Properly, to sit down (specifically as judge. in ambush, in quiet); by implication, to dwell , to remain ; causatively, to settle , to marry
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יָשַׁב (yashav) is the Hebrew verb for dwelling, sitting, and remaining — and in its most theologically charged uses, it describes both YHWH enthroned above the cherubim and the psalmist's deepest desire: to yashav in the house of YHWH. The local Hebrew index currently counts about 1,092 H3427 uses.
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Full entry for יָשַׁב (H3427) · Open the biblical lexicon
יָשַׁב (yashav) is the Hebrew verb for dwelling, sitting, and remaining — and in its most theologically charged uses, it describes both YHWH enthroned above the cherubim and the psalmist's deepest desire: to yashav in the house of YHWH. The local Hebrew index currently counts about 1,092 H3427 uses.
The BSB source-word alignment has 1,078 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include lived (45), the people (27), the inhabitants (26), who lived (23), Live (20).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 4:16. Its strongest book concentrations include Jeremiah (148), Genesis (71), Judges (71), Isaiah (68).
This entry includes 6 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
יָשַׁב (yashav) is the Hebrew verb for dwelling, sitting, and remaining — and in its most theologically charged uses, it describes both YHWH enthroned above the cherubim and the psalmist's deepest desire: to yashav in the house of YHWH. The local Hebrew index currently counts about 1,092 H3427 uses. The verb's range from ordinary residence to divine enthronement to the covenant community's dwelling before YHWH makes it one of the OT's most theologically layered words.
Psalm 27:4 gives yashav its most concentrated human expression of desire: 'One thing I have asked of YHWH, that I will seek after: that I may yashav in the house of YHWH all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of YHWH and to inquire in his temple.' The entire psalm's bold confidence ('the Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?' v. 1) culminates in this: the singular desire to yashav before YHWH. Not victory, not vindication, not long life — yashav in the house of YHWH. The yashav David desires is not formal worship attendance but continual dwelling: all the days of my life.
Psalm 2:4 gives yashav its most majestic divine use: 'He who yashav in the heavens laughs; YHWH holds them in derision.' The one who yashav in the heavens — enthroned, sovereign, unmoved — laughs at the conspiring nations (v. 1-3). The divine yashav is the posture of absolute sovereignty: while the nations rage and plot, YHWH yashav. Nothing in the rebellion of the nations disturbs his enthronement.
Exodus 25:8 gives yashav its tabernacle-theology use: 'And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may yashav in their midst.' The entire tabernacle project is for one purpose: YHWH's yashav in the midst of his people. The sanctuary is the architectural provision for the divine yashav among Israel. The mishkan (H4908, the dwelling place, from shakan, to dwell) is the space where YHWH's yashav becomes tangible — and the shekinah glory that fills the completed tabernacle (Exod 40:34-35) is the visible sign that YHWH has indeed yashav there.
Psalm 132:13-14 gives yashav its Zion-election use: 'For YHWH has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his dwelling (moshav): this is my resting place forever; here I will yashav, for I have desired it.' YHWH's choice of Zion is a yashav-choice: he has looked at all the earth and chosen to yashav in this place. The yashav of YHWH in Zion is the covenantal center of David's theology: the God who yashav above the cherubim also yashav in Jerusalem.
Psalm 91:1 gives yashav its shelter-theology: 'He who yashav in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.' The yashav of the one who dwells in YHWH's shelter is the response to the divine yashav: YHWH yashav enthroned; those who yashav in him are sheltered. The yashav of the believer in YHWH is the human counterpart to YHWH's yashav in his people's midst.
For the preacher, יָשַׁב (yashav) gives the congregation the deepest aspiration: to yashav before YHWH, not merely to visit him. Psalm 27:4's single desire is the test of the congregation's spiritual appetite: is yashav in the house of YHWH the one thing they seek?
יָשַׁב (yashav) appears in the local Hebrew index about 1,092 times. It is one of the most common verbs in the Hebrew Bible, covering physical sitting and residence (Gen 19:1, 37:1), YHWH enthroned (Ps 2:4, 9:7, 29:10, 99:1), the divine dwelling among Israel (Exod 25:8, Ps 132:14), the psalmist's desire to dwell before YHWH (Ps 27:4, 84:4, 23:6), and the covenant community's dwelling in the land (Deut 12:10, Josh 1:15).
The participial form yosev (the one sitting/dwelling/enthroned) is used as a divine title: YHWH yosev al-hakeruvim (enthroned above the cherubim, Ps 80:1, 99:1).
One thing I have asked of the Lord; this is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and seek Him in His temple.
The singular desire: to yashav in the house of YHWH all the days of my life. Psalm 27 is a psalm of bold confidence ('the Lord is my light and salvation,' v. 1) grounded in a single desire: the continual yashav before YHWH. Not just visits or worship services but yashav — dwelling, remaining, abiding. The two purposes of the yashav are to see YHWH's beauty (lacha-zot benoam YHWH) and to inquire in his temple (levaqer behekhalo).
The yashav is not passive residence but active contemplation and seeking. This is the psalm behind Mary's 'sitting at the feet of Jesus' (Luke 10:39) — the one thing necessary.
The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord taunts them.
YHWH's sovereign yashav in the heavens: 'he who yashav in the heavens laughs.' While the nations rage and the kings plot against YHWH and his anointed (v. 1-3), YHWH yashav — enthroned, unmoved, sovereign. The divine yashav is the posture of absolute sovereignty: nothing in human rebellion disturbs the enthronement of the one who yashav in the heavens. The laugh of YHWH is not amusement but the sovereign's response to what is ultimately futile. The yosev in the heavens cannot be threatened by the ones below.
And they are to make a sanctuary for Me, so that I may dwell among them.
The tabernacle for YHWH's yashav: 'let them make me a sanctuary that I may yashav in their midst.' The entire tabernacle project — the gold, the acacia wood, the linen, the bronze, the ark, the lampstand, the table, the altar — exists for one purpose: YHWH's yashav in the midst of his people. The sanctuary is the architectural provision for the divine yashav. When YHWH's glory fills the completed tabernacle (Exod 40:34-35), the yashav has begun — and the divine dwelling in Israel is established.
“This is My resting place forever and ever; here I will dwell, for I have desired this home.
YHWH's yashav-choice of Zion: 'here I will yashav, for I have desired it.' Psalm 132's covenant between David and YHWH culminates in YHWH's choice of Zion as his dwelling. YHWH has looked at the earth and chosen to yashav in Zion — not because Zion is impressive but because YHWH has desired it (chavav). The divine yashav in Zion is the fulfillment of YHWH's promise to David and the ground of Zion-theology throughout the Psalms and the prophets.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
Shelter-theology yashav: 'he who yashav in the secret place of the Most High.' The yashav of the human being in the shelter of YHWH is the human counterpart to YHWH's yashav in his people's midst (Exod 25:8). To yashav in the shelter of the Most High is to make YHWH's presence one's habitual dwelling — not a refuge visited in crisis but a place of continual abiding.
This is the psalm Satan quotes to Jesus in the temptation (Matt 4:6, citing v. 11-12) — the yashav-shelter is real, but its promises cannot be tested by presumption.
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Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Hebrew word. To sit stably encompasses judicial authority, habitation, and covenantal establishment of presence and permanence.
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.
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Showing 1 selected witness from 1,092 lexical occurrence verses.
יָשַׁב is a primitive root - no further derivation.
Portrays the Lord’s sovereign reign above the cherubim. Isaiah 37:8-20
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
יָשַׁב (yashav) holds YHWH's enthronement and the believer's deepest desire in the same word. YHWH yashav above the cherubim (Ps 99:1) — enthroned, sovereign, unmoved. The nations rage; YHWH yashav and laughs (Ps 2:4). And the one thing David desires is to yashav in the house of YHWH — not a visit but a dwelling, not an appointment but an abiding. The preacher can give the congregation the question that Psalm 27:4 poses: what is the one thing you desire?
The test of spiritual appetite is whether the yashav before YHWH is the single aspiration that organizes all other desires, or whether it is one item among many. And Exodus 25:8 gives the congregation the reason the tabernacle — and then the temple, and then the body of Christ, and ultimately the new Jerusalem — exists: YHWH wants to yashav in the midst of his people.
The eschatological completion of the yashav-theology is Revelation 21:3: 'the dwelling (skene, the Greek mishkan) of God is with man. He will dwell (skenosei) with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.' The yashav of Exodus 25:8 is completed in Revelation 21.
Ps.27.4
יָשַׁב (yashav) is the most common Hebrew verb for sitting and dwelling, distinct from שָׁכַן (shakan, H7931, to dwell, tabernacle — with a connotation of camping or tenting, from which mishkan and shekinah derive) and גּוּר (gur, H1481, to sojourn, dwell temporarily — from which ger, sojourner, derives). Yashav implies settled, permanent dwelling; shakan implies presence dwelling in a particular place (often a tent or temporary structure); gur implies the temporary dwelling of a stranger.
The distinction matters: YHWH's yashav in Zion (Ps 132:14) is permanent and chosen; YHWH's shakan in the tabernacle (Exod 25:8) uses the related word that emphasizes his tenting in the midst of Israel. The NT's skenosei (Rev 21:3, he will tent/tabernacle with them) comes from the Greek translation of shakan, not yashav — but both verbs are part of the divine-dwelling complex.
In NT Greek, meno (G3306, to abide, remain) is the closest parallel to yashav's relational-dwelling use: 'abide in me and I in you' (John 15:4).
The NT's yashav-theology is centered in John's abiding-language. John 15:4-7 — 'abide (meno) in me, and I in you... whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit' — is the NT form of Psalm 27:4's yashav: not just visiting Christ but dwelling in him. John 1:14 — 'and the Word became flesh and dwelt (eskenosen, tented/tabernacled) among us, and we have seen his glory' — is the fulfillment of Exodus 25:8: YHWH's yashav in the midst of his people in the flesh of Jesus.
Revelation 21:3 — 'the dwelling (skene) of God is with man; he will dwell (skenosei) with them' — is the eschatological completion: YHWH's yashav in the new Jerusalem, permanent, glorious, unmediated. Luke 10:39-42 gives yashav its Martha-and-Mary form: Mary sat (kataheisasa, yashav'd) at Jesus's feet — and Jesus says this is 'the one thing necessary,' echoing Psalm 27:4's 'one thing I have asked.'
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