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 Deuteronomy — 86 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.
Deuteronomy
- Deuteronomy 1:3 צִוָּ֧ה Piel pf 3ms It happened in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel, according to all that Yahweh had given him in commandment to them;
- Deuteronomy 1:16 וָ/אֲצַוֶּה֙ conj + Piel wimpf 1cs I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear [the causes] between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the foreigner who is living with him.
- Deuteronomy 1:18 וָ/אֲצַוֶּ֥ה conj + Piel wimpf 1cs I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do.
- Deuteronomy 1:19 צִוָּ֛ה Piel pf 3ms We traveled from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw, by the way to the hill-country of the Amorites, as Yahweh our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea.
- Deuteronomy 1:41 צִוָּ֖/נוּ Piel pf 3ms + sfx pers 1cp Then you answered and said to me, We have sinned against Yahweh, we will go up and fight, according to all that Yahweh our God commanded us. You girded on every man his weapons of war, and were forward to go up into the hill-country.
- Deuteronomy 2:4 צַ֣ו Piel impv 2ms Command you the people, saying, You are to pass through the border of your brothers the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir; and they will be afraid of you: take good heed to yourselves therefore;
- Deuteronomy 2:37 צִוָּ֖ה Piel pf 3ms only to the land of the children of Ammon you didn't come near; all the side of the river Jabbok, and the cities of the hill-country, and wherever Yahweh our God forbade us.
- Deuteronomy 3:18 וָ/אֲצַ֣ו conj + Piel wimpf 1cs I commanded you at that time, saying, Yahweh your God has given you this land to possess it: you shall pass over armed before your brothers the children of Israel, all the men of valor.
- Deuteronomy 3:21 צִוֵּ֔יתִי Piel pf 1cs I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Your eyes have seen all that Yahweh your God has done to these two kings: so shall Yahweh do to all the kingdoms where you go over.
- Deuteronomy 3:28 וְ/צַ֥ו conj + Piel impv 2ms But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you shall see.
- Deuteronomy 4:2 מְצַוֶּ֣ה מְצַוֶּ֥ה Piel ptcp.act ms Piel ptcp.act ms You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish from it, that you may keep the commandments of Yahweh your God which I command you.
- Deuteronomy 4:5 צִוַּ֖/נִי Piel pf 3ms + sfx pers 1cs Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as Yahweh my God commanded me, that you should do so in the midst of the land where you go in to possess it.
- Deuteronomy 4:13 צִוָּ֤ה Piel pf 3ms He declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments; and he wrote them on two tables of stone.
- Deuteronomy 4:14 צִוָּ֤ה Piel pf 3ms Yahweh commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it.
- Deuteronomy 4:23 צִוְּ/ךָ֖ Piel pf 3ms + sfx pers 2ms Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he made with you, and make you an engraved image in the form of anything which Yahweh your God has forbidden you.
- Deuteronomy 4:40 מְצַוְּ/ךָ֙ Piel ptcp.act ms cs + sfx pers 2ms You shall keep his statutes, and his commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land, which Yahweh your God gives you, forever.
- Deuteronomy 5:12 צִוְּ/ךָ֖ Piel pf 3ms + sfx pers 2ms "Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as Yahweh your God commanded you.
- Deuteronomy 5:15 צִוְּ/ךָ֙ Piel pf 3ms + sfx pers 2ms You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm: therefore Yahweh your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
- Deuteronomy 5:16 צִוְּ/ךָ֖ Piel pf 3ms + sfx pers 2ms "Honor your father and your mother, as Yahweh your God commanded you; that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you, in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
- Deuteronomy 5:32 צִוָּ֛ה Piel pf 3ms You shall observe to do therefore as Yahweh your God has commanded you: you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
- Deuteronomy 5:33 צִוָּ֜ה Piel pf 3ms You shall walk in all the way which Yahweh your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.
- Deuteronomy 6:1 צִוָּ֛ה Piel pf 3ms Now this is the commandment, the statutes, and the ordinances, which Yahweh your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it;
- Deuteronomy 6:2 מְצַוֶּ/ךָ֒ Piel ptcp.act ms cs + sfx pers 2ms that you might fear Yahweh your God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, you, and your son, and your son's son, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged.
- Deuteronomy 6:6 מְצַוְּ/ךָ֛ Piel ptcp.act ms cs + sfx pers 2ms These words, which I command you this day, shall be on your heart;
- Deuteronomy 6:17 צִוָּֽ/ךְ Piel pf 3ms + sfx pers 2fs You shall diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you.
- Deuteronomy 6:20 צִוָּ֛ה Piel pf 3ms When your son asks you in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Yahweh our God has commanded you?
- Deuteronomy 6:24 וַ/יְצַוֵּ֣/נוּ conj + Piel wimpf 3ms + sfx pers 1cp Yahweh commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Yahweh our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as at this day.
- Deuteronomy 6:25 צִוָּֽ/נוּ Piel pf 3ms + sfx pers 1cp It shall be righteousness to us, if we observe to do all this commandment before Yahweh our God, as he has commanded us.
- Deuteronomy 7:11 מְצַוְּ/ךָ֛ Piel ptcp.act ms cs + sfx pers 2ms You shall therefore keep the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which I command you this day, to do them.
- Deuteronomy 8:1 מְצַוְּ/ךָ֛ Piel ptcp.act ms cs + sfx pers 2ms All the commandment which I command you this day shall you observe to do, that you may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers.
- Deuteronomy 8:11 מְצַוְּ/ךָ֖ Piel ptcp.act ms cs + sfx pers 2ms Beware lest you forget Yahweh your God, in not keeping his commandments, and his ordinances, and his statutes, which I command you this day:
- Deuteronomy 9:12 צִוִּיתִ֔/ם Piel pf 1cs + sfx pers 3mp Yahweh said to me, Arise, get you down quickly from hence; for your people whom you have brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves; they have quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image.
- Deuteronomy 9:16 צִוָּ֥ה Piel pf 3ms I looked, and, behold, you had sinned against Yahweh your God; you had made you a molten calf: you had turned aside quickly out of the way which Yahweh had commanded you.
- Deuteronomy 10:5 צִוַּ֖/נִי Piel pf 3ms + sfx pers 1cs I turned and came down from the mountain, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they are as Yahweh commanded me.
- Deuteronomy 10:13 מְצַוְּ/ךָ֖ Piel ptcp.act ms cs + sfx pers 2ms to keep the commandments of Yahweh, and his statutes, which I command you this day for your good?
- Deuteronomy 11:8 מְצַוְּ/ךָ֖ Piel ptcp.act ms cs + sfx pers 2ms Therefore shall you keep all the commandment which I command you this day, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land, where you go over to possess it;
- Deuteronomy 11:13 מְצַוֶּ֥ה Piel ptcp.act ms It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to my commandments which I command you this day, to love Yahweh your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
- Deuteronomy 11:22 מְצַוֶּ֥ה Piel ptcp.act ms For if you shall diligently keep all this commandment which I command you, to do it, to love Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave to him;
- Deuteronomy 11:27 מְצַוֶּ֥ה Piel ptcp.act ms the blessing, if you shall listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I command you this day;
- Deuteronomy 11:28 מְצַוֶּ֥ה Piel ptcp.act ms and the curse, if you shall not listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which you have not known.
- Deuteronomy 12:11 מְצַוֶּ֣ה Piel ptcp.act ms then it shall happen that to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, there shall you bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave-offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which you vow to Yahweh.
- Deuteronomy 12:14 מְצַוֶּֽ/ךָּ Piel ptcp.act ms cs + sfx pers 2ms but in the place which Yahweh shall choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.
- Deuteronomy 12:21 צִוִּיתִ֑/ךָ Piel pf 1cs + sfx pers 2ms If the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to put his name there, be too far from you, then you shall kill of your herd and of your flock, which Yahweh has given you, as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your gates, after all the desire of your soul.
- Deuteronomy 12:28 מְצַוֶּ֑/ךָּ Piel ptcp.act ms cs + sfx pers 2ms Observe and hear all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you forever, when you do that which is good and right in the eyes of Yahweh your God.
- Deuteronomy 12:32 מְצַוֶּ֣ה Piel ptcp.act ms Whatever thing I command you, that shall you observe to do: you shall not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
- Deuteronomy 13:5 צִוְּ/ךָ֛ Piel pf 3ms + sfx pers 2ms That prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to draw you aside out of the way which Yahweh your God commanded you to walk in. So shall you put away the evil from the midst of you.
- Deuteronomy 13:18 מְצַוְּ/ךָ֖ Piel ptcp.act ms cs + sfx pers 2ms when you shall listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep all his commandments which I command you this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of Yahweh your God.
- Deuteronomy 15:5 מְצַוְּ/ךָ֖ Piel ptcp.act ms cs + sfx pers 2ms if only you diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to observe to do all this commandment which I command you this day.
- Deuteronomy 15:11 מְצַוְּ/ךָ֙ Piel ptcp.act ms cs + sfx pers 2ms For the poor will never cease out of the land: therefore I command you, saying, You shall surely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor, in your land.
- Deuteronomy 15:15 מְצַוְּ/ךָ֛ Piel ptcp.act ms cs + sfx pers 2ms You shall remember that you were a bondservant in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you: therefore I command you this thing today.
- Deuteronomy 17:3 צִוִּֽיתִי Piel pf 1cs and has gone and served other gods, and worshiped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the host of the sky, which I have not commanded;
- Deuteronomy 18:18 אֲצַוֶּֽ/נּוּ Piel impf 1cs + sfx pers 3ms I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him.
- Deuteronomy 18:20 צִוִּיתִי/ו֙ Piel pf 1cs + sfx pers 3ms But the prophet, who shall speak a word presumptuously in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who shall speak in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.
- Deuteronomy 19:7 מְצַוְּ/ךָ֖ Piel ptcp.act ms cs + sfx pers 2ms Therefore I command you, saying, You shall set apart three cities for you.
- Deuteronomy 19:9 מְצַוְּ/ךָ֮ Piel ptcp.act ms cs + sfx pers 2ms if you shall keep all this commandment to do it, which I command you this day, to love Yahweh your God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shall you add three cities more for you, besides these three:
- Deuteronomy 20:17 צִוְּ/ךָ֖ Piel pf 3ms + sfx pers 2ms but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; as Yahweh your God has commanded you;
- Deuteronomy 24:8 צִוִּיתִ֖/ם Piel pf 1cs + sfx pers 3mp Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that you observe diligently, and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you: as I commanded them, so you shall observe to do.
- Deuteronomy 24:18 מְצַוְּ/ךָ֙ Piel ptcp.act ms cs + sfx pers 2ms but you shall remember that you were a bondservant in Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you there: therefore I command you to do this thing.
- Deuteronomy 24:22 מְצַוְּ/ךָ֙ Piel ptcp.act ms cs + sfx pers 2ms You shall remember that you were a bondservant in the land of Egypt: therefore I command you to do this thing.
- Deuteronomy 26:13 צִוִּיתָ֑/נִי Piel pf 2ms + sfx pers 1cs You shall say before Yahweh your God, I have put away the holy things out of my house, and also have given them to the Levite, and to the foreigner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all your commandment which you have commanded me: I have not transgressed any of your commandments, neither have I forgotten them:
- Deuteronomy 26:14 צִוִּיתָֽ/נִי Piel pf 2ms + sfx pers 1cs I have not eaten of it in my mourning, neither have I put away of it, being unclean, nor given of it for the dead: I have listened to the voice of Yahweh my God; I have done according to all that you have commanded me.
- Deuteronomy 26:16 מְצַוְּ/ךָ֧ Piel ptcp.act ms cs + sfx pers 2ms This day Yahweh your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances: you shall therefore keep and do them with all your heart, and with all your soul.
- Deuteronomy 27:1 וַ/יְצַ֤ו מְצַוֶּ֥ה conj + Piel wimpf 3ms Piel ptcp.act ms Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commandment which I command you this day.
- Deuteronomy 27:4 מְצַוֶּ֥ה Piel ptcp.act ms It shall be, when you are passed over the Jordan, that you shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in Mount Ebal, and you shall plaster them with plaster.
- Deuteronomy 27:10 מְצַוְּ/ךָ֖ Piel ptcp.act ms cs + sfx pers 2ms You shall therefore obey the voice of Yahweh your God, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command you this day.
- Deuteronomy 27:11 וַ/יְצַ֤ו conj + Piel wimpf 3ms Moses charged the people the same day, saying,
- Deuteronomy 28:1 מְצַוְּ/ךָ֖ Piel ptcp.act ms cs + sfx pers 2ms It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to the voice of Yahweh your God, to observe to do all his commandments which I command you this day, who Yahweh your God will set you on high above all the nations of the earth:
- Deuteronomy 28:8 יְצַ֨ו Piel impf 3ms Yahweh will command the blessing on you in your barns, and in all that you put your hand to; and he will bless you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
- Deuteronomy 28:13 מְצַוְּ/ךָ֛ Piel ptcp.act ms cs + sfx pers 2ms Yahweh will make you the head, and not the tail; and you shall be above only, and you shall not be beneath; if you shall listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I command you this day, to observe and to do [them],
- Deuteronomy 28:14 מְצַוֶּ֥ה Piel ptcp.act ms and shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
- Deuteronomy 28:15 מְצַוְּ/ךָ֖ Piel ptcp.act ms cs + sfx pers 2ms But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you this day, that all these curses shall come on you, and overtake you.
- Deuteronomy 28:45 צִוָּֽ/ךְ Piel pf 3ms + sfx pers 2fs All these curses shall come on you, and shall pursue you, and overtake you, until you are destroyed; because you didn't listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you:
- Deuteronomy 29:1 צִוָּ֧ה Piel pf 3ms These are the words of the covenant which Yahweh commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.
- Deuteronomy 30:2 מְצַוְּ/ךָ֖ Piel ptcp.act ms cs + sfx pers 2ms and shall return to Yahweh your God, and shall obey his voice according to all that I command you this day, you and your children, with all your heart, and with all your soul;
- Deuteronomy 30:8 מְצַוְּ/ךָ֖ Piel ptcp.act ms cs + sfx pers 2ms You shall return and obey the voice of Yahweh, and do all his commandments which I command you this day.
- Deuteronomy 30:11 מְצַוְּ/ךָ֖ Piel ptcp.act ms cs + sfx pers 2ms For this commandment which I command you this day, it is not too hard for you, neither is it far off.
- Deuteronomy 30:16 מְצַוְּ/ךָ֮ Piel ptcp.act ms cs + sfx pers 2ms in that I command you this day to love Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, that you may live and multiply, and that Yahweh your God may bless you in the land where you go in to possess it.
- Deuteronomy 31:5 צִוִּ֖יתִי Piel pf 1cs Yahweh will deliver them up before you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandment which I have commanded you.
- Deuteronomy 31:10 וַ/יְצַ֥ו conj + Piel wimpf 3ms Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of [every] seven years, in the set time of the year of release, in the feast of tents,
- Deuteronomy 31:14 וַ/אֲצַוֶּ֑/נּוּ conj + Piel wimpf 1cs + sfx pers 3ms Yahweh said to Moses, Behold, your days approach that you must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that I may give him a charge. Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tent of meeting.
- Deuteronomy 31:23 וַ/יְצַ֞ו conj + Piel wimpf 3ms He gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of good courage; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land which I swore to them: and I will be with you.
- Deuteronomy 31:25 וַ/יְצַ֤ו conj + Piel wimpf 3ms that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, saying,
- Deuteronomy 31:29 צִוִּ֖יתִי Piel pf 1cs For I know that after my death you will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will happen to you in the latter days; because you will do that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.
- Deuteronomy 32:46 תְּצַוֻּ/ם֙ Piel impf 2mp + sfx pers 3mp He said to them, Set your heart to all the words which I testify to you this day, which you shall command your children to observe to do, [even] all the words of this law.
- Deuteronomy 33:4 צִוָּה Piel pf 3ms Moses commanded us a law, An inheritance for the assembly of Jacob.
- Deuteronomy 34:9 צִוָּ֥ה Piel pf 3ms Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands on him: and the children of Israel listened to him, and did as Yahweh commanded Moses.
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.
