StrongerBible

ruts

רוּץ

HebrewH7323run, guard

Appears 103 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 18:2Gen 18:7Gen 24:17Gen 24:20Gen 24:28Gen 24:29Gen 29:12Gen 29:13Gen 33:4Gen 41:14Num 11:27Num 16:47(17:12)Jos 7:22Jos 8:19Jdg 7:21Jdg 13:101Sa 3:51Sa 4:121Sa 8:111Sa 10:231Sa 17:171Sa 17:221Sa 17:481Sa 20:61Sa 20:36 (2×)1Sa 22:172Sa 15:12Sa 18:192Sa 18:212Sa 18:22 (2×)2Sa 18:23 (2×)2Sa 18:242Sa 18:26 (2×)2Sa 22:301Ki 1:51Ki 14:271Ki 14:28 (2×)2Ki 4:222Ki 4:262Ki 5:202Ki 5:212Ki 10:25 (2×)2Ki 11:42Ki 11:62Ki 11:112Ki 11:132Ki 11:192Ch 35:13Job 9:25Job 15:26
Root family
Word studyrootsverb

What ruts means

to run: to move fast on foot, and by extension to act or travel swiftly

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled

At its core this is the ordinary word for running on one's own feet: a person breaks into a run to greet someone, to carry news, to flee, or to charge into battle. Everything else the word does grows out of that single picture of moving fast on legs.

Because running was how messages and people were rushed from place to place before there were horses to spare, the word settled into a fixed job in the royal court. One form of it, literally "the ones running," became the standing title for the king's couriers and his armed escort, the men who ran ahead of the chariot and stood guard at the palace. Read in those passages it is less a verb than a name for a body of guards.

The same image of swift, tireless motion is then turned to figures of speech. People "run" to do evil or run the path of God's commands; the sun "runs" its course across the sky; God's word "runs" quickly through the earth; the faithful "run" and are not weary. Here running is no longer literal but stands for eager, energetic pursuit. A small group of uses are causative: to make someone run, to rush or hurry a person along, or to drive an enemy off in a chase.

Nuances

1ato run on foot: to break into a run, whether toward someone, away in flight, or into battle
Gen 18:2Gen 18:7Gen 24:17Gen 24:20Gen 24:28Gen 24:29Gen 29:12Gen 29:13Gen 33:4Num 11:27Num 16:47(17:12)Jos 7:22
1bthe runners: the king's couriers and the armed escort who ran before and guarded him
TranslatabilityPartial
1Sa 8:111Sa 22:172Sa 15:11Ki 1:51Ki 14:271Ki 14:28 (2×)2Ki 10:25 (2×)2Ki 11:42Ki 11:62Ki 11:112Ki 11:132Ki 11:19
1cto run as a messenger: to carry news or a letter swiftly to its destination
2Sa 18:192Sa 18:212Sa 18:22 (2×)2Sa 18:242Sa 18:26 (2×)2Ki 4:222Ki 4:262Ki 5:202Ki 5:21Est 3:13Est 3:15Est 8:10
1dto run as a picture of swift, eager pursuit: of people, the sun, or God's word pressing forward at speed
Job 9:25Psa 18:29(30)Psa 119:32Psa 147:15Pro 1:16Pro 18:10Isa 40:31Isa 59:7Jol 2:4Jol 2:7Jol 2:9Hab 2:2
1eto make run: to rush or hurry someone along, or to drive an enemy off in a chase
Gen 41:141Sa 17:172Ch 35:13Psa 68:31(32)Jer 49:19Jer 50:44

What scholars say about ruts

The standard lexica (BDB, HALOT, DCH) treat this as a single verb meaning "to run," with the bulk of forms in the simple stem and a handful of causative forms ("cause to run, bring quickly, drive away"). The substantivized participle "the runners" is widely recognized as a fixed term for royal couriers and the palace guard who ran before the king. The figurative uses (running the way of the commandments, the word running swiftly, running and not being weary) are noted as natural metaphorical extensions, not separate roots.

Sources

  • HALOT, s.v. רוץlexicon
  • BDB, s.v. רוץlexicon
  • DCH, s.v. רוץlexicon

All attested forms of רוּץ

qal participle m p absolute

רָצִים, רָצִין

1Sa 22:17, 2Sa 15:1, 1Ki 1:5, 1Ki 14:27, 1Ki 14:28, 1Ki 14:28, 2Ki 10:25, 2Ki 10:25

qal consecutive-imperfect 3ms

וַיָּרָץ, וַיָּרֹץ

Gen 18:2, Gen 24:17, Gen 24:29, Gen 29:13, Gen 33:4, Num 11:27, Num 16:47, Jdg 7:21

qal imperfect 3mp

יָרוּצוּ, יְרֻצוּ, יְרוּצוּ, יָרֻצוּ

Pro 1:16, Isa 40:31, Isa 55:5, Jol 2:7, Jol 2:9, Amo 6:12, Psa 59:4, Jol 2:4

qal participle m s absolute

רָץ

2Sa 18:22, 2Sa 18:24, 2Sa 18:26, 2Sa 18:26, 2Ki 5:21, Job 9:25, Jer 51:31, Jer 51:31

qal imperfect 3ms

יָרוּץ, יָרֻץ

Job 15:26, Psa 147:15, Pro 18:10, Jer 51:31, Job 16:14

qal consecutive-imperfect 3fs

וַתָּרָץ

Gen 24:20, Gen 24:28, Gen 29:12, Jdg 13:10

qal imperative 2ms

רוּץ, רֻץ

2Sa 18:23, 2Ki 4:26, 1Sa 20:36, Zec 2:4

qal imperfect 1cs

אָרוּץ, אָרֻץ

2Sa 18:23, 2Sa 22:30, Psa 119:32, Psa 18:29

qal cohortative 1cs

אָרוּצָה, אָרֻצָה

2Sa 18:19, 2Ki 4:22, 2Sa 18:22

qal consecutive-imperfect 3mp

וַיָּרֻצוּ, וַיָּרוּצוּ

Jos 7:22, 1Sa 10:23, Jos 8:19

qal infinitive-construct construct

לָרוּץ

1Sa 20:6, Psa 19:5, Pro 6:18

hiphil consecutive-imperfect 3mp

וַיְרִיצֻ, וַיָּרִיצוּ

Gen 41:14, 2Ch 35:13

hiphil imperfect 1cs

אֲרִיצֵ, אֲרִיצֶ

Jer 50:44, Jer 49:19

qal perfect 3ms

רָץ

Gen 18:7, 1Sa 20:36

hiphil imperative 2ms

הָרֵץ

1Sa 17:17

hiphil imperfect 3fs

תָּרִיץ

Psa 68:31

piel imperfect 3mp

יְרוֹצֵצוּ

Nam 2:4

qal cohortative 1cp

נָּרוּצָה

Sng 1:4

qal consecutive-perfect 3cp

וְרָצוּ

1Sa 8:11

qal imperfect 2ms

תָּרוּץ

Pro 4:12

qal jussive 3ms

יָרוּץ

Hab 2:2

qal perfect 1cs

רַצְתִּי

2Ki 5:20

qal perfect 2ms

רַצְתָּה

Jer 12:5

qal perfect 3cp

רָצוּ

Jer 23:21