yatav

In its plain form this verb describes a situation or a thing as turning out well, or as striking someone as good. It is the everyday way of saying that life goes well for a person, that a plan succeeds, or that a proposal pleases the one who hears it.

A very common pattern is impersonal: "it went well with so-and-so," meaning their circumstances prospered, often as a reward for obedience. This is the language behind the promise attached to honoring one's parents, that it may go well with you and your days be long. The same form, with the phrase "in the eyes of," says that a word or a deed looked good to someone, that they approved of it. The two shadings, prospering and pleasing, are the same idea seen from two angles: the thing is good, whether good in its outcome or good in someone's judgment.

The causative form turns the plain verb outward: to make things go well for someone, to treat them well, to do them good. God promises to do good to his people; people are urged to do good to the poor and the resident foreigner; a master deals well with a faithful servant. The good done can be material favor, kindness, or covenant blessing.

The flip side appears in warnings: the same word names the good that is withheld or the good and harm a person may choose to do. Because the form is about producing a good outcome for another, it reaches naturally into the language of reward and of covenant, where God's doing good is the answer to faithfulness.