Properly, separation ; by implication, a part of the body, branch of a tree, bar for carrying; figuratively, chief of a city; especially (with prepositional prefix) as an adverb, apart , only , besides
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H905 names separation or a distinct part, appearing for what stands alone, what is exclusively set apart, and concrete separated pieces such as carrying poles. Its adverbial uses can mean alone, only, apart, besides, or in addition, while its noun uses can identify a branch, bar, pole, limb, or other separated part, so grammar must decide whether a passage marks exclusivity, isolation, addition, or an object.
Reader summary
Full entry for בַּד (H905) · Open the biblical lexicon
H905 names separation or a distinct part, appearing for what stands alone, what is exclusively set apart, and concrete separated pieces such as carrying poles. Its adverbial uses can mean alone, only, apart, besides, or in addition, while its noun uses can identify a branch, bar, pole, limb, or other separated part, so grammar must decide whether a passage.
The BSB source-word alignment has 201 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include alone (33), . . . (28), in addition to (22), the poles (18), only (12).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 2:18. Its strongest book concentrations include Exodus (40), Numbers (22), 1 Kings (18), Genesis (14).
H905 names separation or a distinct part, appearing for what stands alone, what is exclusively set apart, and concrete separated pieces such as carrying poles. Its adverbial uses can mean alone, only, apart, besides, or in addition, while its noun uses can identify a branch, bar, pole, limb, or other separated part, so grammar must decide whether a passage marks exclusivity, isolation, addition, or an object.
In Gen. 2. 18, god identifies the mans aloneness as not good and announces a corresponding helper within the creation account of human relationship. In 1Sam. 7. 3, samuel calls returning Israel to remove foreign gods, prepare their hearts for the Lord, and serve Him alone as covenant allegiance. H905 opens teaching on the difference between harmful isolation, faithful singleness of devotion, and the ordinary distinction of one part from another.
It corrects the assumption that every form of being alone is either sinful or spiritually superior, and it prevents the word only from being used to erase the concrete object senses found in tabernacle instructions. H905 gives separation several distinct textures: Genesis declares that the human being alone lacks the corresponding help God intends, Samuel calls Israel to serve the Lord only, and Numbers names the poles inserted to carry holy furnishings.
The word can therefore mark relational lack, exclusive covenant allegiance, or a concrete separated piece. Faithful teaching must let each grammar carry its own claim while recognizing that God orders both belonging and distinction. For H905, responsible teaching keeps lexical meaning, passage context, canonical synthesis, and present application distinguishable.
H905 does not declare that every solitary season is harmful, make marriage the only faithful human vocation, authorize communities to control a persons relationships, or turn every occurrence of only into a statement about worship.
H905 appears across passages that develop human companionship, exclusive worship, creaturely limits, holy distinction, material service, and responsible belonging. For H905, the immediate setting decides which part of the range is active, so the witnesses must remain distinct rather than being merged into one formula.
The Lord God also said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper.”
God identifies the mans aloneness as not good and announces a corresponding helper within the creation account of human relationship.
Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and Ashtoreths among you, prepare your hearts for the Lord, and serve Him only. And He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.”
Samuel calls returning Israel to remove foreign gods, prepare their hearts for the Lord, and serve Him alone as covenant allegiance.
They are to place over this a covering of fine leather, spread a solid blue cloth over it, and insert its poles.
The Kohathite instructions require a covering and blue cloth over the ark before its carrying poles are inserted for transport.
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. Root meaning of separation extending to isolated units: limbs, branches, bars—hence "alone" or "only
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
בַּד is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
H905 gives separation several distinct textures: Genesis declares that the human being alone lacks the corresponding help God intends, Samuel calls Israel to serve the Lord only, and Numbers names the poles inserted to carry holy furnishings. The word can therefore mark relational lack, exclusive covenant allegiance, or a concrete separated piece. Faithful teaching must let each grammar carry its own claim while recognizing that God orders both belonging and distinction.
H905 names separation or a distinct part, appearing for what stands alone, what is exclusively set apart, and concrete separated pieces such as carrying poles. The selected witnesses keep the teaching concrete: Gen. 2. 18 shows that god identifies the mans aloneness as not good and announces a corresponding helper within the creation account of human relationship, while 1Sam.
7. 3 Shows that samuel calls returning Israel to remove foreign gods, prepare their hearts for the Lord, and serve Him alone as covenant allegiance. Num. 4. 6 adds that the Kohathite instructions require a covering and blue cloth over the ark before its carrying poles are inserted for transport. H905 opens teaching on the difference between harmful isolation, faithful singleness of devotion, and the ordinary distinction of one part from another.
It corrects the assumption that every form of being alone is either sinful or spiritually superior, and it prevents the word only from being used to erase the concrete object senses found in tabernacle instructions. A church teaching H905 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.
H905 does not declare that every solitary season is harmful, make marriage the only faithful human vocation, authorize communities to control a persons relationships, or turn every occurrence of only into a statement about worship.
Gen.2.18
H905 is a Hebrew noun rooted in separation whose frequent prepositional and adverbial constructions express alone, apart, only, besides, or in addition; other occurrences name a branch, bar, pole, limb, or portion.
The Old Testament joins exclusive allegiance to the Lord with ordered communal life and concrete service in worship. The New Testament commends undivided devotion, mutual belonging in Christs body, and responsible use of distinct gifts, without making its Greek terms lexical equivalents of H905.