צִיר
messenger
‘messenger’ is one of 3 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.
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.
Number
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
- Singular
- One.
2 verses where H6735 appears in the Construct state in the Book of Isaiah. 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.
Isaiah
- Isaiah 21:3 צִירִ֣ים כְּ/צִירֵ֖י n c mp prep + n c mp cs Therefore are my loins filled with anguish; pangs have taken hold on me, as the pangs of a woman in travail: I am pained so that I can't hear; I am dismayed so that I can't see.
- Isaiah 57:9 צִרַ֨יִ/ךְ֙ n c mp cs + sfx pers 2fs You went to the king with oil, and did increase your perfumes, and did send your ambassadors far off, and did debase yourself even to Sheol.
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 ציר centers on the idea of “messenger.” Its earliest occurrence is 1 Samuel 4:19. Spanning 11 verses in 6 books, it ranks among the uncommon words of the Hebrew Bible. Isaiah dominates its distribution — 4 of 11 verses. Lexicons map it across 3 senses. 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 H6735 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 →
- 11
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 11 distinct verses.
- 6 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 6 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #2,101
- by frequency
- Top 2500 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 2,101 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 11 occurrences in the concordance →
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 11 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 7 verses · 64%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 4 verses · 36%
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†: Ambassador 3×, Pangs 3×
- American Standard Version†: Ambassador 3×, Ambassadors 2×, Pangs 2×
- Berean Standard Bible†: Envoy 3×, Pain 2×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text†: Pangs 3×, Envoys 2×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H6735 across 12† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 6 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 H6735 across 12† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 5 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 H6735 across 12† 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.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H6735 across 12† 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.
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 0 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.
ציר I image
ציר II [m.] pivot (of door), hinge
ציר III [m.] pang (proposes writhing)
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. image;—pl. צִירִים Is 45:16 = idols; sg. sf. צירם ψ 49:15 Kt their form (v. צוּרָה).
II. n.m. Pr 25:13 envoy, messenger;—צ׳ abs. Je 49:14 +, cstr. Pr 13:17; pl. צִירִים Is 18:2; sf. צִרַיִךְ 57:9;—envoy, from Cush Is 18:2, from apostate Isr. 57:9; from י׳ Je 49:14 = Ob 1; messenger in gen. צִיר אֱמוּנִים Pr 13:17, צ׳ נֶאֱמָן 25:13.—i. צִיר v. IV. צור.
III. n.[m.] pivot (of door), hinge;—sf. הַדֶּלֶת תִּסּוֹב עַל־צִירָהּ Pr 26:14 (in ‖ of sluggard).
IV. n.[m.] pang (proposes writhing);—pl. צִירִים Is 13:8; 21:3; cstr. צִירֵי 21:3; sf. צִירַי Dn 10:16, צִרֶיהָ 1 S 4:19;—pangs of childbirth 1 S 4:19, so (sim.) Is 21:3; and, of terror, 13:8 (+ חֲבָלִים), 21:3; in gen., of physical effects of mental distress Dn 10:16.
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from צור (tsûwr) (H6696) — to besiege.
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.
צַיָּר
- , v. צַיָּיר
צִיר I
- (צוּר; cmp. זוּרְיוֹן, זַיָּירָא) juice, brine. Sifra Sh’mini, ch. IV, Par. 3 (ref. to Lev. XI, 12) שקץ לאסור את צִירָן ורוטבן וכ׳ ‘abomination’ is used to imply the prohibition of their brine or soup &c. Ib. לאסור צִירָם ורוטבם. Ab. Zar. II, 6 (35ᵇ) צ׳ שאין בה דגה (read בו) brine in which no fish is distinguishable. Ib. 40ᵃ בצירן in their brine (without the fish), opp. בגופן. Ḥull. 99ᵇ; a. fr. e.g. Leviticus 11:12
צִיר
- Targ. Y. Lev. XI, 11 צידיהון ורועדיהון, read: צִירֵיהוֹן ורוטביהון (v. Sifra quot. in preced.).—Ab. Zar. 40ᵃ הוה מטבילנא בצִירָן I used to dip (bread &c.) in their brine. Y. Ter. VIII, 45ᵇ bot. הדין צ׳ דמורייסא (not מור׳) the brine of muries
צִיר II
- hinge, pivot. Men. 33ᵃ; Erub. 11ᵇ היכר צ׳, v. אַבְקָתָא. Kel. XI, 2; Num. R. s. 12, v. פּוֹתָה. Erub. X, 12 מחזירין צ׳ התחתון you may bring back to its socket the lower pivot (of a door of a chest &c.). Yoma 39ᵇ וצ׳ דלתות וכ׳ the turning hinges of the Temple door were heard &c.; a. fr.—Pl. צִירִים, צִירִין. Y. Naz. VIII, 57ᵃ bot איסטרטיוטות שומרי צ׳ וכ׳ (not ושומרי) Roman soldiers were stationed in Jerusalem as guards of the hinges (of the Temple gates); Tosef. Pes. VII, 13 צורים ed. Zuck. (corr. acc.). Bekh. 45ᵃ כשם שצ׳ לבית כך צ׳ לאשה as a house has hinges (doors moving in sockets), so a woman’s body has hinges (in her sexual organs; ref. to I Sam. IV, 19 צִרֶיהָ). Ib. צִירֵי בשר (the sockets and pivots in the male body are merely) hinges of flesh (muscles, not separate organs); a. e. e.g. 1 Samuel 4:19
צִיר III
- writhing, agony, throes of birth.—Pl. צִירִים. Pesik. R. s. 36 ויאחוז אותם צ׳ כצִירֵי יולדה and pangs like those of a travailing woman shall seize them (v. Is. XXI, 3). e.g. Isaiah 21:3
צִיר IV
- [one going around,] messenger, agent. Pirké d’R. El. ch. XXIII כשולח ביד צ׳ נאמן לשולחיו like one sending through a messenger faithful to those who send him (Prov. XXV, 13); Yalk. Gen. 58. Ab. d’R. N. ch. XXXIV. e.g. Proverbs 25:13
צְיָר
- (צוּר) siege; straitness. Targ. O. Deut. XXVIII, 53 (ed. Berl. צְיָארָא); ib. 55; 57. Targ. Ez. IV, 2 (ed. Lag. בצייר; oth. ed. מצייר, corr. acc.). Ib. 3 (ed. Wil. צַיְרָא). Targ. Deut. XX, 19; 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 11 distinct written forms H6735 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.
| Form | Parsing | Example | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| וְ/צִ֖יר | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Jeremiah 49:14 | 2 |
| וְ/צִיר֙ | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Obadiah 1:1 | 1 |
| כְּ/צִירֵ֖י | Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Construct | Isaiah 21:3 | 1 |
| צִ֣יר | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Proverbs 25:13 | 1 |
| צִירִ֗ים | Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute | Isaiah 18:2 | 1 |
| צִירִ֣ים | Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute | Isaiah 21:3 | 1 |
| צִירִ֤ים | Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute | Isaiah 13:8 | 1 |
| צִירַ/י֙ | Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Construct | Daniel 10:16 | 1 |
| צִירָ֑/הּ | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct | Proverbs 26:14 | 1 |
| צִרֶֽי/הָ | Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Construct | 1 Samuel 4:19 | 1 |
| צִרַ֨יִ/ךְ֙ | Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Construct | Isaiah 57:9 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H6735, 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
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 8 — not the complete family. They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 11 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 11 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
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.
