Hebrew word · H3173

יָחִיד

yachid

only

'Only, sole, unique.' It is used of an only child, often in contexts of mourning (Judg 11:34; Jer 6:26; Amos 8:10; Zech 12:10). It can also mean 'solitary, alone' (Ps 25:16; 68:6), and in poetry 'my only one' means one's own life (Ps 22:20; 35:17).

Appears 12 times in 12 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

adj

1) only, only one, solitary, one

1a) only, unique, one

1b) solitary

1c)(TWOT) only begotten son

subst

2) one

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 Genesis 22:2

Range of meaning

'Only, sole, unique.' It is used of an only child, often in contexts of mourning (Judg 11:34; Jer 6:26; Amos 8:10; Zech 12:10). It can also mean 'solitary, alone' (Ps 25:16; 68:6), and in poetry 'my only one' means one's own life (Ps 22:20; 35:17).

Against the English

'Only son' is accurate but can puzzle readers who remember Ishmael. The Greek translation renders it 'beloved' (agapētos). The Latin has 'only-begotten' (unigenitum), and Hebrews 11:17 has monogenēs ('one of a kind, only').

Used elsewhere in the period

Jephthah's daughter is called yəḥîdâ, 'his only one; besides her he had no son or daughter' (Judg 11:34), another child whose father vowed her as an offering. The Greek translation of Genesis 22 uses agapētos ('beloved') here and in verses 12 and 16, a word Greek writers used of an only child. Hebrews 11:17 and Josephus (Antiquities 1.222) use monogenēs of Isaac.

From the study of Psalm 68:6

Range of meaning

'Only, sole, single, alone.' It is used of an only child (Isaac in Gen 22:2, 12, 16; Jephthah's daughter in Judg 11:34; mourning for an only son in Amos 8:10, Jer 6:26, Zech 12:10). It also describes a person who is isolated and abandoned: 'Turn to me and be gracious, for I am yachid and afflicted' (Ps 25:16). In Ps 22:20 and 35:17 'my only one' is poetic for 'my life', the one precious thing left.

Against the English

KJV 'solitary' keeps the outward condition. BSB, NIV and NLT 'lonely' turn it toward a feeling. ESV and NASB also use 'solitary' or 'lonely'. None of these words makes clear that, in the ancient world, being without kin meant being without protection.

How it drifted

In modern English, 'lonely' mainly describes an emotion. In a kinship-based society, being yachid described where you stood: no father's house, no brothers to defend or redeem you, no heirs. That condition certainly involved loneliness, but it was mainly vulnerability.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint has monotropous ('those of one way' or 'solitary'), and the Vulgate follows with unius moris. Elsewhere the Greek usually renders yachid with monogenēs ('only, unique') or agapētos ('beloved', for an only child). The word in Ps 25:16, paired with 'afflicted', confirms the sense of abandoned and exposed.

From the study of Zechariah 12:10

Range of meaning

Only or solitary. Used of a child it means an only child, and so the one beloved without rival. It can also mean alone or lonely (Ps 25:16; 68:6).

Against the English

BSB's 'only child' and KJV's '[his] only [son]' both supply a noun the Hebrew implies. In the Bible yāḥîd usually refers to a son, though Jephthah's daughter is called yāḥîd in Judges 11:34.

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis 22:2, 12, 16: Isaac, 'your son, your only one'. Amos 8:10: 'I will make it like the mourning for an only one'. Jeremiah 6:26: 'make mourning as for an only one, most bitter lamentation', the same mix of mourning, an only child and bitterness. The Septuagint often translates it agapētos, 'beloved', including in Genesis 22 and probably here.

Where it appears

Genesis · 3

  1. Genesis 22:2 יְחִֽידְךָ֤ only [son] your

    “Take your son,” God said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”

    Here: 'Your only one' or 'your unique one.' Ishmael has already been sent away (Gen 21:14), and Isaac is the one son through whom the promise runs (21:12). The word carries the feeling of an only child, the kind whose loss Israel mourned most bitterly.

  2. Genesis 22:12 יְחִידְךָ֖ only [son] your

    “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him,” said the angel, “for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.”

    Here: "Your only one," the one and irreplaceable son. The word stands alone in Hebrew, without "son" after it (so KJV puts [son] in italics). See the study below.

  3. Genesis 22:16 יְחִידֶֽךָ׃ only [son] your

    saying, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your only son,

    Here: "Your only one, your unique one": the irreplaceable son through whom every promise was to come. It is the third time in the chapter (vv.2, 12, 16) that Isaac is called this.

Judges · 1

  1. Judges 11:34 יְחִידָ֔ה [was] an only [child]

    And when Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet him with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child; he had no son or daughter besides her.

    Here: Literally 'a single one.' It is the word God uses for Isaac in Genesis 22:2 ('your son, your only one'), and the word for the most bitter kind of mourning, mourning for an only child (Amos 8:10). It marks her as irreplaceable.

Psalms · 4

  1. Psalm 22:20 יְחִידָתִֽי׃ only [life] my

    Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of wild dogs.

  2. Psalm 25:16 יָחִ֖יד [am] solitary

    Turn to me and be gracious, for I am lonely and afflicted.

  3. Psalm 35:17 יְחִידָתִֽי׃ only [life] my

    How long, O Lord, will You look on? Rescue my soul from their ravages, my precious life from these lions.

    Here: 'My only one'. The word is feminine, agreeing with the feminine noun nefesh ('life'), and it stands in for it. It means the speaker's single, irreplaceable life. The same word is used for an only child (Gen 22:2), so it carries great tenderness and the sense that nothing could replace it.

  4. Psalm 68:6 יְחִידִ֨ים׀ solitary [people]

    God settles the lonely in families; He leads the prisoners out to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a sun-scorched land.

    Here: People who are alone in the world: no kin, no household, no one to stand up for them. In this list it sits next to orphans and widows (v.5), so it names a social condition of being exposed and unprotected, and not only a feeling.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 4:3 וְ֝יָחִ֗יד and only [child]

    When I was a son to my father, tender and the only child of my mother,

    Here: 'And one-and-only.' The word can mean a literal only child, but it often means the uniquely precious child, the darling. Paired with 'before my mother', it describes how his mother saw him and treasured him.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 6:26 יָחִיד֙ an only [child]

    O daughter of my people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with bitter wailing, as you would for an only son, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.

    Here: 'Of an only one', meaning an only child. It was proverbial for the worst grief there is, because the family's whole future died with that child.

Amos · 1

  1. Amos 8:10 יָחִ֔יד an only [son]

    I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, and its outcome like a bitter day.

    Here: 'An only one': an only child, implied to be a son, as with Isaac in Gen 22:2. Losing him meant losing the family line, the heir and the person who would one day bury the parents. It was the deepest grief Israel knew (Jer 6:26; Zech 12:10).

Zechariah · 1

  1. Zechariah 12:10 הַיָּחִ֔יד <the> only [son]

    Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.

    Here: 'The only one.' This means an only child, whose death ends the family line. It is the word used of Isaac in Genesis 22:2.

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