בָּטַח
to trust
‘to trust’ is one of 2 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Qal verb in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Stem
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”). Here: ‘with cogn. acc.’
- Hiphil
- The causative active stem (“he caused / brought about”).
Form
- Participle Active
- A verbal adjective expressing ongoing or characteristic action (“writing / one who writes”).
- Perfect
- A completed action or state — Hebrew marks aspect (completeness) more than strict tense (“he wrote”).
- Imperfect
- An incomplete, ongoing, or future action (“he will / would write”).
- Jussive
- A third- or second-person volitional form expressing wish or command (“let him write”).
- Imperative
- A direct command (“write!”).
- Sequential Imperfect
- An imperfect with prefixed waw — the standard past-narrative form (waw-consecutive imperfect).
- Infinitive Construct
- A bound verbal noun, frequently with prepositions (“to write / in writing”).
- Participle Passive
- A verbal adjective expressing action received (“written”).
- Sequential Perfect
- A perfect with prefixed waw continuing a preceding imperfect or command (waw-consecutive perfect).
- Infinitive Absolute
- An unbound verbal noun, often intensifying or standing in for a finite verb.
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).
Person
- 1st Person
- The speaker (“I / we”).
- 2nd Person
- The one addressed (“you”).
- 3rd Person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
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).
44 verses where H982 appears in the Qal stem in the Book of Psalms. 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.
Psalms
- Psalms 4:5 וּ֝/בִטְח֗וּ conj + Qal impv 2mp Offer the sacrifices of righteousness. Put your trust in Yahweh.
- Psalms 9:10 וְ/יִבְטְח֣וּ conj + Qal impf 3mp Those who know your name will put their trust in you, For you, Yahweh, have not forsaken those who seek you.
- Psalms 13:5 בָטַחְתִּי֮ Qal pf 1cs But I trust in your loving kindness. My heart rejoices in your salvation.
- Psalms 21:7 בֹּטֵ֣חַ Qal ptcp.act ms For the king trusts in Yahweh. Through the loving kindness of the Most High, he shall not be moved.
- Psalms 22:4 בָּטְח֣וּ בָּ֝טְח֗וּ Qal pf 3cp Qal pf 3cp Our fathers trusted in you. They trusted, and you delivered them.
- Psalms 22:5 בָטְח֣וּ Qal pf 3cp They cried to you, and were delivered. They trusted in you, and were not disappointed.
- Psalms 25:2 בָ֭טַחְתִּי Qal pf 1cs My God, I have trusted in you, Don't let me be shamed. Don't let my enemies triumph over me.
- Psalms 26:1 בָּ֝טַ֗חְתִּי Qal pf 1cs Judge me, Yahweh, for I have walked in my integrity. I have trusted also in Yahweh without wavering.
- Psalms 27:3 בוֹטֵֽחַ Qal ptcp.act ms Though a host should encamp against me, My heart shall not fear. Though war should rise against me, Even then I will be confident.
- Psalms 28:7 בָטַ֥ח Qal pf 3ms Yahweh is my strength and my shield. My heart has trusted in him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoices. With my song I will thank him.
- Psalms 31:6 בָּטָֽחְתִּי Qal pf 1cs I hate those who regard lying vanities, But I trust in Yahweh.
- Psalms 31:14 בָטַ֣חְתִּי Qal pf 1cs But I trust in you, Yahweh. I said, "You are my God."
- Psalms 32:10 וְ/הַ/בּוֹטֵ֥חַ conj + ptcl def.art + Qal ptcp.act ms Many sorrows shall be to the wicked, But he who trusts in Yahweh, loving kindness shall surround him.
- Psalms 33:21 בָטָֽחְנוּ Qal pf 1cp For our heart rejoices in him, Because we have trusted in his holy name.
- Psalms 37:3 בְּטַ֣ח Qal impv 2ms Trust in Yahweh, and do good. Dwell in the land, and enjoy safe pasture.
- Psalms 37:5 וּ/בְטַ֥ח conj + Qal impv 2ms Commit your way to Yahweh. Trust also in him, and he will do this:
- Psalms 40:3 וְ֝/יִבְטְח֗וּ conj + Qal impf 3mp He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God. Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in Yahweh.
- Psalms 41:9 בָּטַ֣חְתִּי Qal pf 1cs Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, Who ate bread with me, Has lifted up his heel against me.
- Psalms 44:6 אֶבְטָ֑ח Qal impf 1cs For I will not trust in my bow, Neither shall my sword save me.
- Psalms 49:6 הַ/בֹּטְחִ֥ים ptcl def.art + Qal ptcp.act mp Those who trust in their wealth, And boast in the multitude of their riches--
- Psalms 52:7 וַ֭/יִּבְטַח conj + Qal wimpf 3ms "Behold, this is the man who didn't make God his strength, But trusted in the abundance of his riches, And strengthened himself in his wickedness."
- Psalms 52:8 בָּטַ֥חְתִּי Qal pf 1cs But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in God's house. I trust in God's loving kindness forever and ever.
- Psalms 55:23 אֶבְטַח Qal impf 1cs But you, God, will bring them down into the pit of destruction. Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days, But I will trust in you.
- Psalms 56:3 אֶבְטָֽח Qal impf 1cs When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you.
- Psalms 56:4 בָּ֭טַחְתִּי Qal pf 1cs In God, I praise his word. In God, I put my trust. I will not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?
- Psalms 56:11 בָּ֭טַחְתִּי Qal pf 1cs I have put my trust in God. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
- Psalms 62:8 בִּטְח֘וּ Qal impv 2mp Trust in him at all times, you people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us. Selah.
- Psalms 62:10 תִּבְטְח֣וּ Qal juss 2mp Don't trust in oppression. Don't become vain in robbery. If riches increase, Don't set your heart on them.
- Psalms 78:22 בָ֝טְח֗וּ Qal pf 3cp Because they didn't believe in God, And didn't trust in his salvation.
- Psalms 84:12 בֹּטֵ֥חַ Qal ptcp.act ms Yahweh of Hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in you.
- Psalms 86:2 הַ/בּוֹטֵ֥חַ ptcl def.art + Qal ptcp.act ms Preserve my soul, for I am godly. You, my God, save your servant who trusts in you.
- Psalms 91:2 אֶבְטַח Qal impf 1cs I will say of Yahweh, "He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in whom I trust."
- Psalms 112:7 בָּטֻ֥חַ Qal ptcp.pass ms He will not be afraid of evil news. His heart is steadfast, trusting in Yahweh.
- Psalms 115:8 בֹּטֵ֣חַ Qal ptcp.act ms Those who make them will be like them; Yes, everyone who trusts in them.
- Psalms 115:9 בְּטַ֣ח Qal impv 2ms Israel, trust in Yahweh! He is their help and their shield.
- Psalms 115:10 בִּטְח֣וּ Qal impv 2mp House of Aaron, trust in Yahweh! He is their help and their shield.
- Psalms 115:11 בִּטְח֣וּ Qal impv 2mp You who fear Yahweh, trust in Yahweh! He is their help and their shield.
- Psalms 118:8 מִ֝/בְּטֹ֗חַ prep + Qal inf.cs It is better to take refuge in Yahweh, Than to put confidence in man.
- Psalms 118:9 מִ֝/בְּטֹ֗חַ prep + Qal inf.cs It is better to take refuge in Yahweh, Than to put confidence in princes.
- Psalms 119:42 בָ֝טַחְתִּי Qal pf 1cs So I will have an answer for him who reproaches me, For I trust in your word.
- Psalms 125:1 הַ/בֹּטְחִ֥ים ptcl def.art + Qal ptcp.act mp Those who trust in Yahweh are as Mount Zion, Which can't be moved, but remains forever.
- Psalms 135:18 בֹּטֵ֣חַ Qal ptcp.act ms Those who make them will be like them; Yes, everyone who trusts in them.
- Psalms 143:8 בָ֫טָ֥חְתִּי Qal pf 1cs Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning, For I trust in you. Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, For I lift up my soul to you.
- Psalms 146:3 תִּבְטְח֥וּ Qal juss 2mp Don't put your trust in princes, Each a son of man in whom there is no help.
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 verb בטח centers on the idea of “to trust.” Debuting at Deuteronomy 28:52, it then recurs through the corpus. Spanning 117 verses in 16 books, it ranks among the common words of the Hebrew Bible. Psalms dominates its distribution — 45 of 117 verses. Different stems carry different senses — BDB groups them under 2 stems, among them Qal and Hiphil. 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 H982 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 →
- 117
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 117 distinct verses.
- 16 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 16 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #360
- by frequency
- Top 500 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 360 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 117 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 117 distinct verses.
- Writings (Ketuvim) 61 verses · 52%
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 55 verses · 47%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 1 verse · 1%
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: Trust 17×, Trusted 6×, Trusteth 6×
- American Standard Version: Trust 14×, Trusteth 5×, Me 4×
- Berean Standard Bible: Trust 34×, Trusts 10×, I trust 6×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Trust 22×, You trust 7×, Do 6×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H982 across 120 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 48 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 H982 across 118 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 51 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 H982 across 120 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 38 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 H982 across 130 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 25 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
17 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 17 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.
Qal
- Pf. בָּטַח ψ 28:7 + 35 times; Impf. יִבְטַח Jb 40:23 + 27 times; Imv. בְּטַח ψ 37:3 + 8 times; Inf. abs. בָּטוֹחַ Is 59:4, cstr. בְּטֹחַ ψ 118:8 + 2 times; Pt. בֹּטֵחַ ψ 21:8 + 35 times; pass. בָּטוּחַ ψ 112:7 Is 26:3. i. trust. e.g. Psalms 28:7
- 1. abs. Is 12:2. e.g. Isaiah 12:2
- 2. with cogn. acc. מה הבטחון הזה אשׁר בטחת what is this trust that thou dost trust? 2 K 18:19 = Is 36:4. e.g. 2 Kings 18:19
- 3. with בְּ trust in—
- a. God 2 K 18:5; 19:10 1 Ch 5:20 ψ 9:11; 21:8; 22:5, 6; 25:2; 26:1; 28:7; 32:10; 37:3; 40:4; 55:24; 56:5, 12; 62:9; 84:13; 91:2; 112:7; 115:9, 10, 11; 125:1; 143:8 Pr 16:20; 29:25 Is 26:3, 4; 37:10 Je 17:7; 39:18 Zp 3:2. e.g. 2 Kings 18:5
- b. persons Ju 9:26 ψ 41:10; 118:8, 9; 146:3 Pr 31:11 Je 17:5; 46:25 Mi 7:5. e.g. Judges 9:26
- c. things Dt 28:52 Jb 39:11 ψ 27:3; 44:7; 52:9; 62:11; 115:8; 135:18 Pr 11:28; 28:26 Is 30:12; 42:17; 47:10 Je 5:17; 7:14; 12:5; 13:25; 48:7; 49:4 Ez 16:15 Ho 10:13 Am 6:1. e.g. Deuteronomy 28:52
- d. in the name of God ψ 33:21 Is 50:10; mercy of God ψ 13:6; 52:10; word of God ψ 119:42; salvation of God ψ 78:22. e.g. Psalms 33:21
- 4. with עַל, trust or rely upon—
- a. God ψ 31:15; 37:5 Pr 28:25 Je 49:11. e.g. Psalms 31:15
- b. persons 2 K 18:20, 21, 24 = Is 36:5, 6, 9, Je 9:3. e.g. 2 Kings 18:20
- c. things 2 K 18:21 = Is 36:6 2 Ch 32:10, ψ 49:7 Is 31:1; 59:4 Ez 33:13 Hb 2:18. e.g. 2 Kings 18:21
- 5. with אֶל trust to—
- a. God 2 K 18:22 (= Is 36:7) ψ 4:6; 31:7; 56:4; 86:2 Pr 3:5. e.g. 2 Kings 18:22
- b. persons Ju 20:36. e.g. Judges 20:36
- c. things Je 7:4 (= על דבר 7:8). ii. be confident Jb 6:20; 40:23 Pr 14:16; צַדִּיקִים כִּכְפִיר יִבְטַח the righteous are bold as a lion Pr 28:1; secure Jb 11:18 Pr 11:15; עַם בֹּטֵחַ a people secure Ju 18:7, 10, 27; בָּנוֹת בֹּטְחוֹת careless daughters, (women) Is 32:9 cf. v 10, 11. e.g. Jeremiah 7:4
Hiphil
- Pf. הִבְטַחְתָּ Je 28:15; Impf. יַבְטַח Is 36:15 + 2 times; Pt. מַבְטִיחִי ψ 22:10; cause to trust, make secure, abs. ψ 22:10; with עַל Je 28:15; 29:31; with אֶל 2 K 18:30 = Is 36:15. e.g. Jeremiah 28:15
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
vb. trust (cf. Arabic بَطَحَ to throw one down upon his face Thes, اِنْبَطَحَ lie extended on the ground, ‘se reposer sur quelqu’un’ Fl MV)—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
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.
בָּטַח
- , v. בטי; cmp. רָוַח) to be at ease, without trouble, whence to trust. Ber. 6ᵇ הו"ל לבְטוֹחַ וכ׳ he ought to have trusted in the name of the Lord, but did not trust.—Part. pass. בָּטוּחַ assured. Y. Naz. IV, end, 53ᶜ.—Lev. R. s. 31 ב׳ שגוזר he may rest assured that &c.; a. fr.
- to assure, promise. Ber. 17ᵃ הבטחה שה׳ the assurance which the Lord has given. Pesik. R. s. 1, beg. אע"פ שמתו המַבְטִיחִין וכ׳ though those who gave the assurances, the prophets, are dead, but the Lord who promised (through them) is ever-living; a. fr.—Part. Hof. מוּבְטָח (= בָּטוּחַ) confident, sure. Ber. 4ᵃ מ׳ אני בך וכ׳ I am sure that thou rewardest &c. Ib.ᵇ מ׳ לו may rest assured. Gitt. 58ᵃ מוּבְטַחְנִי = מ׳ אני; a. fr.
בְּטַח I
- Taan. 22ᵇ הואיל וקא ב׳ בע"א since he trusts in idols.
- = preced. Hif. Targ. Ruth II, 13.
- to feel safe. Targ. Jer. XII, 5.
בְּטַח II
- (בטח, בטי, v. Ges. H. Dict. s. v. בטח; cmp. מִקְוֶה) a hollow column-like receptacle of rain water near the house. [Maim., a projection in front of the window to stand upon in climbing.] Ohol. XII, 3 הבטח (Ar. Var. אבטח). Tosef. ib. XIII, 3 אבטי (ed. Zuck. אבטו, corr. acc.). [Cmp. פותי for פותח, טְפֵי IV for טפח.] V. בִּטְוַיָּא.
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 91 distinct written forms H982 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; 31 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H982, 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
- בטח beṭach H983 security
- בטחון biṭṭâchôwn H986 trust
- בטחות baṭṭuchôwth H987 safety
- מבטח mibṭâch H4009 trust
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 5 — not the complete family. They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 108 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 117 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 28:52
- Judges 9:26
- 2 Kings 18:5
- 1 Chronicles 5:20
- 2 Chronicles 32:10
- Job 6:20
- Psalms 4:5
- Proverbs 3:5
- Isaiah 12:2
- Jeremiah 5:17
- Ezekiel 16:15
- Hosea 10:13
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.
