StrongerBible

yatsav

יָצַב

HebrewH3320“present oneself, stand firm, ...”

Appears 48 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Exo 2:4Exo 8:20(16)Exo 9:13Exo 14:13Exo 19:17Exo 34:5Num 11:16Num 22:22Num 23:3Num 23:15Deu 7:24Deu 9:2Deu 11:25Deu 31:14 (2×)Jos 1:5Jos 24:1Jdg 20:21Sa 3:101Sa 10:191Sa 10:231Sa 12:71Sa 12:161Sa 17:162Sa 18:132Sa 18:302Sa 21:52Sa 23:121Ch 11:142Ch 11:132Ch 20:62Ch 20:17Job 1:6Job 2:1 (2×)Job 33:5Job 38:14Job 41:10(2)Psa 2:2Psa 5:5(6)Psa 36:4(5)Psa 94:16Pro 22:29 (2×)Jer 46:4Jer 46:14Hab 2:1Zec 6:5
Word studyyaw-TSAVverb

What yatsav means

to plant oneself in place: to take up a position and hold it, whether to wait, to appear before someone, or to stand one's ground

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

This verb always describes a person (or a creature, or even God) deliberately putting himself in a spot and staying there. The single picture underneath every use is someone taking up a position on purpose, not drifting into it.

Which English word fits depends on why the person plants himself. Sometimes it is simply to wait or watch from a chosen spot. Sometimes it is to appear before a king, a prophet, or God, presenting oneself to be seen, addressed, or judged. And sometimes it is to face an enemy and refuse to be moved, so that the word means to hold one's ground or withstand. These are not separate words but shades of one act: choosing a place and standing in it.

Because the act is always intentional, the verb often carries weight in a scene. To station yourself, to come and present yourself before the LORD, or to stand firm when armies advance are all charged moments, and the word marks the moment a person commits to a position.

Nuances

1ato station oneself somewhere, taking up a physical position to wait or watch
Exo 2:4Exo 14:13Num 22:221Sa 10:231Sa 17:162Sa 18:302Sa 23:121Ch 11:14Job 38:14Psa 36:4(5)
1bto present oneself before a superior, a prophet, or God, taking one's place to be seen, addressed, or to render service
Exo 8:20(16)Exo 9:13Exo 19:17Exo 34:5Num 11:16Num 23:3Num 23:15Deu 31:14 (2×)Jos 24:1Jdg 20:21Sa 3:101Sa 10:19
1cto stand firm against opposition: to hold one's ground or withstand, so that no one can dislodge you
Deu 7:24Deu 9:2Deu 11:25Jos 1:52Sa 18:132Sa 21:52Ch 20:6Job 41:10(2)Psa 2:2Psa 94:16Jer 46:4Jer 46:14

What scholars say about yatsav

The verb occurs only in the hithpael (reflexive) and is treated by the standard lexica as a single root meaning to station oneself, take one's stand. BDB and HALOT group the roughly four dozen occurrences under one head with contextual shades: to set or place oneself, to present oneself before someone (frequently before God or a ruler), and to stand firm or hold one's ground (often with the negated idiom that no one can stand before another in battle, as in Deuteronomy and Joshua). It is a near-synonym of נצב, and the two are largely interchangeable in this stem; עמד overlaps in the wider field of standing and enduring. No live disagreement attends the word's basic sense.

Sources

  • BDB, s.v. יצבlexicon
  • HALOT, s.v. יצבlexicon
  • TWOT, s.v. יצבtheological-dictionary

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

All attested forms of יָצַב

hithpael imperfect 3ms

יִתְיַצֵּב, יִתְיַצָּב

Deu 7:24, Deu 9:2, Deu 11:25, Jos 1:5, Psa 36:4, Psa 94:16, Pro 22:29, Job 41:10

hithpael imperative 2mp

הִתְיַצְּבוּ, הִתְיַצְבוּ

Deu 31:14, 1Sa 10:19, 1Sa 12:7, 1Sa 12:16, 2Ch 20:17, Jer 46:4, Exo 14:13

hithpael imperative 2ms

הִתְיַצֵּב, הִתְיַצָּבָ

Exo 8:20, Exo 9:13, Num 23:3, Num 23:15, 2Sa 18:30, Jer 46:14, Job 33:5

hithpael consecutive-imperfect 3ms

וַיִּתְיַצֵּב, וַיִּתְיַצַּב

Exo 34:5, Num 22:22, 1Sa 10:23, 1Sa 17:16, 2Sa 23:12, 1Sa 3:10

hithpael infinitive-construct construct

הִתְיַצֵּב

2Sa 21:5, 2Ch 20:6, Job 1:6, Job 2:1, Job 2:1, Zec 6:5

hithpael consecutive-imperfect 3mp

וַיִּתְיַצְּבוּ

Exo 19:17, Deu 31:14, Jos 24:1, Jdg 20:2, 1Ch 11:14

hithpael imperfect 3mp

יִתְיַצְּבוּ

Psa 2:2, Psa 5:5

hithpael cohortative 1cs

אֶתְיַצְּבָה

Hab 2:1

hithpael conjunctive-imperfect 3mp

וְיִתְיַצְּבוּ

Job 38:14

hithpael consecutive-imperfect 3fs

וַתֵּתַצַּב

Exo 2:4

hithpael consecutive-perfect 3cp

וְהִתְיַצְּבוּ

Num 11:16

hithpael imperfect 2ms

תִּתְיַצֵּב

2Sa 18:13

hithpael perfect 3cp

הִתְיַצְּבוּ

2Ch 11:13