What does לָשׁוֹן (lashon) mean in the Bible?
לָשׁוֹן (lashon): Tongue metonymically represents speech itself; extended figuratively to flame-tips and metal wedges via shared pointed shape.
Hebrew · H3956
לָשׁוֹן
The tongue (of man or animals), used literally (as the instrument of licking, eating, or speech), and figuratively (speech, an ingot, a fork of flame, a cove of water)
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לָשׁוֹן H3956
Pronunciation lashon
What does לָשׁוֹן (lashon) mean in the Bible?
לָשׁוֹן (lashon): Tongue metonymically represents speech itself; extended figuratively to flame-tips and metal wedges via shared pointed shape.
Full entry for לָשׁוֹן (H3956) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H3956?
The BSB source-word alignment has 117 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include tongue (22), their tongues (8), my tongue (5), your tongue (5), . . . (4).
Where does לָשׁוֹן (lashon) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 10:5. Its strongest book concentrations include Psalms (35), Proverbs (19), Isaiah (15), Job (9).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It tongue 22× Exodus 4:10, Psalms 12:3, Psalms 52:4, Psalms 120:2
their tongues 8× Psalms 5:9, Psalms 64:3, Psalms 140:3, Isaiah 41:17
my tongue 5× 2 Samuel 23:2, Psalms 45:1, Psalms 66:17, Psalms 71:24
your tongue 5× Psalms 34:13, Psalms 50:19, Psalms 52:2, Song Of Solomon 4:11
. . . 4× Exodus 11:7, Psalms 140:11, Ecclesiastes 10:11, Jeremiah 18:18
and my tongue 3× Job 27:4, Psalms 22:15, Psalms 51:14
and their tongues 3× Job 29:10, Psalms 73:9, Zechariah 14:12
his tongue 3× Job 20:12, Psalms 10:7, Psalms 15:3
language 3× Deuteronomy 28:49, Ezekiel 3:5, Ezekiel 3:6
of the tongue 3× Job 5:21, Proverbs 16:1, Proverbs 18:21
The tongue 3× Proverbs 10:20, Proverbs 15:2, Isaiah 50:4
tongues 3× Psalms 31:20, Psalms 109:2, Isaiah 28:11
and his tongue 2× Psalms 37:30, Isaiah 30:27
in their own language 2× Esther 1:22, Esther 8:9
languages 2× Genesis 10:20, Genesis 10:31
the language 2× Job 15:5, Daniel 1:4
their own tongues 2× Psalms 64:8, Jeremiah 23:31
with my tongue 2× Psalms 39:1, Psalms 39:3
with their tongues 2× Judges 7:5, Psalms 78:36
- 1× Esther 1:22
a word 1× Joshua 10:21
according to their languages 1× Genesis 10:5
and he whose tongue 1× Proverbs 17:20
and language 1× Esther 8:9
and the language 1× Esther 3:12
and tongue 1× Proverbs 21:23
and tongues 1× Isaiah 66:18
and your tongue 1× Isaiah 59:3
as a tongue 1× Isaiah 5:24
at the bay 1× Joshua 15:2
bar 1× Joshua 7:21
bay 1× Joshua 18:19
but the tongue 1× Proverbs 12:18
her tongue 1× Proverbs 31:26
I will make your tongue 1× Ezekiel 3:26
in a language 1× Isaiah 33:19
is on my tongue 1× Psalms 139:4
May my tongue 1× Psalms 137:6
of [their] talkers 1× Ezekiel 36:3
of my tongue 1× Job 33:2
of their tongue 1× Hosea 7:16
on my tongue 1× Job 6:30
or of 1× Nehemiah 13:24
or tie down his tongue 1× Job 41:1
our tongues 1× Psalms 126:2
the bar 1× Joshua 7:24
the bay 1× Joshua 15:5
the fangs 1× Job 20:16
the gulf 1× Isaiah 11:15
the tongues 1× Psalms 68:23
their speech 1× Psalms 55:9
Then my tongue 1× Psalms 35:28
they spoke 1× Isaiah 3:8
whose language 1× Jeremiah 5:15
whose tongues 1× Psalms 57:4
with his tongue 1× Proverbs 28:23
With our tongues 1× Psalms 12:4
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 10:5 לִלְשֹׁנ֑וֹ to according to their languages Preposition-l | Noun - common singular construct | third person masculine singular Genesis 10:20 לִלְשֹֽׁנֹתָ֑ם to languages Preposition-l | Noun - common plural construct | third person masculine plural Genesis 10:31 לִלְשֹׁנֹתָ֑ם to languages Preposition-l | Noun - common plural construct | third person masculine plural Exodus 4:10 לָשׁ֖וֹן to tongue Noun - common singular Exodus 11:7 לְשֹׁנ֔וֹ to . . . Noun - common singular construct | third person masculine singular Deuteronomy 28:49 לְשֹׁנֽוֹ׃ to language Noun - common singular construct | third person masculine singular Joshua 7:21 וּלְשׁ֨וֹן to bar Conjunctive waw | Noun - common singular construct Joshua 7:24 לְשׁ֣וֹן to the bar Noun - common singular construct Joshua 10:21 לְשֹׁנֽוֹ׃ to a word Noun - common singular construct | third person masculine singular Joshua 15:2 הַלָּשֹׁ֖ן to at the bay Article | Noun - common singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Genesis 10:5
Aligned rows 117
Books represented 22
Genesis 3 Exodus 2 Deuteronomy 1 Joshua 6 Judges 1 2 Samuel 1 Nehemiah 1 Esther 5 Job 9 Psalms 35 Proverbs 19 Ecclesiastes 1 Song Of Solomon 1 Isaiah 15 Jeremiah 6 Lamentations 1 Ezekiel 4 Daniel 1 Hosea 1 Micah 1 Zephaniah 1 Zechariah 2
Source forms
לְשׁ֣וֹן 15x lə·šō·wn Joshua 7:24, Job 15:5, Job 20:16, Psalms 52:4
לָשׁ֖וֹן 4x lā·šō·wn Exodus 4:10, Isaiah 33:19, Ezekiel 3:5, Ezekiel 36:3
לְשׁוֹנָ֑ם 4x lə·šō·w·nām Psalms 55:9, Psalms 64:3, Psalms 64:8, Hosea 7:16
וּ֝לְשׁוֹנָ֗ם 3x ū·lə·šō·w·nām Job 29:10, Psalms 57:4, Psalms 73:9
לְשׁ֥וֹן 3x lə·šō·wn Psalms 68:23, Proverbs 17:4, Lamentations 4:4
לָשֽׁוֹן׃ 3x lā·šō·wn Proverbs 16:1, Proverbs 28:23, Isaiah 45:23
לְשֹׁנֽוֹ׃ 3x lə·šō·nōw Deuteronomy 28:49, Joshua 10:21, Job 41:1
וּלְשׁ֥וֹן 2x ū·lə·šō·wn Proverbs 10:31, Daniel 1:4
Parsing patterns
Noun - common singular construct 20x Joshua 7:24, Joshua 18:19, Job 15:5, Job 20:16
Noun - common singular 17x Exodus 4:10, Job 5:21, Psalms 12:3, Psalms 120:3
Noun - common singular construct | third person masculine plural 12x Psalms 5:9, Psalms 55:9, Psalms 64:3, Psalms 64:8
Noun - common singular construct | first person common singular 8x 2 Samuel 23:2, Job 33:2, Psalms 45:1, Psalms 51:14
Noun - common singular construct | third person masculine singular 8x Exodus 11:7, Deuteronomy 28:49, Joshua 10:21, Job 20:12
Conjunctive waw | Noun - common singular construct 5x Joshua 7:21, Proverbs 10:31, Proverbs 12:18, Isaiah 32:4
Conjunctive waw | Noun - common singular construct | third person masculine plural 4x Job 29:10, Psalms 57:4, Psalms 73:9, Micah 6:12
Conjunctive waw | Noun - common singular construct | third person masculine singular 4x Psalms 37:30, Proverbs 21:23, Isaiah 30:27, Zechariah 14:12
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Tongue metonymically represents speech itself; extended figuratively to flame-tips and metal wedges via shared pointed shape.
Source Gloss
the tongue (of man or animals), used literally (as the instrument of licking, eating, or speech), and figuratively (speech, an ingot, a fork of flame, a cove of water)
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Tongue metonymically represents speech itself; extended figuratively to flame-tips and metal wedges via shared pointed shape.
the tongue (of man or animals), used literally (as the instrument of licking, eating, or speech), and figuratively (speech, an ingot, a fork of flame, a cove of water) BDB: tongue Usage: babbler, bay, evil speaker, language, talker, tongue, wedge.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Old Testament Witnesses
the tongue as the instrument of speech
Showing 1 selected witness from 117 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
לָשׁוֹן is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
The term emphasizes speech as the outward expression of character. Proverbs 10:20
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain