Tōm describes integrity in several selected moral contexts, but its uses must not all be treated as a claim to universal sinlessness. Proverbs 10:9 contrasts a straightforward walk with crooked ways that will be exposed.
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Full entry for תֹּם (H8537) · Open the biblical lexicon
Tōm describes integrity in several selected moral contexts, but its uses must not all be treated as a claim to universal sinlessness. Proverbs 10:9 contrasts a straightforward walk with crooked ways that will be exposed.
The BSB source-word alignment has 23 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include with integrity (8), without taking special aim (2), . . . (1), and integrity (1), and the uprightness (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 20:5. Its strongest book concentrations include Proverbs (7), Psalms (7), 1 Kings (2), Genesis (2).
Tōm describes integrity in several selected moral contexts, but its uses must not all be treated as a claim to universal sinlessness. Proverbs 10:9 contrasts a straightforward walk with crooked ways that will be exposed. First Kings 9:4 connects integrity of heart with doing what the Lord commands. These settings concern the quality of conduct and loyalty, not an assertion that every action in a person's life has been faultless.
Genesis 20:5-6 describes Abimelech's clear conscience in a specific situation where Abraham's account misled him, while still requiring him to return Sarah. First Kings 22:34 uses the same identity in an expression about shooting without special aim. That narrative usage is not a judgment that the archer possessed exemplary moral character. Teaching integrity therefore requires attention to the construction and circumstance, protecting both honest conduct and the limits of what a particular statement proves.
Wisdom contrasts integrity with crooked conduct, a royal instruction connects it with obedience, and Abimelech's episode concerns a specific clear conscience. An idiomatic archery use prevents forcing the moral gloss into every occurrence.
He who walks in integrity walks securely, but he who perverts his ways will be found out.
Integrity of walking is set against perverted ways that are eventually exposed. The proverb commends straightforward conduct without making a promise that honest people never suffer harm.
And as for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, with a heart of integrity and uprightness, doing all I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and ordinances,
Integrity and uprightness of heart are joined to doing the Lord's commands in instruction to Solomon. This royal covenant address should not be converted into a general career guarantee.
Then God said to Abimelech in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against Me. That is why I did not let you touch her.
God acknowledges Abimelech's clear conscience regarding Sarah and His own restraint of the king's action. The following command to return her shows that innocence of intention does not end responsibility.
However, a certain man drew his bow without taking special aim, and he struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. So the king said to his charioteer, “Turn around and take me out of the battle, for I am badly wounded!”
An archer shoots without special aim and wounds the disguised king. The expression describes the manner of the shot rather than providing a moral evaluation of the archer.
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. Moral and covenantal integrity—wholeness of character and undivided loyalty to God's covenant.
Moral and covenantal integrity—wholeness of character and undivided loyalty to God's covenant.
completeness; figuratively, prosperity; usually (morally) innocence BDB: completeness Usage: full, integrity, perfect(-ion), simplicity, upright(-ly, -ness), at a venture. See 8550.
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 2 selected witnesses from 24 lexical occurrence verses.
תֹּם is built from this root:
Integrity reflects a life that is whole and aligned with God's truth.Proverbs 10:9
Integrity describes the consistent righteousness that guides the upright.Proverbs 11:3
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Abimelech's encounter with God gives teaching about integrity a needed distinction. A person can act with a clear conscience while relying on incomplete or misleading information. God's acknowledgment of the king's intention does not make Sarah available to him or remove the duty to return her. Integrity is therefore compatible with receiving correction; it is not a shield against the truth that changes what responsible action requires.
Proverbs commends a walk whose conduct does not need crooked concealment, and Proverbs 28:6 values such integrity above wealth acquired along perverse ways. First Kings addresses a king's obedience in a particular covenant setting. Together these comparisons oppose evaluating character simply by visible success. The apparently unaimed shot in First Kings 22 belongs to another construction entirely. Its inclusion reminds teachers to explain an occurrence rather than extract a moral slogan from the existence of a familiar dictionary gloss.
Prov.10.9
Moral integrity is an appropriate gloss in walking and heart contexts, whereas the archery construction concerns an unaimed action. Completeness language must be interpreted within each construction rather than expanded into a universal claim of moral perfection.
Proverbs commends a straightforward walk and Genesis shows responsibility after an innocent misunderstanding. Second Corinthians 8:19-22 describes practical care for administering a gift honorably before God and people. This provides a Christian comparison about accountable conduct, not another H8537 occurrence or a claim that integrity means universal sinlessness.