Ṭûb names goodness or good things, with the selected passages focusing on the Lord's goodness. In Exodus 33:19, God answers Moses' request concerning His glory by promising that His goodness will pass before him and that His name will be proclaimed.
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through theConnect page. Screenshots are helpful.
Reader summary
Full entry for טוּב (H2898) · Open the biblical lexicon
Ṭûb names goodness or good things, with the selected passages focusing on the LORD's goodness. In Exodus 33:19, God answers Moses' request concerning His glory by promising that His goodness will pass before him and that His name will be proclaimed.
The BSB source-word alignment has 32 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include goodness (3), the best (3), good (2), My goodness (2), and bounty (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 24:10. Its strongest book concentrations include Psalms (7), Genesis (4), Nehemiah (4), Isaiah (3).
Ṭûb names goodness or good things, with the selected passages focusing on the Lord's goodness. In Exodus 33:19, God answers Moses' request concerning His glory by promising that His goodness will pass before him and that His name will be proclaimed. The response also declares God's freedom in mercy and compassion. The noun should not be reduced to a promise that Moses can control or fully inspect the divine presence.
Psalm 25:7 appeals to goodness while asking that youthful sins not govern God's remembrance of the petitioner. Psalm 31:19 praises goodness received by those taking refuge, and Psalm 145:7 joins abundant goodness with praise of righteousness. Goodness in these prayers and songs is neither permission to ignore sin nor a claim that every desired possession is owed to a worshipper. The surrounding passages explain how goodness relates to mercy, trust and God's own character.
Moses' request, a penitent prayer, refuge amid distress and communal praise locate divine goodness in different circumstances. The passages combine generosity with righteousness and mercy rather than equating goodness with unrestricted possession or immunity from hardship.
“I will cause all My goodness to pass before you,” the Lord replied, “and I will proclaim My name—the Lord—in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
God's goodness and proclaimed name answer Moses' request to see glory. The following restrictions preserve divine initiative and human limits rather than a controlled display on demand.
Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my rebellious acts; remember me according to Your loving devotion, because of Your goodness, O Lord.
The speaker appeals to God's goodness while acknowledging youthful sins and rebellion. Goodness grounds a prayer for gracious remembrance, not denial that the wrongdoing occurred.
How great is Your goodness which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have bestowed before the sons of men on those who take refuge in You!
Goodness is praised for those who fear God and seek refuge, within a prayer remembering alarm and help. The surrounding distress prevents reading it as effortless material security.
They will extol the fame of Your abundant goodness and sing joyfully of Your righteousness.
Abundant goodness is celebrated alongside righteousness before the psalm names compassion and patient loving devotion. The praise holds generosity and God's moral character together.
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.
Hebrew word. Goodness as concrete wellbeing and prosperity; the tangible condition of flourishing, not abstract virtue
Goodness as concrete wellbeing and prosperity; the tangible condition of flourishing, not abstract virtue
good (as a noun), in the widest sense, especially goodness (superlative concretely, the best), beauty, gladness, welfare BDB: good things Usage: fair, gladness, good(-ness, thing, -s), joy, go well with.
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 1 selected witness from 32 lexical occurrence verses.
טוּב is built from this root:
The flourishing of righteous people brings blessing to society.Proverbs 11:10
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Psalm 25's appeal to goodness does not require the petitioner to pretend that youthful sins were harmless. The prayer asks God to remember according to His loving devotion precisely because the speaker's history contains wrongdoing. That movement is a useful teaching distinction: goodness may be the ground of an honest plea rather than a declaration that no correction is needed. Psalm 145 similarly sings goodness together with righteousness instead of turning kindness into moral indifference.
Exodus 33 describes a particular revelation to Moses that God appoints and limits, while Psalm 31 remembers refuge within a story of real alarm. These contexts resist an account of goodness measured only by visible ease. Romans 2:1-4 gives a Christian comparison by warning against contempt for divine kindness and connecting it with repentance. The comparison clarifies a response to goodness without assigning that whole argument as an additional dictionary meaning of the Hebrew noun.
Ps.25.7
The noun can refer to goodness or good things according to its object and setting. The chosen uses concern divine goodness; they do not require a single material inventory or make every attractive possession proof of moral favor.
Romans 2:1-4 addresses people who judge others while practicing similar wrongs and asks whether they disregard God's kindness that leads toward repentance. Alongside Psalm 25's honest appeal, it supports receiving goodness with accountability. The comparison does not make ṭûb an exhaustive definition of Paul's different Greek kindness vocabulary.