What does עֵד (ʿēḏ) mean in the Bible?
עֵד (ʿēḏ): Witness who testifies in legal or covenant contexts; foundational to truth-establishing and justice in Israelite society.
Hebrew · H5707
עֵד
Concretely, a witness ; abstractly, testimony ; specifically, a recorder , i.e. prince
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עֵד H5707
Pronunciation ʿēḏ
What does עֵד (ʿēḏ) mean in the Bible?
עֵד (ʿēḏ): Witness who testifies in legal or covenant contexts; foundational to truth-establishing and justice in Israelite society.
Full entry for עֵד (H5707) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H5707?
The BSB source-word alignment has 69 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include witness (21), witnesses (7), . . . (6), a witness (5), is a witness (5).
Where does עֵד (ʿēḏ) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 31:44. Its strongest book concentrations include Deuteronomy (14), Proverbs (11), Isaiah (8), Jeremiah (6).
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 witness 21× Exodus 20:16, Exodus 23:1, Numbers 35:30, Deuteronomy 5:20
witnesses 7× Deuteronomy 17:6, Deuteronomy 19:15, Job 10:17, Psalms 27:12
. . . 6× Deuteronomy 17:6, Deuteronomy 19:15, Deuteronomy 19:18, Deuteronomy 31:21
a witness 5× Genesis 31:44, Deuteronomy 31:19, Joshua 22:27, Job 16:8
is a witness 5× Genesis 31:48, Genesis 31:52, Joshua 22:34, 1 Samuel 12:5
are My witnesses 3× Isaiah 43:10, Isaiah 43:12, Isaiah 44:8
are witnesses 2× Joshua 24:22, Ruth 4:9
as a witness 2× Deuteronomy 31:26, Joshua 22:28
of the witnesses 2× Numbers 35:30, Deuteronomy 17:7
their witnesses 2× Isaiah 43:9, Isaiah 44:9
We are witnesses 2× Joshua 24:22, Ruth 4:11
[is a] witness 1× Genesis 31:50
and a witness 1× Isaiah 19:20
and I am a witness 1× Jeremiah 29:23
and the witnesses 1× Jeremiah 32:12
and witnessed 1× Jeremiah 32:44
are witnesses today 1× Ruth 4:10
has witnessed 1× Leviticus 5:1
He is a witness 1× 1 Samuel 12:5
it as evidence 1× Exodus 22:13
my witness 1× Job 16:19
the witness 1× Deuteronomy 19:18
witness against her 1× Numbers 5:13
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 31:44 לְעֵ֖ד to a witness Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular Genesis 31:48 עֵ֛ד to is a witness Noun - masculine singular Genesis 31:50 עֵ֖ד to [is a] witness Noun - masculine singular Genesis 31:52 עֵ֚ד to is a witness Noun - masculine singular Exodus 20:16 עֵ֥ד to witness Noun - masculine singular construct Exodus 22:13 עֵ֑ד to it as evidence Noun - masculine singular construct Exodus 23:1 עֵ֥ד to witness Noun - masculine singular construct Leviticus 5:1 עֵ֔ד to has witnessed Noun - masculine singular Numbers 5:13 וְעֵד֙ to witness against her Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular Numbers 35:30 עֵדִ֔ים to of the witnesses Noun - masculine plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Genesis 31:44
Aligned rows 69
Books represented 15
Genesis 4 Exodus 3 Leviticus 1 Numbers 3 Deuteronomy 14 Joshua 5 Ruth 3 1 Samuel 3 Job 3 Psalms 3 Proverbs 11 Isaiah 8 Jeremiah 6 Micah 1 Malachi 1
Source forms
עֵ֣ד 10x ‘êḏ Joshua 22:28, Proverbs 6:19, Proverbs 14:5, Proverbs 14:25
עֵ֥ד 6x ‘êḏ Exodus 20:16, Exodus 23:1, Deuteronomy 5:20, Deuteronomy 17:6
לְעֵ֖ד 3x lə·‘êḏ Genesis 31:44, Deuteronomy 31:19, Jeremiah 42:5
עֵד־ 3x ‘êḏ- Deuteronomy 19:16, Proverbs 21:28, Proverbs 24:28
עֵדִ֖ים 3x ‘ê·ḏîm Deuteronomy 17:6, Deuteronomy 19:15, Isaiah 8:2
עֵדִ֑ים 3x ‘ê·ḏîm Ruth 4:11, Jeremiah 32:10, Jeremiah 32:25
לְעֵ֔ד 2x lə·‘êḏ Deuteronomy 31:21, Micah 1:2
עֵ֨ד 2x ‘êḏ Deuteronomy 19:15, Joshua 22:27
Parsing patterns
Noun - masculine singular construct 16x Exodus 20:16, Exodus 22:13, Exodus 23:1, Deuteronomy 5:20
Noun - masculine plural 14x Numbers 35:30, Deuteronomy 17:6, Deuteronomy 19:15, Joshua 24:22
Noun - masculine singular 13x Genesis 31:48, Genesis 31:50, Genesis 31:52, Leviticus 5:1
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular 6x Genesis 31:44, Deuteronomy 31:19, Deuteronomy 31:21, Deuteronomy 31:26
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular 5x Numbers 5:13, Numbers 35:30, 1 Samuel 12:5, Psalms 89:37
Noun - masculine plural construct | first person common singular 3x Isaiah 43:10, Isaiah 43:12, Isaiah 44:8
Article | Noun - masculine plural 2x Deuteronomy 17:7, Jeremiah 32:12
Noun - masculine plural construct 2x Psalms 27:12, Psalms 35:11
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Witness who testifies in legal or covenant contexts; foundational to truth-establishing and justice in Israelite society.
Source Gloss
concretely, a witness ; abstractly, testimony ; specifically, a recorder , i.e. prince
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Witness who testifies in legal or covenant contexts; foundational to truth-establishing and justice in Israelite society.
concretely, a witness; abstractly, testimony; specifically, a recorder, i.e. prince BDB: witness Usage: witness.
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
Testimony or witness.
Showing 1 selected witness from 70 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
Why This Word Matters
Defines Israel’s covenant role before the nations. Isaiah 43:8-13
Canonical Themes
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