A word ; by implication, a matter (as spoken of) or thing ; adverbially, a cause
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The Hebrew noun דָּבָר (dāḇār) can name a word, message, statement, command, matter, affair, case, event, or deed. English translations often render it differently because Hebrew can use the noun for what is spoken and for the subject, occurrence, or business under discussion.
Reader summary
Full entry for דָּבָר (H1697) · Open the biblical lexicon
The Hebrew noun דָּבָר (dāḇār) can name a word, message, statement, command, matter, affair, case, event, or deed. English translations often render it differently because Hebrew can use the noun for what is spoken and for the subject, occurrence, or business under discussion.
The BSB source-word alignment has 1,441 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include . . . (147), the word (115), the words (107), words (75), of the acts (44).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 11:1. Its strongest book concentrations include Jeremiah (204), 1 Kings (125), 2 Kings (108), Deuteronomy (96).
This entry includes 2 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
The Hebrew noun דָּבָר (dāḇār) can name a word, message, statement, command, matter, affair, case, event, or deed. English translations often render it differently because Hebrew can use the noun for what is spoken and for the subject, occurrence, or business under discussion. Genesis 15:1 displays that range within one verse: “after these events” and “the word of the Lord” both represent forms of H1697. The shared noun does not erase the difference between an event and a divine message.
Legal and administrative settings make the broader range especially clear. Exodus 18:16 uses dāḇār for a dispute brought to Moses. Deuteronomy 17:8 uses it for a difficult case requiring adjudication. First Kings 14:19 speaks of the acts of Jeroboam that were recorded. These occurrences do not need to be spiritualized into hidden revelation. They refer to matters, cases, and deeds whose nature comes from the surrounding sentence.
Other passages place dāḇār within divine revelation. First Samuel 3:1 says the word of the Lord was rare in those days, preparing for God’s call of Samuel. Isaiah 40:8 contrasts fading grass and flowers with the enduring word of Israel’s God. In such expressions, the authority and permanence belong to the Lord and to what He communicates, not to the noun as an independent verbal force. A human matter called dāḇār does not become divine merely because the same lexical identity can occur in “the word of the Lord.”
The New Testament explicitly quotes Isaiah 40:8 in 1 Peter 1:24-25 and identifies the enduring word with the good news proclaimed to believers. That canonical bridge is stronger than a generalized equation between dāḇār and every Greek use of logos or rhēma. Faithful teaching can trace God’s speaking, promise, command, prophetic revelation, and gospel proclamation while preserving the noun’s ordinary senses. It should not claim that Hebrew thought collapses words and deeds, that every spoken word creates reality, or that knowing dāḇār uncovers a mystical power absent from translation.
H1697 ranges from a spoken message to a matter, dispute, legal case, event, act, or recorded affair. Divine-word passages receive their authority from the Lord who speaks, while ordinary and legal contexts preserve the noun’s broader everyday range.
After these events, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
Two forms of H1697 describe preceding events and the Lord’s message, displaying distinct senses inside one sentence.
“Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me to judge between one man and another, and I make known to them the statutes and laws of God.”
The noun identifies a dispute requiring judgment, showing that dāḇār can denote a contested matter rather than quoted speech.
If a case is too difficult for you to judge, whether the controversy within your gates is regarding bloodshed, lawsuits, or assaults, you must go up to the place the Lord your God will choose.
A difficult legal case is the dāḇār brought to the appointed place for responsible adjudication.
And the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. Now in those days the word of the Lord was rare, and visions were scarce.
The scarcity of the Lord’s word prepares the narrative for Samuel’s call and renewed prophetic communication.
As for the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he waged war and how he reigned, they are indeed written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
The plural form refers to Jeroboam’s acts or affairs preserved in a royal record, not to isolated spoken words.
The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”
Isaiah contrasts the transience of created life with the lasting reliability of what Israel’s God has spoken.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Hebrew word. Word that moves from speech to action: what is spoken becomes a matter of real consequence and effect.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 1,455 lexical occurrence verses.
The term emphasizes the accumulation of speech that increases opportunities for sin.Hosea 1:1-1
Affirms the permanence of God’s covenant promise.Isaiah 40:1-11
Establishes prophetic authority as originating in divine speech.Proverbs 10:19
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Dāḇār teaches contextual range with unusual clarity. Genesis 15 can use the noun for prior events and for the Lord’s message in a single line. Moses receives a dispute, Deuteronomy describes a difficult legal case, and Kings records a ruler’s acts. Samuel’s call unfolds when the word of the Lord is rare, while Isaiah declares that God’s word stands when grass and flowers fade.
These uses belong to one lexical identity, but they are not interchangeable. The noun does not make an event verbal, a lawsuit prophetic, or a human statement divinely effective. Its theological weight in “the word of the Lord” comes from the living God who addresses His people and faithfully accomplishes His purpose. First Peter’s explicit use of Isaiah 40 carries that enduring-word promise into gospel proclamation.
Teachers can therefore honor the canonical theology of God’s word while resisting slogans about Hebrew words automatically becoming deeds, human declarations creating outcomes, or original-language knowledge supplying secret spiritual force.
Gen.15.1
H1697 is a noun whose range includes speech content and nonverbal matters such as cases, affairs, events, or deeds. Construct phrases, governing verbs, modifiers, genre, and discourse setting determine which English rendering best represents the occurrence.
First Peter 1:24-25 explicitly quotes Isaiah’s contrast between fading grass and God’s enduring word, then identifies that word with the gospel preached to its readers. This provides a direct canonical bridge without making H1697 a one-to-one equivalent of every New Testament occurrence of logos or rhēma.