To be right (i.e. correct); reciprocal, to argue ; causatively, to decide , justify or convict
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H3198, yākaḥ, is a Hebrew verb that moves across correction, rebuke, argument, proof, mediation, arbitration, judgment, justification, and conviction. Abraham raises a complaint about a seized well, God renders judgment between Jacob and Laban, Torah commands direct rebuke instead of harbored hatred, Job seeks a mediator and defends his case, prophets describe the LORD deciding between nations, and wisdom.
Reader summary
Full entry for יָכַח (H3198) · Open the biblical lexicon
H3198, yākaḥ, is a Hebrew verb that moves across correction, rebuke, argument, proof, mediation, arbitration, judgment, justification, and conviction. Abraham raises a complaint about a seized well, God renders judgment between Jacob and Laban, Torah commands direct rebuke instead of harbored hatred, Job seeks a mediator and defends his case, prophets.
The BSB source-word alignment has 59 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include rebuke (5), . . . (3), and arbitrate (2), and He will rebuke him (2), He rebuked (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 20:16. Its strongest book concentrations include Job (17), Proverbs (10), Psalms (7), Genesis (6).
H3198, yākaḥ, is a Hebrew verb that moves across correction, rebuke, argument, proof, mediation, arbitration, judgment, justification, and conviction. Abraham raises a complaint about a seized well, God renders judgment between Jacob and Laban, Torah commands direct rebuke instead of harbored hatred, Job seeks a mediator and defends his case, prophets describe the Lord deciding between nations, and wisdom distinguishes how a mocker and a wise person receive correction. The verb does not reduce every conflict to personal advice. It can describe relational confrontation, public adjudication, legal reasoning, divine judgment, and disciplined instruction.
Leviticus 19 gives correction a relational frame: hidden hatred is forbidden, direct rebuke is commanded, guilt must not be incurred, and the chapter proceeds to love of neighbor. Correction is therefore neither silent resentment nor uncontrolled humiliation. Isaiah's ideal ruler does not decide by superficial sight or hearsay but judges the poor with righteousness and the lowly with equity. Amos exposes communities that hate the person who reproves at the gate, where public justice is conducted. These texts make evidence, impartiality, courage, and protection of people with less power central to faithful correction.
Job prevents simplistic confidence in the corrector. Honest words can be painful, yet Job asks what his friends' arguments actually prove and longs for a mediator. A person can quote true principles and still misjudge a sufferer. Proverbs values timely rebuke, but also recognizes that response, character, and setting matter. Psalm 141 welcomes righteous rebuke as loyal love, not as permission for assault or coercive discipline. Pastoral use should name specific conduct, test evidence, allow response and appeal, distinguish teaching from adjudication, protect against retaliation, and aim toward truth, repair, and wise change rather than dominance.
H3198 follows correction from complaint and interpersonal rebuke through proof, mediation, wisdom, public adjudication, divine judgment, and equitable decision for people whose voices are easily disregarded.
But when Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized,
Abraham names a concrete resource seizure to the ruler who can address it. Correction begins with a specific wrong rather than a totalizing attack on Abimelech's character.
If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, surely by now you would have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, and last night He rendered judgment.”
Jacob interprets God's warning to Laban as judgment that sees exploited labor and prevents further loss. Divine adjudication protects the worker whom the stronger party would dismiss empty-handed.
You must not harbor hatred against your brother in your heart. Directly rebuke your neighbor, so that you will not incur guilt on account of him.
Direct correction is set against hidden hatred and within a chapter that commands neighbor-love. The verse does not authorize public shaming, reckless confrontation, or bypassing safety when power is unequal.
There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity.
Opposition to reproof is located at the gate, the setting of public justice. Powerful people protect corrupt outcomes by despising truthful witnesses and correctors.
“Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.
The prophetic invitation belongs to a covenant dispute that names violence, injustice, and empty worship, then offers cleansing. Reasoning does not make the charges negotiable or remove the call to change.
Then He will judge between the nations and arbitrate for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer take up the sword against nation, nor train anymore for war.
Divine arbitration transforms the conditions of conflict so weapons become agricultural tools. Peace rests on just decision, not denial of disputes or domination by the strongest nation.
And He will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what His eyes see, and He will not decide by what His ears hear,
The ideal Davidic ruler is not governed by surface impression or untested report. The next verse shows that righteousness and equity for the lowly guide the decision.
But with righteousness He will judge the poor, and with equity He will decide for the lowly of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and slay the wicked with the breath of His lips.
Decision protects the poor and lowly through righteous, equitable rule. The royal imagery belongs to messianic judgment and is not permission for leaders to threaten physical violence.
How painful are honest words! But what does your argument prove?
Job acknowledges the force of truthful speech while challenging his friends' unsupported application. Pain does not prove words false, but confident severity does not prove them true.
Nor is there a mediator between us, to lay his hand upon us both.
Job longs for an adjudicator able to stand between unequal parties. The image recognizes that a fair process requires more than one side's power to define the case.
Do not rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.
Wisdom evaluates the receiver and likely outcome before confrontation. The proverb does not excuse leaders from accountable correction; it warns that identical methods do not fit every person or risk.
He who rebukes a man will later find more favor than one who flatters with his tongue.
Truthful correction may be less pleasing at first than flattery but more faithful over time. Favor is not guaranteed immediately, and rebuke still requires truthful grounds and wise manner.
Let the righteous man strike me; let his rebuke be an act of loving devotion. It is oil for my head; let me not refuse it. For my prayer is ever against the deeds of the wicked.
The psalm welcomes a righteous person's hard correction as covenant loyalty. Its poetic strike imagery cannot be converted into permission for corporal punishment, assault, or coercive pastoral control.
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. Judicial reasoning: to argue, rebuke, or convict by establishing rightness through persuasion or proof.
Judicial reasoning: to argue, rebuke, or convict by establishing rightness through persuasion or proof.
to be right (i.e. correct); reciprocal, to argue; causatively, to decide, justify or convict BDB: decide Usage: appoint, argue, chasten, convince, correct(-ion), daysman, dispute, judge, maintain, plead, reason (together), rebuke, reprove(-r), surely, in any wise.
How the stem changes the meaning of this verb across the biblical text.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 5 selected witnesses from 59 lexical occurrence verses.
יָכַח is a primitive root - no further derivation.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
H3198 joins truth with a governed process. Abraham brings a concrete complaint about a seized well; Torah places direct rebuke between the prohibitions on hatred and vengeance; Amos shows corrupt systems hating the one who reproves at the gate; and Isaiah portrays righteous arbitration that protects the poor and turns war toward peace. Job adds a vital safeguard: honest words can hurt, but an argument must still prove its case, and unequal parties may need a mediator.
Wisdom values correction over flattery while recognizing that setting and character shape how rebuke is received. Churches should therefore resist both avoidance and domination. Faithful correction states the conduct, tests sources, distinguishes allegation from finding, protects participants from retaliation, invites response, uses qualified mediators when needed, and records a proportionate path of repair.
Love does not conceal truth, and truth does not eliminate due care.
Lev.19.17
H3198 is a verb occurring mainly in the Hiphil, with reciprocal or passive forms in a smaller set. Its contextual renderings include rebuke, correct, complain, prove, argue, decide, arbitrate, discipline, justify, and convict. The breadth requires readers to identify whether the action is instructional, evidentiary, relational, judicial, or divine.
Jesus teaches correction within a community, protects against hypocritical judgment, and submits claims to truthful witness. The apostles distinguish gentle restoration, public rebuke of persistent public sin, and formal examination of accusations against leaders. Those instructions should be read with Torah's neighbor-love, Job's demand for warranted judgment, and Isaiah's equity for the lowly.