StrongerBible

bataḥ

בָּטַח

HebrewH0982trust, be secure, ...

Appears 120 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Deu 28:52Jdg 9:26Jdg 18:7Jdg 18:10Jdg 18:27Jdg 20:362Ki 18:52Ki 18:192Ki 18:202Ki 18:21 (2×)2Ki 18:222Ki 18:242Ki 18:302Ki 19:101Ch 5:202Ch 32:10Job 6:20Job 11:18Job 39:11Job 40:23Psa 4:5(6)Psa 9:10(11)Psa 13:5(6)Psa 21:7(8)Psa 22:4(5) (2×)Psa 22:5(6)Psa 22:9(10)Psa 25:2Psa 26:1Psa 27:3Psa 28:7Psa 31:6(7)Psa 31:14(15)Psa 32:10Psa 33:21Psa 37:3Psa 37:5Psa 40:3(4)Psa 41:9(10)Psa 44:6(7)Psa 49:6(7)Psa 52:7(9)Psa 52:8(10)Psa 55:23(24)Psa 56:3(4)Psa 56:4(5)Psa 56:11(12)Psa 62:8(9)Psa 62:10(11)Psa 78:22
Root family
Word studyba-TAKHverb

What bataḥ means

to put your confidence in someone or something, leaning on it for safety; and so to feel secure

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

At its heart this is the verb of leaning your whole weight on something because you are sure it will hold. It is not a calm opinion that a thing is reliable; it is the act of staking your safety on it, the way a person rests their full weight on a wall they believe will not give way.

Because the word is about leaning, everything depends on what you lean on. When the object is God, it is the steadying confidence the Psalms return to again and again. When the object is anything else, the same posture becomes the great folly the prophets attack: leaning on idols, on silver, on warhorses, on Egypt, on fortified walls, on one's own cleverness. The word itself does not change; the thing trusted decides whether the trust is wise or ruinous.

The verb also reaches past the act of relying to the state it produces: to feel safe, to be at ease, to live without fear. That security can be the deep peace of the one who rests in God, or it can curdle into a false sense of safety, the careless ease of a city or a person who feels untouchable right up to the moment of ruin.

Nuances

1ato rely on God: to rest your safety and hope on him
Psa 13:5(6)Psa 22:4(5) (2×)Psa 25:2Psa 26:1Psa 28:7Psa 31:6(7)Psa 31:14(15)Psa 33:21Psa 56:3(4)Psa 56:4(5)Psa 56:11(12)Psa 91:2
1bto rely on the wrong thing: to lean on idols, wealth, power, or human help instead of God
2Ki 18:192Ki 18:202Ki 18:21 (2×)2Ki 18:222Ki 18:242Ch 32:10Psa 49:6(7)Isa 36:4Isa 36:5Isa 36:6 (2×)Isa 36:7Isa 36:9
1cto feel secure: to be at ease and unafraid, whether in well-founded peace or in false complacency
Jdg 18:7Jdg 18:10Jdg 18:27Job 11:18Job 40:23Psa 27:3Pro 28:1Isa 32:9Isa 32:10Isa 32:11Amo 6:1Zep 3:2

Uncategorized

Awaiting AI sense categorization.

2 verses
Jdg 20:36Pro 31:11

What scholars say about bataḥ

The standard lexica treat בָּטַח as a single verb meaning to rely on or lean upon, with its moral value supplied entirely by its object; the intransitive shade to be or feel secure (often a complacent, false security) is widely recognized alongside the transitive to trust in. The verb is concentrated in the Psalms, Proverbs, and the prophets, where it becomes a theological touchstone for where Israel places its confidence.

Sources

  • HALOT, s.v. בטחlexicon
  • BDB, s.v. בטחlexicon
  • DCH, s.v. בטחlexicon
  • A. Jepsen, "בָּטַח batach," in TDOT 2:88-94dictionary

All attested forms of בָּטַח

qal participle m s absolute

בֹּטֵחַ, בּוֹטֵחַ, וּבוֹטֵחַ, הַבּוֹטֵחַ, וְהַבּוֹטֵחַ

Deu 28:52, Jdg 18:7, Jdg 18:10, Jdg 18:27, 2Ki 19:10, Psa 21:7, Psa 84:12, Psa 115:8

qal perfect 1cs

בָּטַחְתִּי, בָּטָחְתִּי

Psa 13:5, Psa 25:2, Psa 26:1, Psa 31:14, Psa 41:9, Psa 52:8, Psa 56:4, Psa 56:11

qal participle m p absolute

בֹּטְחִים

2Ki 18:21, 2Ch 32:10, Psa 49:6, Psa 125:1, Isa 36:6, Isa 42:17, Jer 7:8, Jer 7:14

qal perfect 2ms

בָטַחְתָּ, בָּטָחְתָּ

2Ki 18:20, 2Ki 18:21, Isa 36:5, Isa 36:6, Jer 39:18, Hos 10:13, 2Ki 18:19, Isa 36:4

qal perfect 3cp

בָּטְחוּ

Jdg 20:36, 1Ch 5:20, Psa 22:4, Psa 22:4, Psa 22:5, Psa 78:22

qal perfect 3ms

בָּטַח, בָּטָח

Psa 28:7, Pro 31:11, Ezk 33:13, Hab 2:18, 2Ki 18:5, Job 6:20

qal imperative 2mp

בִּטְחוּ

Psa 4:5, Psa 62:8, Psa 115:10, Psa 115:11, Isa 26:4

qal imperfect 1cs

אֶבְטַח, אֶבְטָח

Psa 55:23, Psa 91:2, Isa 12:2, Psa 44:6, Psa 56:3

qal imperfect 3ms

יִבְטַח, יִבְטָח

Job 40:23, Isa 50:10, Jer 17:5, Jer 17:7, Pro 28:1

qal jussive 2mp

תִּבְטְחוּ, תִּבְטָחוּ

Psa 62:10, Psa 146:3, Jer 7:4, Mic 7:5, Jer 9:4

qal imperative 2ms

בְּטַח

Psa 37:3, Psa 37:5, Psa 115:9, Pro 3:5

qal consecutive-imperfect 2fs

וַתִּבְטְחִי

Isa 47:10, Jer 13:25, Ezk 16:15

qal infinitive-construct construct

בְּטֹחַ, בִּטְחֵ

Psa 118:8, Psa 118:9, Jer 48:7

qal participle f p absolute

בֹּטְחוֹת, בֹּטחוֹת

Isa 32:10, Isa 32:11, Isa 32:9

qal perfect 1cp

בָּטָחְנוּ

2Ki 18:22, Psa 33:21, Isa 36:7

hiphil imperfect 3ms

יַבְטַח

2Ki 18:30, Isa 36:15

m s absolute

בָּטוּחַ, בָּטֻחַ

Isa 26:3, Psa 112:7

qal conjunctive-imperfect 3mp

וְיִבְטְחוּ

Psa 9:10, Psa 40:3

qal consecutive-imperfect 2ms

וַתִּבְטַח

2Ki 18:24, Isa 36:9

qal consecutive-imperfect 3mp

וַיִּבְטְחוּ

Jdg 9:26, Isa 31:1

hiphil consecutive-imperfect 3ms

וַיַּבְטַח

Jer 29:31

hiphil participle m s construct

מַבְטִיחִ

Psa 22:9

hiphil perfect 2ms

הִבְטַחְתָּ

Jer 28:15

qal consecutive-imperfect 2mp

וַתִּבְטְחוּ

Isa 30:12

qal consecutive-imperfect 3ms

וַיִּבְטַח

Psa 52:7

qal consecutive-perfect 2ms

וּבָטַחְתָּ

Job 11:18

qal imperfect 2mp

תִּבְטָחוּ

Jer 49:11

qal imperfect 2ms

תִבְטַח

Job 39:11

qal infinitive-absolute absolute

בָּטוֹחַ

Isa 59:4

qal participle f s absolute

בֹּטְחָה

Jer 49:4

qal perfect 3fs

בָטָחָה

Zep 3:2