What does תְּשׁוּעָה (teshuah) mean in the Bible?
Rescue or victory names the saving help in a particular event, prayer or wisdom saying. Saul names the Lord's victory while refusing to execute people who had questioned his rule.
Hebrew · H8668
תְּשׁוּעָה
Rescue or victory names the saving help in a particular event, prayer or wisdom saying. Saul names the Lord's victory while refusing to execute people who had questioned his rule.
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תְּשׁוּעָהH8668
Pronunciationteshuah
What does תְּשׁוּעָה (teshuah) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for תְּשׁוּעָה (H8668) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H8668?
The BSB source-word alignment has 34 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include victory (6), salvation (4), deliverance (2), for the help (2), of victory (2).
Where does תְּשׁוּעָה (teshuah) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Judges 15:18. Its strongest book concentrations include Psalms (13), 1 Samuel (3), 2 Kings (3), 2 Samuel (3).
What This Word Actually Means
Rescue or victory names the saving help in a particular event, prayer or wisdom saying. Saul names the Lord's victory while refusing to execute people who had questioned his rule. Naaman's military success is attributed to the Lord even before his later healing account, so victory does not itself certify every action or erase his illness. Samson cries for water after a great deliverance, retaining physical weakness rather than becoming invulnerable through success.
Proverbs values guidance and counselors, while Psalms warn that a horse's strength cannot itself save. Lamentations speaks of waiting for the Lord's salvation within continuing anguish and hope. Read the actual danger, help and response together. These settings allow responsible guidance, dependence and practical need without turning victory into permission for revenge, treating every rescue term as the same eternal-state claim or demanding passive exposure to preventable harm.
How the Bible Uses It
Victory joined to restraint, success alongside illness, thirst after deliverance, counsel, limited strength and waiting provide distinct witnesses. Actor, danger and stated response bound the rescue language.
- 1Sam.11.13
But Saul ordered, “No one shall be put to death this day, for today the Lord has worked salvation in Israel.”
Saul attributes victory to the Lord and refuses the proposed execution of critics, keeping deliverance beside an explicit limit on retaliatory killing.
- Judg.15.18
And being very thirsty, Samson cried out to the Lord, “You have accomplished this great deliverance through Your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”
Samson acknowledges great deliverance while crying out in severe thirst, preserving bodily need after victory instead of treating success as invulnerability.
- Prov.11.14
For lack of guidance, a nation falls, but with many counselors comes deliverance.
Many counselors are associated with deliverance in the wisdom saying, encouraging guidance without converting the proverb into a guaranteed outcome for every decision.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itvictory6×2 Samuel 19:2, 2 Samuel 23:10, 2 Samuel 23:12, 2 Kings 5:1
salvation4×1 Samuel 11:13, 1 Samuel 19:5, Isaiah 45:17, Isaiah 46:13
deliverance2×Judges 15:18, 1 Samuel 11:9
for the help2×Psalms 60:11, Psalms 108:12
of victory2×2 Kings 13:17
The salvation2×Psalms 37:39, Jeremiah 3:23
Your salvation2×Psalms 40:16, Psalms 119:41
[comes] deliverance1×Proverbs 11:14
and My salvation1×Isaiah 46:13
and salvation1×Psalms 40:10
and victory1×Proverbs 24:6
and Your salvation1×Psalms 71:15
but victory1×Proverbs 21:31
for salvation1×Psalms 33:17
for the salvation1×Lamentations 3:26
for Your salvation1×Psalms 119:81
my Savior1×Psalms 38:22
of my salvation1×Psalms 51:14
rescue1×1 Chronicles 19:12
save1×Psalms 146:3
with salvation1×2 Chronicles 6:41
Show sample aligned rows
Judges 15:18הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥הtodeliveranceArticle | Noun - feminine singular1 Samuel 11:9תְּשׁוּעָ֖הtoDeliveranceNoun - feminine singular1 Samuel 11:13תְּשׁוּעָ֖הtosalvationNoun - feminine singular1 Samuel 19:5תְּשׁוּעָ֤הtosalvationNoun - feminine singular2 Samuel 19:2הַתְּשֻׁעָ֜הtovictoryArticle | Noun - feminine singular2 Samuel 23:10תְּשׁוּעָ֥הtovictoryNoun - feminine singular2 Samuel 23:12תְּשׁוּעָ֥הtovictoryNoun - feminine singular2 Kings 5:1תְּשׁוּעָ֖הtovictoryNoun - feminine singular2 Kings 13:17תְּשׁוּעָ֤הtoof victoryNoun - feminine singular2 Kings 13:17תְּשׁוּעָ֣הtoof victoryNoun - feminine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowJudges 15:18
Aligned rows34
Books represented11
Judges11 Samuel32 Samuel32 Kings31 Chronicles22 Chronicles1Psalms13Proverbs3Isaiah3Jeremiah1Lamentations1
Source forms
תְּשׁוּעָ֖ה3xtə·šū·‘āh1 Samuel 11:9, 1 Samuel 11:13, 2 Kings 5:1
תְּשׁוּעָ֥ה3xtə·šū·‘āh2 Samuel 23:10, 2 Samuel 23:12, 1 Chronicles 11:14
וּ֝תְשׁוּעָ֗ה2xū·ṯə·šū·‘āhProverbs 11:14, Proverbs 24:6
תְּשׁוּעָ֤ה2xtə·šū·‘āh1 Samuel 19:5, 2 Kings 13:17
תְּשׁוּעַ֥ת2xtə·šū·‘aṯPsalms 60:11, Psalms 108:12
תְּשׁוּעַ֖ת2xtə·šū·‘aṯIsaiah 45:17, Jeremiah 3:23
הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה1xhat·tə·šū·‘āhJudges 15:18
הַתְּשׁוּעָֽה׃1xhat·tə·šū·‘āhProverbs 21:31
Parsing patterns
Noun - feminine singular13x1 Samuel 11:9, 1 Samuel 11:13, 1 Samuel 19:5, 2 Samuel 23:10
Noun - feminine singular construct4xPsalms 60:11, Psalms 108:12, Isaiah 45:17, Jeremiah 3:23
Article | Noun - feminine singular3xJudges 15:18, 2 Samuel 19:2, Proverbs 21:31
Noun - feminine singular construct | second person masculine singular3xPsalms 40:16, Psalms 71:15, Psalms 119:41
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular2xProverbs 11:14, Proverbs 24:6
Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular2xPsalms 38:22, Psalms 51:14
Preposition-l | Noun - feminine singular2x1 Chronicles 19:12, Psalms 33:17
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct1xPsalms 37:39
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Seek appropriate support and safety without treating dependence as passive harm acceptance.
- Avoid private health, battlefield or eternal-state verdicts from the noun.
Avoid claiming...
- Victory authorizes retaliation or proves that no bodily need remains.
- Waiting for rescue requires unsafe silence, and the noun settles every person's eternal destiny.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Deliverance spanning literal rescue to national salvation; God's decisive intervention restoring safety and victory.
Source Gloss
rescue (literal or figurative, persons, national or spiritual)
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Deliverance spanning literal rescue to national salvation; God's decisive intervention restoring safety and victory.
rescue (literal or figurative, persons, national or spiritual) BDB: deliverance Usage: deliverance, help, safety, salvation, victory.
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
deliverance, safety, or victory
Showing 1 selected witness from 34 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
Why This Word Matters
Wise counsel leads to preservation and success.Proverbs 11:14
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.
For the Preacher and Teacher
A rescue can be real while the person still needs restraint, counsel or care. Saul's victory statement is followed by refusal to kill his critics, so success does not authorize revenge. Naaman's introduction names military victory and illness together, preventing a simple equation between success and complete wellbeing. Samson's thirsty plea after deliverance makes bodily need explicit.
Proverbs encourages counsel, while Psalm 33 refuses to make a horse's strength the saving source; these are not competing reasons either to idolize human means or reject them. Lamentations' waiting belongs to a continuing lament and hope, not a present abuser's command that someone stay silent indefinitely. Teach the actual help and response, keep the vulnerable person's needs visible, and avoid transforming a lexical range into a private final-state judgment, a violence mandate or a ban on seeking protection and appropriate assistance.
Anchor passage
1Sam.11.13
Doctrinal connections
- First Samuel 11:11-15 reports victory and the proposed killing of critics before Saul refuses execution, retaining the explicit restraint beside thanksgiving.
- Second Kings 5:1-3 names Naaman's military victory and illness before the captive girl's message, without equating success with complete health or moral approval.
- Judges 15:18-19 joins acknowledged deliverance with thirst, prayer and supplied water, preserving physical need and help after the battle account.
- Proverbs 11:12-15 places counsel and deliverance among practical wisdom sayings, encouraging guidance without promising infallible advice or certain results.
- Psalm 33:15-19 denies that military strength or a horse itself saves while naming hope in the Lord's loving devotion, distinguishing means from ultimate dependence.
- Lamentations 3:24-26 voices hope and waiting for the Lord's salvation within the continuing lament, without supplying a modern demand for unsafe silence.
The licensed Hebrew range includes rescue, help, deliverance and victory. The event or danger supplies which English emphasis fits the selected sentence. Shared salvation wording does not settle every afterlife question, and a battle use must not silently become permission for a reader's present violence.
From Old to New Testament
Mark 4:37-41 narrates the disciples' danger and Jesus' calming command before their question about his identity. This Greek storm account can be read beside the Hebrew rescue witnesses as another particular narrated help, without claiming that the nouns are identical or guaranteeing every present emergency ends the same way. Keep the actual danger and response while allowing practical protection, counsel and physical care to remain necessary.