Hebrew word · H1309
בְּשֹׂרָה
besorah
good news
A noun from the root b-s-r, 'to bring news.' The verb is usually about good news, though not only (1 Samuel 4:17 uses it for a report of defeat). The noun has two meanings: (1) the news or report itself, usually welcome news (2 Samuel 18:20, 25, 27; 2 Kings 7:9).
Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) news, good news, tidings, reward for good news
1a) good tidings
1b) tidings, news
1c) reward for good tidings
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
From the study of 2 Samuel 18:22
- Range of meaning
A noun from the root b-s-r, 'to bring news.' The verb is usually about good news, though not only (1 Samuel 4:17 uses it for a report of defeat). The noun has two meanings: (1) the news or report itself, usually welcome news (2 Samuel 18:20, 25, 27; 2 Kings 7:9). (2) The reward or payment given to the person who brings good news (2 Samuel 4:10, where David says the man who announced Saul's death expected to be given a besorah).
- Against the English
KJV and YLT have 'tidings,' which keeps the 'news' sense and loses the reward. BSB, WEB and most modern versions have 'reward,' which keeps the payment and loses the fact that the issue is the news itself. Neither word alone carries both.
- How it drifted
English 'tidings' is now archaic, and 'good news' has become a church word for the Christian gospel. Neither gets across the courier economy behind the Hebrew, in which bringing good news was work that earned a fee.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Within the same book, 2 Samuel 4:10 clearly uses besorah for the messenger's reward. The noun occurs 5 times in this chapter (18:20, 22, 25, 27). The Greek Septuagint usually translates it with euangelia / euangelion, the word later used for the Christian 'gospel.' In 2 Samuel 4:10 that Greek word itself means 'reward for good news,' a use also known from wider Greek, where euangelia could mean thank-offerings or gifts for good tidings.
Where it appears
2 Samuel · 5
-
2 Samuel 4:10 בְּשֹׂרָֽה׃ good news
when someone told me, ‘Look, Saul is dead,’ and thought he was a bearer of good news, I seized him and put him to death at Ziklag. That was his reward for his news!
-
2 Samuel 18:20 בְּשֹׂרָ֤ה news
But Joab replied, “You are not the man to take good news today. You may do it another day, but you must not do so today, because the king’s son is dead.”
-
2 Samuel 18:22 בְּשׂוֹרָ֥ה good news
Ahimaaz son of Zadok, however, persisted and said to Joab, “No matter what, please let me also run behind the Cushite!” “My son,” Joab replied, “why do you want to run, since you will not receive a reward?”
Here: The news a messenger brings, usually welcome news, and by extension the reward paid for bringing it (as in 2 Samuel 4:10). Both senses are in play: the news is not the kind that pays.
-
2 Samuel 18:25 בְּשׂוֹרָ֣ה news
So he called out and told the king. “If he is alone,” the king replied, “he bears good news.” As the first runner drew near,
-
2 Samuel 18:27 בְּשׂוֹרָ֥ה news
The watchman said, “The first man appears to me to be running like Ahimaaz son of Zadok.” “This is a good man,” said the king. “He comes with good news.”
2 Kings · 1
-
2 Kings 7:9 בְּשֹׂרָ֣ה good news
Finally, they said to one another, “We are not doing what is right. Today is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until morning light, our sin will overtake us. Now, therefore, let us go and tell the king’s household.”
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.