StrongerBible

teshu'ah

תְּשׁוּעָה

HebrewH8668salvation, victory, ...

Appears 34 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Jdg 15:181Sa 11:91Sa 11:131Sa 19:52Sa 19:2(3)2Sa 23:102Sa 23:122Ki 5:12Ki 13:17 (2×)1Ch 11:141Ch 19:122Ch 6:41Psa 37:39Psa 38:22(23)Psa 40:10(11)Psa 40:16(17)Psa 51:14(16)Psa 60:11(13)Psa 71:15Psa 108:12(13)Psa 119:41Psa 119:81Isa 45:17Isa 46:13Jer 3:23Lam 3:26
Root family
Word studyteh-shoo-AHnoun

What teshu'ah means

deliverance: being rescued from danger or enemies, especially the victory that God gives

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintyStrong

This is a word for rescue that actually happens. It names the moment a person or a nation is pulled out of real trouble, whether that trouble is an enemy army, a personal crisis, or the threat of death. It is not an inner or spiritual feeling but a concrete outcome: the danger is over and someone has been saved.

Its two everyday uses grow from that one idea. In the war stories of Israel it means the winning of a battle, the moment defeat turns into victory. In the prayers of the Psalms it means the rescue a person begs God to bring, or thanks him for bringing. The same word covers both because a battle won and a life spared are, at heart, the same event: someone in danger is delivered.

A recurring point ties the uses together. Again and again the writers insist that this rescue belongs to God alone. A war horse cannot secure it, human princes cannot supply it, sheer numbers cannot guarantee it. Whether the setting is a battlefield or a prayer of distress, the deliverance is finally God's to give.

Nuances

1avictory in battle: deliverance from an enemy won through fighting
Jdg 15:181Sa 11:91Sa 11:131Sa 19:52Sa 19:2(3)2Sa 23:102Sa 23:122Ki 5:12Ki 13:17 (2×)1Ch 11:141Ch 19:12Psa 33:17
1bsalvation from God: the rescue a person or people asks of God or thanks him for, in trouble or distress
2Ch 6:41Psa 37:39Psa 38:22(23)Psa 40:10(11)Psa 40:16(17)Psa 51:14(16)Psa 60:11(13)Psa 71:15Psa 108:12(13)Psa 119:41Psa 119:81Psa 146:3

What scholars say about teshu'ah

Standard lexica (BDB, HALOT, DCH) treat תְּשׁוּעָה as a single noun built on the root ישע ("to save, deliver"), glossing it "deliverance, salvation" with a well-attested extension to "victory" in martial contexts. The two nuances are contextual specializations of one sense rather than distinct homonyms: the concrete deliverance of battle (the historical books and the wisdom sayings on warfare) and the deliverance sought from or ascribed to God (predominantly the Psalms and Isaiah). The theological topos that deliverance is exclusively God's, set against the futility of horse, army, or human ally (Ps 33:17; 60:11; 108:12; 146:3; Prov 21:31), is treated in the theological dictionaries under the root ישע.

Sources

  • BDB, s.v. תְּשׁוּעָהlexicon
  • HALOT, s.v. תְּשׁוּעָהlexicon
  • DCH, s.v. תְּשׁוּעָהlexicon
  • John E. Hartley, "ישע (yasha)", in TWOTtheological-dictionary

All attested forms of תְּשׁוּעָה

f s absolute

תְּשׁוּעָה, תְּשֻׁעָה

Jdg 15:18, 1Sa 11:9, 1Sa 11:13, 1Sa 19:5, 2Sa 23:10, 2Sa 23:12, 2Ki 5:1, 2Ki 13:17

f s construct

תְּשׁוּעַת

Psa 37:39, Psa 60:11, Psa 108:12, Isa 45:17, Jer 3:23, Lam 3:26

f s construct

תְּשׁוּעָתְךָ, תְּשׁוּעָתֶךָ

Psa 40:10, Psa 119:41, Psa 119:81, Psa 40:16, Psa 71:15

f s construct

תְּשׁוּעָתִי

Psa 38:22, Psa 51:14, Isa 46:13