Hebrew word · H3247

יְסוֹד

yesod

foundation

Foundation of a building or wall (Ps 137:7 "down to its foundations"; Lam 4:11); base of the altar (Exod 29:12; Lev 4:7, 18); figuratively, what something rests on (Job 4:19 "whose foundation is in the dust"; Job 22:16).

Appears 19 times in 19 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) foundation, base

1a) foundation

1b) base, bottom

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 Proverbs 10:25

Range of meaning

Foundation of a building or wall (Ps 137:7 "down to its foundations"; Lam 4:11); base of the altar (Exod 29:12; Lev 4:7, 18); figuratively, what something rests on (Job 4:19 "whose foundation is in the dust"; Job 22:16).

Against the English

KJV, NASB and YLT keep "foundation." BSB ("secure"), WEB and NIV ("stand firm") and ESV ("established") turn the noun into a quality. Those renderings keep the meaning but lose the picture: the righteous person is compared to the footing of a building that stays on its site after the storm.

Used elsewhere in the period

Job 22:16 says the wicked are those "whose foundation was washed away by a river." Isa 28:16–17 sets a "sure foundation" against hail and flood that sweep away a "refuge of lies." The rabbis later read this verse as "the righteous is the foundation of the world" (b. Hagigah 12b; b. Yoma 38b), and Jewish mysticism eventually named the sefirah Yesod after it.

From the study of Job 22:16

Range of meaning

Foundation or base: of a building (Habakkuk 3:13), of an altar (Exodus 29:12), of a wall, of the earth itself. Figuratively, the ground of a person's existence or security.

Against the English

Translations agree on "foundation(s)". The plural "foundations" (BSB, NIV) smooths the Hebrew singular "their foundation" into English but changes nothing.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Job 4:19 Eliphaz says humans dwell in houses of clay "whose foundation is in the dust". This speaker returns to the image of a person's fragile footing. In Psalm 137:7 the cry "Raze it, raze it, down to its foundation" marks total destruction.

From the study of Lamentations 4:11

Range of meaning

Foundation, base, the bottom course of a wall or building. It is also used for the base of the altar (Lev 4:7) and for the foundations of the earth.

Against the English

'Foundations' is accurate. NLT's 'burned the city to its foundations' paraphrases the image.

Used elsewhere in the period

Psalm 137:7 remembers the Edomites shouting on the day Jerusalem fell: 'Strip it bare, strip it bare, down to its foundation (yəsôd)!' Deuteronomy 32:22 has fire eating the 'foundations' of the mountains (a related word, môsādê).

Where it appears

Exodus · 1
  1. Exodus 29:12 יְס֖וֹד [the] base of

    Take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; then pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.

Leviticus · 8
  1. Leviticus 4:7 יְסוֹד֙ [the] base of

    The priest must then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is before the LORD in the Tent of Meeting. And he is to pour out the rest of the bull’s blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

    Here: The bottom or foundation of the bronze altar. It may have been a projecting ledge; later Jewish practice understood it that way (Mishnah Middot 3:1).

  2. Leviticus 4:18 יְסוֹד֙ [the] base of

    He is also to put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is before the LORD in the Tent of Meeting, and he must pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

  3. Leviticus 4:25 יְס֖וֹד [the] base of

    Then the priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.

    Here: The foundation or base of the altar, at ground level. The blood ends up where the altar meets the earth, the opposite end from the horns at the top.

  4. Leviticus 4:30 יְס֖וֹד [the] base of

    Then the priest is to take some of its blood with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.

  5. Leviticus 4:34 יְס֖וֹד [the] base of

    Then the priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar.

    Here: The bottom or foundation of the altar. YLT keeps 'foundation'; most versions say 'base'.

  6. Leviticus 5:9 יְס֣וֹד [the] base of

    then he is to sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar, while the rest of the blood is drained out at the base of the altar. It is a sin offering.

    Here: "Base of": the bottom of the altar. The leftover blood of every sin offering goes here (4:7, 18, 25, 30, 34).

  7. Leviticus 8:15 יְס֣וֹד [the] base of

    Moses slaughtered the bull, took some of the blood, and applied it with his finger to all four horns of the altar, purifying the altar. He poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it so that atonement could be made on it.

    Here: The foot or bottom of the altar where it meets the ground. This is the usual place for disposing of leftover sacrificial blood (Lev 4:7, 18, 25, 30, 34).

  8. Leviticus 9:9 יְס֖וֹד [the] base of

    The sons of Aaron brought the blood to him, and he dipped his finger in the blood and applied it to the horns of the altar. And he poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.

2 Chronicles · 1
  1. 2 Chronicles 23:5 הַיְס֑וֹד the foundation

    a third shall be at the royal palace, and a third at the Foundation Gate, while all the others are to be in the courtyards of the house of the LORD.

Job · 2
  1. Job 4:19 יְסוֹדָ֑ם foundation their

    how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who can be crushed like a moth!

    Here: "Their foundation." A foundation should be the strongest part of a building. Theirs is dust, so their whole existence rests on what is weakest.

  2. Job 22:16 יְסוֹדָֽם׃ foundation their

    They were snatched away before their time, and their foundations were swept away by a flood.

    Here: "Their foundation": the base a building stands on. Here it stands for whatever the wicked thought made their lives secure. It washes out from under them.

Psalms · 1
  1. Psalm 137:7 הַיְס֥וֹד the foundation

    Remember, O LORD, the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem fell: “Destroy it,” they said, “tear it down to its foundations!”

    Here: The base course of the walls and buildings. It is also a picture of the city's very basis, of everything that holds it up. Total destruction, not mere defeat.

Proverbs · 1
  1. Proverbs 10:25 יְס֣וֹד [is] a foundation of

    When the whirlwind passes, the wicked are no more, but the righteous are secure forever.

    Here: The foundation of a building or the base of an altar. Here it is a predicate noun: the righteous person does not just *have* a foundation, he *is* one. The picture is of a footing that stays when everything built on weaker ground is swept off.

Lamentations · 1
  1. Lamentations 4:11 יְסוֹדֹתֶֽיהָ׃ ס foundations its

    The LORD has exhausted His wrath; He has poured out His fierce anger; He has kindled a fire in Zion, and it has consumed her foundations.

    Here: 'Her foundations': Zion's base courses and footings. The city is burned down to the ground, and what it stood on has gone.

Ezekiel · 2
  1. Ezekiel 13:14 יְסֹד֑וֹ foundation[s] its

    I will tear down the wall you whitewashed and level it to the ground, so that its foundation is exposed. The city will fall, and you will be destroyed within it. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

  2. Ezekiel 30:4 יְסוֹדֹתֶֽיהָ׃ foundations its

    A sword will come against Egypt, and there will be anguish in Cush when the slain fall in Egypt, its wealth is taken away, and its foundations are torn down.

Micah · 1
  1. Micah 1:6 וִיסֹדֶ֖יהָ and foundations its

    Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble in the open field, a planting area for a vineyard. I will pour her stones into the valley and expose her foundations.

    Here: The lowest courses of masonry, laid on bedrock. If even these are exposed, nothing is left standing above them. The destruction is total.

Habakkuk · 1
  1. Habakkuk 3:13 יְס֥וֹד foundation[s]

    You went forth for the salvation of Your people, to save Your anointed. You crushed the head of the house of the wicked and stripped him from head to toe. Selah

    Here: The base of a building or wall. Here it carries on the 'house' picture: the enemy's house is torn open right down to its footings.

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