Hebrew word · H3336

יֵ֫צֶר

yetzer

purpose

From yātsar, "to form, shape" (the potter's verb, Gen 2:7; Isa 29:16; 45:9).

Appears 9 times in 9 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) form, framing, purpose, framework

1a) form

1a1) pottery

1a2) graven image

1a3) man (as formed from the dust)

1b) purpose, imagination, device (intellectual framework)

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 Isaiah 26:3

Range of meaning

From yātsar, "to form, shape" (the potter's verb, Gen 2:7; Isa 29:16; 45:9). So: (1) a thing formed, an object or vessel (Isa 29:16; Hab 2:18); (2) the "frame" of a human being (Ps 103:14, "he knows our frame"); (3) the shaped bent of the inner life: purpose, intention, inclination, the way a person's thoughts are set (Gen 6:5; 8:21; Deut 31:21; 1 Chr 28:9; 29:18).

Against the English

KJV/ESV/BSB/WEB "mind" and NLT "thoughts" point toward thinking. Yetser is less about the intellect or moment-to-moment thoughts and more about the settled shape of a person's intentions: their frame of mind, their disposition. YLT's "imagination" follows the older KJV rendering of yetser in Gen 6:5.

How it drifted

English "mind" now usually means intellect or attention, which invites a reading about mental focus. The Hebrew word carries the picture of something shaped, a formed character.

Used elsewhere in the period

1 Chr 29:18 prays that God would keep (shamar) "the yetser of the thoughts of the heart" of his people, a close parallel to God guarding the yetser here. In later Jewish writings (Sirach 15:14 in its Hebrew text, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and especially the rabbis) yetser became a technical term for the good and evil "impulses" (yetser ha-ra / yetser ha-tov). That developed doctrine should not be read back into Isaiah, where the word is neutral and here plainly good.

From the study of Deuteronomy 31:21

Range of meaning

From yatsar, 'to form, shape', the potter's verb (Gen 2:7; Jer 18). As a noun it can mean a thing formed: a clay pot or an idol (Isa 29:16; Hab 2:18). For people it means what is formed in the mind: intent, plan, disposition, frame (Gen 6:5; 8:21; Isa 26:3; 1 Chr 28:9; 29:18; Ps 103:14, 'he knows our frame'). On its own the word is neutral. Whether it is good or bad comes from context.

Against the English

KJV 'imagination', BSB 'inclination', WEB 'ways and what they are doing'. Other modern versions use 'intent' or 'what they are inclined to do'. 'Imagination' was accurate in 1611, when it meant devising or plotting, but today it suggests creativity or make-believe.

How it drifted

Two shifts. First, the English word 'imagination' moved from 'scheming' to 'creative fancy'. Second, in later Jewish teaching the word became a technical term, the yetser ha-ra' ('evil inclination') against the yetser ha-tov ('good inclination'). Christian readers sometimes also read in a full doctrine of inherited depravity. Deuteronomy uses the word more simply: what Israel is shaping inside itself right now.

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis 6:5 and 8:21 ('the yetser of man's heart is evil from youth') are the nearest background. Hebrew Sirach 15:14 says God 'left him in the hand of his yetser'. The Dead Sea Scrolls (Thanksgiving Hymns, Community Rule) use yetser for human nature as weak 'clay'. The rabbis built their two-inclinations teaching on it. The Greek Septuagint here translates it as ponēria, 'wickedness', an interpretive choice that makes the negative sense explicit.

From the study of 1 Chronicles 28:9

Range of meaning

Yetser comes from yatsar, 'to form or shape' (a potter's word). It means a form or frame, and then the inclination or purpose that a mind has formed. Machashavot are thoughts, plans and schemes.

Against the English

KJV and WEB 'imaginations of the thoughts' uses 'imagination' in the old sense of 'devising, planning', not fantasy. BSB 'intent of every thought' and NIV 'every desire and every thought' are closer to modern usage.

How it drifted

In 1611 'imagination' meant plotting or devising. Today it means creativity or fantasy.

Used elsewhere in the period

The same pairing occurs in Gen 6:5 ('every yetser of the machshevot of his heart was only evil'), Gen 8:21 and 1 Chr 29:18 (David's prayer). Dead Sea Scrolls and rabbinic writings later turned yetser into a doctrine of two inner impulses, the evil inclination and the good inclination.

Similar words

Where it appears

Genesis · 2

  1. Genesis 6:5 יֵ֙צֶר֙ <the> inclination of

    Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time.

    Here: What the mind shapes or forms, the bent or set of a person's planning. It comes from the verb a potter uses for shaping clay, the same verb used when Yahweh 'formed' the human in 2:7.

  2. Genesis 8:21 יֵ֣צֶר [the] inclination of

    When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.

    Here: Comes from yatsar, 'to shape' as a potter shapes clay, the verb used when God 'formed' the human in 2:7. Here it means the mind's framing: what a person devises, plans and is inclined toward.

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 31:21 יִצְר֗וֹ intention its

    And when many troubles and afflictions have come upon them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten from the lips of their descendants. For I know their inclination, even before I bring them into the land that I swore to give them.”

    Here: From the potter's verb 'to form'. It means what is being formed inside him: his bent, intentions, plans. The context shows it leans toward turning away (v.20).

1 Chronicles · 2

  1. 1 Chronicles 28:9 יֵ֥צֶר inclination of

    As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands the intent of every thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.

    Here: Literally something 'formed', as a potter forms clay. Here it means the shape a person's thoughts take: what they are aiming at.

  2. 1 Chronicles 29:18 לְיֵ֥צֶר <to> [the] inclination of

    O LORD, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, keep this desire forever in the intentions of the hearts of Your people, and direct their hearts toward You.

    Here: From the verb for a potter shaping clay. It means the shape or set of the inner life, its settled bent. With the preposition it means roughly "as the shaping of": God is asked to keep this generosity as the permanent cast of the people's mind.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 103:14 יִצְרֵ֑נוּ form our

    For He knows our frame; He is mindful that we are dust.

    Here: 'Our formation': the thing a potter has shaped. It comes from the verb used when God 'formed' the first human from dust (Genesis 2:7), so it calls up God as the potter who shaped us and knows exactly what material he used.

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 26:3 יֵ֣צֶר an inclination

    You will keep in perfect peace the steadfast of mind, because he trusts in You.

    Here: Something formed, as a potter forms a pot: here the shaped inner disposition of a person, the set of their thoughts and intentions. It stands first in the sentence for emphasis: "A disposition of this kind, you guard."

  2. Isaiah 29:16 וְיֵ֛צֶר and a pot

    You have turned things upside down, as if the potter were regarded as clay. Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He did not make me”? Can the pottery say of the potter, “He has no understanding”?

    Here: 'And the formed thing,' meaning the pot. It comes from the same root as 'potter,' so the wordplay is yetser / yotser: shaped thing / shaper.

Habakkuk · 1

  1. Habakkuk 2:18 יִצְרוֹ֙ form his

    What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it—or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.

    Here: 'His own formation', the object he shaped. The phrase yōṣēr yiṣrô ('the shaper of his shaping') is a deliberate jingle. The maker trusts in what his own hands produced.

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