Hebrew word · H3161

יָחַד

yached

be joined

To be joined, be united, be one. It is related to ʾeḥād ('one', as in 'YHWH is one', Deut 6:4) and to yaḥad ('together'). The intensive form used here occurs only in this verse and means 'make one, unify'.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to join, unite, be joined, be united

1a) (Qal) to be united

1b) (Piel) to unite

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 Psalm 86:11

Range of meaning

To be joined, be united, be one. It is related to ʾeḥād ('one', as in 'YHWH is one', Deut 6:4) and to yaḥad ('together'). The intensive form used here occurs only in this verse and means 'make one, unify'.

Against the English

KJV, ESV and NASB keep the picture with 'unite my heart'. BSB and NIV turn it into an adjective, 'undivided heart', which is clear but loses the sense of God actively joining together. NLT moves to 'purity of heart', which changes the image from oneness to cleanness.

How it drifted

Little drift. The risk is reading 'unite my heart' as emotional enthusiasm, or 'undivided' as simple focus, rather than single covenant loyalty.

Used elsewhere in the period

Opposite pictures: 'a heart and a heart', i.e. a double heart (Ps 12:2; 1 Chr 12:33). 'One heart and one way' that God promises to give so that they will fear him (Jer 32:39), which is very close to this verse's pairing of way, heart and fear. 'One heart' (Ezek 11:19). The Qumran community called itself ha-yaḥad, 'the Unity'. James 1:8 later warns against the 'double-souled' person.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 49:6 תֵּחַ֣ד it be united

    May I never enter their council; may I never join their assembly. For they kill men in their anger, and hamstring oxen on a whim.

    Here: 'May it be joined.' The root is related to yaḥad, 'together'. Jacob refuses to be counted as one with them or to share their identity. A rare verb.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 86:11 יַחֵ֥ד unite

    Teach me Your way, O LORD, that I may walk in Your truth. Give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name.

    Here: A command, 'make one!' or 'unify!'. This is the only place the Bible uses this intensive form of the verb. It asks God to pull a scattered inner life together into a single loyalty.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 14:20 תֵחַ֤ד you will be united

    You will not join them in burial, since you have destroyed your land and slaughtered your own people. The offspring of the wicked will never again be mentioned.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.