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תֵּ֫שַׁע

nine

‘nine’ is one of 4 main senses fuller range ↓

H8672 Strong's Hebrew
têshaʻ Transliteration
/tay'-shah/ Pronunciation
Usage in the Hebrew Bible 58 appearances

Compare with another word →

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.

“nine” is the headline sense of the Hebrew noun תשע (têshaʻ). Carrying more than one sense, it rewards its full sense range. The Hebrew Bible uses it across 57 verses — moderately common. First canonically at Genesis 5:5, it enters the text early. It shares a root with שעה, משעי and שעה. The sections below give every sense, occurrence, and version rendering.

Gloss history

Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship

Strong's · 1890
nine
Modern gloss
nine
Strong's 1890 agrees
Strong's 1890 and current BDB scholarship align on this entry's primary sense — a good signal that the gloss above is unambiguous and stable. Download share card

About this word

Strong's H8672 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 →

57
distinct verses
The word appears in 57 distinct verses.
14 / 39
OT books
The word appears in 14 of 39 Old Testament books.
Genesis 5:5
first appearance
The earliest occurrence is in Genesis 5:5.
Jeremiah 52:12
last appearance
The latest occurrence is in Jeremiah 52:12.
#658
by frequency
Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 658 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).

View all 57 occurrences in the concordance →


Most concentrated in

By section of the Old Testament

  • Pentateuch 20 · 35%
  • Historical 34 · 60%
  • Wisdom 0 · 0%
  • Prophets 3 · 5%

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 57 distinct verses.

  • Prophets (Nevi'im) 22 verses · 39%
  • Torah (Pentateuch) 20 verses · 35%
  • Writings (Ketuvim) 15 verses · 26%

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: Nine 37×, Were nine 7×, Ninth 5×
  • American Standard Version: Nine 35×, Were nine 7×, Ninth 5×
  • Berean Standard Bible: Nine 13×, Nineteenth 4×, Ninth 4×
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text: Nine 11×, Years 10×, Were 7×

King James Version Public Domain

Renders H8672 across 57 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Nine” 37×
  • “Were nine” 7×
  • “Ninth” 5×
  • “Nineteen” 2×
  • “Nineteenth” 2×

Plus 4 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 1 further occurrence.

American Standard Version Public Domain

Renders H8672 across 55 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Nine” 35×
  • “Were nine” 7×
  • “Ninth” 5×
  • “Nineteen” 2×
  • “Nineteenth” 2×

Plus 4 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 H8672 across 28 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Nine” 13×
  • “Nineteenth” 4×
  • “Ninth” 4×
  • “Nineteen” 2×

Plus 5 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 30 further occurrences.

unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Renders H8672 across 45 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Nine” 11×
  • “Years” 10×
  • “Were” 7×
  • “And” 4×
  • “Nineteenth” 2×

Plus 11 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 15 further occurrences.


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 6 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.

  • 1. no other num.:
    • a. before n.pl. תֵּ֫שַׁע אַמּוֹת Dt 3:11, ת׳ שָׁנִים 2 K 17:1 Gn 11:19, ת׳ הַיָּדוֹת Ne 11:1, תִּשְׁעָה חֳדָשִׁים 2 S 24:8, תִּשְׁעַת הַשְּׁבָטִים Jos 13:7 (JE?), cf.14:2 Nu 34:13 (both P); after n.pl. עָרִים תֵּ֫שַׁע Jos 15:44, 51; 21:16 (all P), פָּרִים תִּשְׁעָה Nu 29:26 (P); n. om. 1 Ch 3:8. e.g. Deuteronomy 3:11
    • b. = ordin. בְּתִשְׁעָה לַחֹדֶשׁ 2 K 25:3 + 3 times on the ninth (day) of the month; שְׁנַת־תֵּשַׁע לְ 18:10 the ninth year of. e.g. 2 Kings 25:3
  • 2. 9 + 10 = 19, c. n.f. תְּשַׁע־עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה Gn 11:25, עָרִים תְּשַׁע־עֶשְׂרֵה Jos 19:38 (both P), as ordinal שְׁנַת תְּשַׁע־עֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה לְ 2 K 25:8 ‖ Je 52:12; c. n.m. תִּשְׁעָה עָשָׂר אִישׂ 2 S 2:30, cf.(as ordin., גּוֹרָל om.) 1 Ch 24:16; 25:26. e.g. Genesis 11:25
  • 3. 900 = תְּשַׁע מֵאוֹת Ju 4:3 + 14 times e.g. Judges 4:3
  • 4. c. tens (20, 30, etc.): ת׳ foll. 2 K 14:2 + 10 times, precedes Gn 11:24 + 6 times, cf.Köii. 1. 215 ff. e.g. 2 Kings 14:2

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

n.m. et. f. a nine, nonad (NH = BH; Assyrian tišit (fem.), nine, tešû, ninth; Sab. תסעת nine, תסעי ninety HomChr 48; Liḥy. תסע DHMEpigr. Denkm. Ar. 52, Arabic تِسْعٌ, Ethiopic ትስዑ Aramaic תְּשַׁע, ܬܫܰܥ, Nab. Palm. תשע Lzb388, Mand. (א for ע; sometimes ע pref.) תשא, עשתא NöM 188, all nine);—m. c. n.f. abs. תֵּ֫שַׁע Dt 3:11 + 20 times, cstr. תְּשַׁע Ju 4:3 + 18 times; f. c. n.m. abs. תִּשְׁעָה 2 S 14:8 + 13 times, cstr. תִּשְׁעַת Jos 13:7 + 2 times (these include 9 + 10 = 19);—nine (Hex chiefly P);

— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.

Derived from שעה (shâʻâh) (H8159) — to look.

Part of speech: Noun TWOT: 2550


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.

תָּשַׁע

  • (denom. of next w.) to divide by nine.—Part. pass. מְתוּשָּׁע; pl. מְתוּשָּׁעִים. Y. Shebi. I, 33ᵇ ובלבד שלא יפחות מחשבון מת׳ provided that there be no less than the quantity (of one Kikkar) divided by nine, i.e. that none of the nine trees yield less than one-ninth of a Kikkar.

תֵּשַׁע

  • f., תִּשְׁעָה m. (b. h.) nine; ninth. Ber. 8ᵃ תְּשַׁע מאות וכ׳ nine-hundred and thirty modes of death &c. Taan. IV, 5 זמן … ת׳ nine days in the year were designated for the offering of wood (for the Temple) by priests and the people. Ib. 6 בת׳ באב on the ninth of Ab; a. v. fr.—תְּשַׁע עֶשְׂרֵה, תִּשְׁעָה עָשָׂר nineteen.—Pl. תִּשְׁעִים, תִּשְׁעִין ninety. Ab. V, 21, v. שׁוּחַ I. Gen. R. s. 47 בת ת׳ שנה at the age of ninety years. Lev. R. s. 16 וכ׳ (מתים) ת׳ ותשעה ninety-nine people die of … against one of &c.; a. fr.

תְּשַׁע

  • Targ. Gen. V, 5. Targ. Num. I, 23. Targ. II Kings XXV, 3; a. fr.—Ber. 29ᵃ הני ת׳ דר"ה those nine benedictions in the New Year’s prayer; a. fr.—תְּשַׁע עֲשַׂר, תְּ׳ עַשְׂרֵי, תְּ׳ סְרֵי, contr. תְּשֵׁיסַר, תְּשֵׁסְרֵי nineteen. Targ. Gen. XI, 25 (Y. ed. Vien. שתסרי, corr. acc.). Targ. Josh. XIX, 38; a. e.—Ber. l. c. תמני סרי תקון תשסרי וכ׳ eighteen benedictions they introduced, nineteen they did not; a. e.—תְּשֵׁיסְרָאָה, תְּשֵׁסְ׳ the nineteenth. Targ. I Chr. XXIV, 16.

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 28 distinct written forms H8672 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
וָ/תֵ֨שַׁע֙ Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute 2 Chronicles 25:1 6
תְּשַׁ֥ע Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute Ezra 2:8 6
וּ/תְשַׁ֥ע Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute Genesis 5:8 5
תְּשַֽׁע Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute Genesis 11:25 4
תֵּ֥שַׁע Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute Genesis 11:19 4
בְּ/תִשְׁעָ֣ה Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 2 Kings 25:3 3
תְּשַׁ֤ע Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute Genesis 5:5 3
וָ/תֵ֖שַׁע Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute Genesis 17:24 2
לְ/תִשְׁעַ֥ת Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Construct Joshua 14:2 2
תִּשְׁעָ֧ה Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Numbers 1:23 2
תִּשְׁעָֽה Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 1 Chronicles 3:8 2
תֵּ֖שַׁע Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute Joshua 15:44 2
תֵּ֤שַׁע Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute Exodus 38:24 2
בְּ/תִשְׁעָ֤ה Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Leviticus 23:32 1
וְ/תִשְׁעָֽה Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Ezra 2:42 1
וְ/תֵ֣שַׁע Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute Genesis 17:1 1
וְ/תֵ֥שַׁע Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute Nehemiah 11:1 1
וָ/תֵ֤שַׁע Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute 2 Chronicles 16:12 1
לְ/תִשְׁעַ֣ת Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Construct Joshua 13:7 1
לְ/תִשְׁעָ֤ה Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 1 Chronicles 25:26 1
תִשְׁעָ֧ה Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 2 Samuel 24:8 1
תְּשַׁ֨ע Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute Judges 4:3 1
תִּשְׁעָ֖ה Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Numbers 29:26 1
תִּשְׁעָ֣ה Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 1 Chronicles 24:16 1
תִּשְׁעָ֥ה Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Ezra 1:9 1
תֵּ֔שַׁע Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute Joshua 21:16 1
תֵּ֗שַׁע Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute 2 Kings 18:10 1
תֵּ֧שַׁע Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute Deuteronomy 3:11 1

Same root — word family

Other BDB entries built from the same root as H8672, 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 7 — not the complete family. 1 of the same-root words is a proper name (a person or place). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.


Septuagint verse parallels

This word appears in 53 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 57 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.

Reading settings

Reading text

Shown beneath each verse's original-language words.

Old Testament
Old Testament edition

Read the OT as the Masoretic Hebrew (MT) or the Greek Septuagint (LXX).

English shown for the Greek Septuagint (in the Hebrew ↔ Greek comparison).

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