Properly, to try , i.e. (by implication) select
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בָּחַר in the OT is the verb of divine election — the act by which YHWH selects Israel as His people, the sanctuary as His dwelling, David as His king, and the Servant as His instrument. The theological weight rests on who does the choosing and why.
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Full entry for בָּחַר (H977) · Open the biblical lexicon
בָּחַר in the OT is the verb of divine election — the act by which YHWH selects Israel as His people, the sanctuary as His dwelling, David as His king, and the Servant as His instrument. The theological weight rests on who does the choosing and why.
The BSB source-word alignment has 172 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include will choose (19), chosen (13), I have chosen (12), you have chosen (9), has chosen (8).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 6:2. Its strongest book concentrations include Deuteronomy (31), Isaiah (20), 2 Chronicles (16), Psalms (14).
This entry includes 1 verse guide that explain exact original-language forms in context.
בָּחַר in the OT is the verb of divine election — the act by which YHWH selects Israel as His people, the sanctuary as His dwelling, David as His king, and the Servant as His instrument. The theological weight rests on who does the choosing and why. Deut 7:6-7 is the foundational text: YHWH chose Israel not because they were the greatest people (they were the fewest) but because of His love (H0157 אָהַב) and the oath to the fathers (H7621 שְׁבוּעָה).
Election is grounded in prior grace, not observed merit. This makes בָּחַר distinctly different from human election processes: YHWH does not choose the best candidate — He makes His chosen one what they need to be. The Deuteronomic 'place that YHWH your God will choose' formula (appearing 21 times in Deut 12-26) roots covenant worship in divine appointment — Israel does not choose where to encounter God; God chooses and designates the place.
The theological implication is consistent: the initiative belongs to God.
בָּחַר is indexed in the local Hebrew artifact at about 170 OT occurrences, with the highest concentration in Deuteronomy (the sanctuary-choice formula and the foundational election texts), the Psalms (divine election of Zion, David, Levi), Isaiah (the Servant passages), and historical narrative. The scope covers election of people (Israel), place (sanctuary), king (David), tribe (Levi), and servant (Isaiah's Servant).
For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of the earth.
The OT's foundational election text. בָּחַר is grounded in love and prior oath (v.8), not in Israel's size or merit. The explicit 'not because' is the OT's own anti-merit safeguard: the basis of election is excluded from anything Israel could point to as grounds.
“Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations.
The Servant is בָּחַר — the chosen one of YHWH. The NT identifies this figure with Jesus (Matt 12:18 quotes it; Luke 9:35 at the transfiguration: 'this is my Son, my Chosen One'). Election of the Servant is the election of the one through whom the nations will be reached.
He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds;
David's election follows the same pattern as Israel's: the choosing of the unlikely. The shepherd boy, the youngest son — YHWH's בָּחַר consistently bypasses the obvious candidate. This is the OT's pattern for how divine election operates.
“You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may consider and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me no god was formed, and after Me none will come.
Election for a purpose: Israel is chosen to be witness to YHWH's identity among the nations. The בָּחַר is not merely status — it comes with a commission. Chosen to know, believe, understand, and testify.
Instead, you must seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.
The sanctuary-election formula: God chooses the place, not Israel. This formula appears often in Deuteronomy. Worship is structured around divine initiative — Israel goes where God designates, not where they find convenient. The chosen place is the chosen people's meeting point with their choosing God.
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.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Hebrew word. Selection emerges from testing or scrutiny; implies deliberate evaluation before choosing, especially God's covenant choice.
Selection emerges from testing or scrutiny; implies deliberate evaluation before choosing, especially God's covenant choice.
properly, to try, i.e. (by implication) select BDB: choose Usage: acceptable, appoint, choose (choice), excellent, join, be rather, require.
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 170 lexical occurrence verses.
בָּחַר is a primitive root - no further derivation.
The renewed choosing emphasizes covenant continuity. Isaiah 14:1-8
Highlights God’s sovereign initiative in covenant relationship. Isaiah 44:1-5
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Deut 7:7 is the OT's own guardrail against every form of election-as-pride: God chose the fewest, not the greatest. The pattern holds across all of OT election — the shepherd, the younger son, the stiff-necked people — and it holds in the NT: 1 Cor 1:27-28 ('God chose what is foolish... what is weak... what is low and despised'). Election in Scripture is never an occasion for superiority; it is always an occasion for gratitude and commission.
The chosen are chosen for a purpose: to know God, to bear witness, to be the means through which blessing reaches others. The commission does not compete with the grace; it flows from it as the natural shape of a chosen life.
Deut.7.6
The Deuteronomic sanctuary formula ('the place that YHWH will choose') uses the imperfect tense — the choice is ongoing, not a past event frozen in time. The 21 repetitions in Deut 12-26 function as a liturgical refrain: covenant worship is always returning to the place YHWH designates. The divine initiative is built into the grammar. The Niphal of בָּחַר ('to be chosen') appears in the Psalms where Zion, Levi, and David are described as having been chosen — the passive marks the receiving end of the divine act.
John 15:16 — 'You did not choose me, but I chose you (ἐξελεξάμην) and appointed you' — is the NT's most direct echo of Deut 7:6-7's pattern: initiative from above, not from below. Eph 1:4 — 'He chose us in him before the foundation of the world' — extends the בָּחַר timeline before creation itself, making the pre-temporal divine choice the basis of present covenant standing.
1 Pet 2:9 — 'a chosen race (γένος ἐκλεκτόν)' — applies Deut 7:6's 'treasured possession' language to the church, arguing continuity of the elect community across the covenant transition.
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