StrongerBible

darash

דָּרַשׁ

HebrewH1875“seek, inquire, ...”

Appears 164 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 9:5 (3×)Gen 25:22Gen 42:22Exo 18:15Lev 10:16 (2×)Deu 4:29Deu 11:12Deu 12:5Deu 12:30Deu 13:14(15)Deu 17:4Deu 17:9Deu 18:11Deu 18:19Deu 19:18Deu 22:2Deu 23:6(7)Deu 23:21(22) (2×)Jdg 6:291Sa 9:91Sa 28:72Sa 11:31Ki 14:51Ki 22:51Ki 22:71Ki 22:82Ki 1:22Ki 1:32Ki 1:62Ki 1:16 (2×)2Ki 3:112Ki 8:82Ki 22:132Ki 22:181Ch 10:131Ch 10:141Ch 13:31Ch 15:131Ch 16:111Ch 21:301Ch 22:191Ch 26:311Ch 28:81Ch 28:9 (2×)2Ch 1:52Ch 12:142Ch 14:4(3)2Ch 14:7(6) (2×)2Ch 15:22Ch 15:12
Root family
Word studyda-RASHverb

What darash means

to seek something out with care and effort, going after it deliberately until it is found, answered, or settled

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

The picture under every use of this word is a person turning toward something and pursuing it on purpose. It is never a vague wish; it is the act of going after a thing, tracking it down, asking after it, looking into it, until you get an answer or a result. Because the same effort can be aimed at very different targets, the word fans out into several settled uses.

The oldest and most common target is God. To seek the LORD is to go to him for direction, to consult him through a prophet or by some appointed means, and more broadly to make him the object of one's loyalty and worship. The opposite act, going to dead spirits or other gods for the same kind of answer, is described with the very same word, which is part of why the Bible warns against it so sharply.

The other uses keep the same core but aim it elsewhere: searching out a lost thing or a person, looking carefully into a matter to find out the truth, holding someone responsible and demanding an accounting, and tending to the wellbeing of those in one's care. What ties them together is the deliberate going-after, not the particular object.

Nuances

1ato go to God to consult him, ask his direction, or seek him as the one you are devoted to
Gen 25:22Exo 18:151Sa 9:91Ki 22:51Ki 22:71Ki 22:82Ki 1:22Ki 1:32Ki 1:62Ki 1:16 (2×)2Ki 3:112Ki 8:8
1bto consult the dead or false gods for an answer, a forbidden way of seeking guidance
Deu 12:30Deu 18:111Sa 28:72Ch 25:20Isa 8:19 (2×)Isa 19:3
1cto look carefully into a matter to learn the truth, to investigate or study it
Lev 10:16 (2×)Deu 13:14(15)Deu 17:4Deu 17:9Deu 19:18Jdg 6:29Ezr 10:16Job 10:6Psa 111:2Psa 119:45Ecc 1:13Isa 34:16
1dto search for something or someone in order to find them
Deu 12:5Deu 22:21Ch 26:31Job 39:8Psa 38:12(13)Psa 109:10Pro 31:13Isa 11:10
1eto require an accounting, to hold someone responsible and call them to answer
Gen 9:5 (3×)Gen 42:22Deu 18:19Deu 23:21(22) (2×)2Ch 24:22Psa 9:12(13)Psa 10:4Psa 10:13Psa 10:15Ezk 33:6Ezk 34:10Mic 6:8
1fto attend to the wellbeing of those in one's care, to look after them
Deu 11:12Deu 23:6(7)Psa 142:4(5)Pro 11:27Isa 62:12Jer 8:2Jer 29:7Jer 30:14Jer 30:17Ezk 34:6Ezk 34:8Ezk 34:11

What scholars say about darash

The standard lexica treat דָּרַשׁ as a single verb whose core is deliberate, effortful seeking, with the religious sense of consulting or being devoted to God as its most prominent and most studied use. BDB and HALOT organize the range around (1) seeking or consulting God or other gods, (2) seeking out, searching, investigating a matter, and (3) requiring or demanding an accounting, with the pastoral sense of attending to or caring for as a developed branch. TDOT and TWOT stress that the consulting sense originally belonged to oracular inquiry through a prophet or appointed means, and that the Chronicler in particular develops seeking the LORD into a comprehensive term for covenant loyalty.

Sources

  • HALOT, s.v. דרשׁlexicon
  • BDB, s.v. דרשׁlexicon
  • DCH, s.v. דרשׁlexicon
  • S. Wagner, "דָּרַשׁ darash," in TDOT 3:293-307dictionary
  • TWOT, no. 455 (דָּרַשׁ)dictionary
  • NIDOTTE, vol. 1, s.v. דרשׁdictionary

AI-generated word study · claude-opus-4-8

All attested forms of דָּרַשׁ

qal infinitive-construct construct

דְּרֹשׁ, דְרוֹשׁ, דַרְיוֹשׁ, דְרָשׁ, דָרְשֵׁ, דָּרְשׁ

Gen 25:22, Exo 18:15, Deu 22:2, 1Ki 14:5, 1Ki 22:8, 2Ki 1:3, 2Ki 1:6, 2Ki 1:16

qal participle m s absolute

דֹּרֵשׁ, דּוֹרֵשׁ

Deu 11:12, Deu 18:11, Est 10:3, Psa 9:12, Psa 14:2, Psa 53:2, Pro 11:27, Isa 16:5

qal imperative 2mp

דִּרְשׁוּ

2Ki 1:2, 2Ki 22:13, 1Ch 16:11, 1Ch 28:8, 2Ch 34:21, Psa 105:4, Isa 1:17, Isa 8:19

qal perfect 3cp

דָרָשׁוּ, דְּרָשׁוּ, דָרְשׁוּ, דְרָשֻׁ

Psa 119:155, Isa 9:13, Isa 31:1, Jer 10:21, Psa 78:34, Isa 65:10, Jer 8:2, 2Ch 25:20

qal imperfect 1cs

אֶדְרֹשׁ, אֶדְרוֹשׁ, אֶדְרְשֶׁ

Gen 9:5, Gen 9:5, Deu 18:19, Job 5:8, Ezk 33:6, Ezk 20:40, Gen 9:5

qal imperfect 2ms

תִּדְרֹשׁ, תִּדְרוֹשׁ, תִּדְרְשֶׁ

Deu 12:30, Deu 23:6, Psa 10:13, Job 10:6, Psa 10:15, Deu 4:29, 1Ch 28:9

qal participle m p construct

דֹּרְשֵׁי, דֹּרְשָׁי, דֹרְשֶׁי

Psa 34:10, Psa 38:12, Psa 69:32, Psa 22:26, Psa 24:6, Psa 9:10

qal perfect 3ms

דָּרַשׁ, דָּרָשׁ

Lev 10:16, 1Ch 10:14, 2Ch 16:12, 2Ch 17:3, 2Ch 22:9, 2Ch 17:4

niphal imperfect 1cs

אִדָּרֵשׁ

Ezk 14:3, Ezk 20:3, Ezk 20:31, Ezk 20:31, Ezk 36:37

qal imperfect 3ms

יִדְרֹשׁ, יִדְרוֹשׁ, יִדְרְשֶׁ

2Ch 15:13, Psa 10:4, Isa 8:19, Job 39:8, Deu 23:21

qal perfect 1cs

דָּרָשְׁתִּי, דְרַשְׁתִּי, דָּרַשְׁתִּי

Psa 77:2, Psa 119:45, Psa 119:94, Psa 119:10, Psa 34:4

qal consecutive-perfect 2ms

וְדָרַשְׁתָּ

Deu 13:14, Deu 17:4, Deu 17:9, 2Ki 8:8

qal imperfect 2mp

תִּדְרְשֻׁ, תִדְרְשׁוּ

2Ch 15:2, Jer 29:13, Deu 12:5, Ezr 9:12

qal imperfect 3mp

יִדְרֹשׁוּ, יִדְרְשׁוּ

Isa 11:10, Isa 58:2, Jer 30:14, Psa 119:2

qal perfect 1cp

דְרַשְׁנֻ, דָּרַשְׁנוּ

1Ch 13:3, 1Ch 15:13, 2Ch 14:7, 2Ch 14:7

qal cohortative 1cp

נִדְרְשָׁה

1Ki 22:7, 2Ki 3:11, 2Ch 18:6

qal consecutive-imperfect 3ms

וַיִּדְרֹשׁ, וַיִּדְרְשֵׁ

2Sa 11:3, 2Ch 31:9, 2Ch 1:5

qal consecutive-perfect 3cp

וְדָרְשׁוּ

Deu 19:18, Psa 109:10, Isa 19:3

qal imperative 2ms

דְּרָשׁ

1Ki 22:5, 2Ch 18:4, Jer 21:2

qal consecutive-perfect 1cs

וְדָרַשְׁתִּי

Ezk 34:10, Ezk 34:11

qal infinitive-absolute absolute

דָּרֹשׁ

Lev 10:16, Deu 23:21

qal perfect 2ms

דָרַשְׁתָּ

2Ch 24:6, 2Ch 25:15

niphal infinitive-absolute absolute

אִדָּרֹשׁ

Ezk 14:3

niphal participle m s absolute

נִדְרָשׁ

Gen 42:22

niphal perfect 1cs

נִדְרַשְׁתִּי

Isa 65:1

niphal perfect 3cp

נִדְרָשׁוּ

1Ch 26:31

qal cohortative 1cs

אֶדְרְשָׁה

1Sa 28:7

qal conjunctive-imperfect 3ms

וְיִדְרֹשׁ

2Ch 24:22

qal consecutive-imperfect 3mp

וַיִּדְרְשׁוּ

Jdg 6:29

qal imperfect 1cp

נִדְרוֹשׁ

Ezr 4:2

qal imperfect 3fs

תִּדְרְשֶׁ

Lam 3:25

qal jussive 2mp

תִּדְרְשׁוּ

Amo 5:5

qal jussive 3ms

יִדְרְשֵׁ

Job 3:4

qal passive-participle f s absolute

דְרוּשָׁה

Isa 62:12

qal passive-participle m p absolute

דְּרוּשִׁים

Psa 111:2

qal perfect 3fs

דָּרְשָׁה

Pro 31:13