Hebrew word · H3787

כָּשֵׁר

hakhsheir

to succeed

"To be fitting, proper, right; to succeed, turn out well, be advantageous". It is a late word in biblical Hebrew. The verb occurs only here and in Esther 8:5 ("if the thing seems right before the king").

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

What it means

1) to succeed, please, be suitable, be proper, be advantageous, be right and proper to

1a) (Qal) to please, be proper

1b) (Hiphil) to give success

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 Ecclesiastes 11:6

Range of meaning

"To be fitting, proper, right; to succeed, turn out well, be advantageous". It is a late word in biblical Hebrew. The verb occurs only here and in Esther 8:5 ("if the thing seems right before the king"). The related noun kišrôn ("skill, success, advantage") is distinctive of Ecclesiastes (2:21; 4:4; 5:10).

Against the English

KJV, WEB and BSB say "prosper" or "succeed". YLT has "which is right", which keeps the sense of fitness and properness.

How it drifted

"Prosper" can sound to modern ears like wealth or divine financial blessing. Here the word means a crop or effort that "comes out right".

Used elsewhere in the period

In later rabbinic Hebrew the same root gives kāšēr, "fit, valid, proper". This is the source of English "kosher". Its spread in late biblical texts (Esther, Ecclesiastes) is one of the features scholars use to date the language of Ecclesiastes to the Persian or early Hellenistic period.

From the study of Esther 8:5

Range of meaning

Fitting, suitable, proper. Also advantageous or likely to succeed. The verb kashar means 'to prosper, turn out well' (Ecclesiastes 11:6), and the noun kishron means 'skill, success' (Ecclesiastes 2:21; 4:4; 5:11; 10:10). It is a late word, found only in books of the Persian and Hellenistic periods.

Against the English

English versions say 'proper' (BSB), 'right' (KJV, WEB, YLT, ESV, NASB) or 'the right thing to do' (NIV). These are fine, but 'right' can sound moral ('just'), while kasher leans more toward 'suitable, workable, advisable'. Esther is arguing that the proposal makes sense, not only that it is ethical.

Used elsewhere in the period

This is its only use in the Hebrew Bible in the sense 'proper'. Related forms appear in Ecclesiastes. In later rabbinic Hebrew kasher became the technical term for what is ritually 'fit' or acceptable (food, a Torah scroll, a witness), which gave English 'kosher'. That technical meaning comes later than Esther.

From the study of Ecclesiastes 10:10

Range of meaning

The root kšr means 'to be fit, proper, successful'. This causative form means 'to make succeed, make go right, put in proper order'.

Against the English

KJV 'to direct'. YLT 'to make right'. BSB and WEB 'brings success'. ESV 'helps one to succeed'. KJV's 'direct' can sound like moral guidance, but the Hebrew is about making a job turn out well.

How it drifted

The KJV's 'profitable to direct' used 'direct' in the older sense of 'set straight, make go right'. Modern readers tend to hear 'wisdom guides your life choices'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Rare in biblical Hebrew. It appears in Esther 8:5 ('if the thing seems right') and Ecclesiastes 11:6 ('you do not know which will succeed'). The related noun kishrôn ('skill, success') appears in Ecclesiastes 2:21, 4:4 and 5:10. Rabbinic Hebrew uses kasher for 'fit, valid', the source of 'kosher'.

Where it appears

Esther · 1

  1. Esther 8:5 וְכָשֵׁ֤ר and it is proper

    “If it pleases the king,” she said, “and if I have found favor in his sight, and the matter seems proper to the king, and I am pleasing in his sight, may an order be written to revoke the letters that the scheming Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces.

    Here: A rare late word meaning 'fitting, suitable, likely to succeed'. Esther now appeals to the king's judgment of the proposal itself, not only to his feelings. It is the root of the later word 'kosher'.

Ecclesiastes · 2

  1. Ecclesiastes 10:10 הַכְשֵׁ֖ר to give success

    If the axe is dull and the blade unsharpened, more strength must be exerted, but skill produces success.

    Here: 'To make things go right', 'to bring success'. It comes from the root that later gives 'kosher' ('fit, proper'). The grammar of the word and the clause is difficult (see debates).

  2. Ecclesiastes 11:6 יִכְשָׁר֙ will it succeed

    Sow your seed in the morning, and do not rest your hands in the evening, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or if both will equally prosper.

    Here: "Will turn out right / succeed." Of seed, it means coming up and yielding. The root is the one behind later "kosher" (fit, proper).

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