Straight (literally or figuratively)
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H3477 describes what is straight or right and, in moral settings, what accords with a faithful path rather than what is crooked, distorted, or evasive. The adjective can concern physical straightness, fitting judgment, an upright person, or conduct evaluated as right before the LORD, with the governing noun and context identifying the sense.
Reader summary
Full entry for יָשָׁר (H3477) · Open the biblical lexicon
H3477 describes what is straight or right and, in moral settings, what accords with a faithful path rather than what is crooked, distorted, or evasive. The adjective can concern physical straightness, fitting judgment, an upright person, or conduct evaluated as right before the LORD, with the governing noun and context identifying the sense.
The BSB source-word alignment has 119 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [what was] right (14), The upright (13), and upright (10), of the upright (10), what is right (8).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Exodus 15:26. Its strongest book concentrations include Proverbs (25), Psalms (25), 2 Chronicles (11), 2 Kings (10).
H3477 describes what is straight or right and, in moral settings, what accords with a faithful path rather than what is crooked, distorted, or evasive. The adjective can concern physical straightness, fitting judgment, an upright person, or conduct evaluated as right before the Lord, with the governing noun and context identifying the sense. In 1Sam. 12. 23, samuel refuses to cease praying for Israel and promises to teach the people the good and right way.
In 1Kgs. 15. 5, the narrator judges David as doing what was right while explicitly preserving the grave exception involving Uriah. H3477 opens teaching on moral direction as a path that can be taught, practiced, examined, and corrected under the character and commands of God. It corrects both relativism that refuses moral direction and perfectionism that erases the serious exceptions, failures, repentance, and mercy named in biblical narratives.
H3477 gives uprightness direction and accountability: Samuel promises to teach the good and right way, the Kings narrative evaluates David as doing right while naming the Uriah exception, and Chronicles assesses a royal path by its orientation toward the Lord. For H3477, responsible teaching keeps lexical meaning, passage context, canonical synthesis, and present application distinguishable.
H3477 does not make leaders beyond criticism, reduce righteousness to public appearance, or promise that every upright choice receives immediate safety or success.
H3477 appears across passages that develop upright conduct, right judgment, teachable paths, covenant faithfulness, and truthful moral evaluation. For H3477, the immediate setting decides which part of the range is active, so the witnesses must remain distinct rather than being merged into one formula.
As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. And I will continue to teach you the good and right way.
Samuel refuses to cease praying for Israel and promises to teach the people the good and right way.
For David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord and had not turned aside from anything the Lord commanded all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
The narrator judges David as doing what was right while explicitly preserving the grave exception involving Uriah.
And Jehoshaphat walked in the way of his father Asa and did not turn away from it; he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.
Jehoshaphat follows the way of Asa and does what is right in the sight of the Lord.
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. Ethical straightness: literal rectitude becomes moral uprightness, especially God's righteous ordering of creation and covenant
Ethical straightness: literal rectitude becomes moral uprightness, especially God's righteous ordering of creation and covenant
straight (literally or figuratively) BDB: straight Usage: convenient, equity, Jasher, just, meet(-est), pleased well right(-eous), straight, (most) upright(-ly, -ness).
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 6 selected witnesses from 119 lexical occurrence verses.
יָשָׁר is built from this root:
Integrity forms the foundation of positive societal influence.Hosea 14:9
The upright represent those who align their lives with God's moral order.Micah 7:1-6
The upright are those who align their lives with God's wisdom.Proverbs 11:11
Wisdom leads to straight paths that align with covenant faithfulness.Proverbs 11:3
The absence of uprightness demonstrates systemic injustice.Proverbs 11:6
Affirms divine moral integrity.Proverbs 2:12-22
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
H3477 gives uprightness direction and accountability: Samuel promises to teach the good and right way, the Kings narrative evaluates David as doing right while naming the Uriah exception, and Chronicles assesses a royal path by its orientation toward the Lord. H3477 describes what is straight or right and, in moral settings, what accords with a faithful path rather than what is crooked, distorted, or evasive.
The selected witnesses keep the teaching concrete: 1Sam. 12. 23 shows that samuel refuses to cease praying for Israel and promises to teach the people the good and right way. , while 1Kgs. 15. 5 shows that the narrator judges David as doing what was right while explicitly preserving the grave exception involving Uriah.. 2Chr. 20. 32 adds that jehoshaphat follows the way of Asa and does what is right in the sight of the Lord..
H3477 opens teaching on moral direction as a path that can be taught, practiced, examined, and corrected under the character and commands of God. It corrects both relativism that refuses moral direction and perfectionism that erases the serious exceptions, failures, repentance, and mercy named in biblical narratives. A church teaching H3477 faithfully will name both the promise and the boundary carried by these contexts, attend to vulnerable hearers, and refuse to make the lexical item prove more than its passages support.
H3477 does not make leaders beyond criticism, reduce righteousness to public appearance, or promise that every upright choice receives immediate safety or success.
1Sam.12.23
H3477 is a Hebrew adjective for straightness or rightness whose moral force arises when it describes a way, deed, person, or evaluation; it should not be confused with every noun or verb for righteousness and justice.
The Old Testament straight-path image joins instruction, covenant loyalty, and honest evaluation. The New Testament continues the call to walk worthily and truthfully in Christ, but later Greek moral vocabulary should not be treated as a direct lexical equivalent of H3477.