁר צ׳ Ex 34:34 (P), כִּי־כֵן צ׳ Lv 8:35; 10:13 (P), כאשׁר צ׳ Nu 3:16 (P) Ez 12:7; 24:18; 37:7. e.g. Numbers 3:16
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
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.
צָוָה
- , v. צוי
צְוֵי II
- (v. S. Sm. 3370) [to contract,] to be hot, dry up, wither. Pes. 56ᵃ צָאוֵי לאלתר ed. (Ar. צָוֵוי) it will at once dry up. Ib. 110ᵇ פקע וצווא דיקלא Ar. (ed. צווח דיקלא ופקע הוא, Ms. M. צְוָה) the bark burst, and the palm dried up. Ib. 111ᵃ וצְווּ כרעיה his legs shrivelled.
- to burn, desiccate. B. Bath. 24ᵇ bot. דאזיל … ומְצַוֵּי ליה the dust penetrates its heart and desiccates it (the plant).
צוי
- 1. to join, attend. Ber. 6ᵇ; Sabb. 30ᵇ לִצְווֹת לזה ed. (perh. fr. צָוַת, v. צוּת; Ar. לצבות), v. צָבַת.—[
- 2. to arrange, pile; denom. צִיּוּן.]
- (b. h.) to order, command; to appoint. Men. 44ᵃ מצוה אחת צִיוָּנוּ וכ׳ the Lord gave us one command, its name is Tsitsith. Ib. צַוֵּה עלי ויעשוני וכ׳ give orders about me, that they make me a proselyte. Sabb. 23ᵃ, a. e. אשר קדשנו … וצִוָּנוּ וכ׳ (abbrev. אקב"ו who has sanctified us through his commandments, and commanded us to &c.; והיכן צִוָּנוּ and where did he command us (where in the Torah is it intimated)? B. Bath. 151ᵇ מְצַוֶּה מחמת מיתה one who disposes of his property, because he expects to die. Sifra Tsav, end כדי המְצַוֶּה למי שנצטוה the commander was worthy of him who was commanded; a. fr.—Part. pass. מְצוּוֶּה. Kidd. 31ᵃ גדול מצ׳ ועושה וכ׳ he who is commanded, and does (a good deed, because it is God’s will) stands higher than he that is not commanded and does (a good deed); a. e.
- to be ordered, commanded. Ib. 38ᵃ שלש מצות נִצְטַוּוּ וכ׳ three commands were given to the lsraelites on their entering the land. Ib. 38ᵇ כל מצוה שנצטוו וכ׳ whatever command was enjoined upon the Israelites before they entered the land. Y. Meg. I, 70ᵈ bot. אלו המצות שנִצְטַוִּינוּ וכ׳ these are the commandments which were given us through the mouth of Moses; 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 183 distinct written forms H6680 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.
The 60 most common forms are shown; 123 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H6680, 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 446 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 475 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 2:16
- Exodus 1:22
- Leviticus 6:9
- Numbers 1:19
- Deuteronomy 1:3
- Joshua 1:7
- Judges 2:20
- Ruth 2:9
- 1 Samuel 2:29
- 2 Samuel 4:12
- 1 Kings 1:35
- 2 Kings 11:5
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.
