מַחֲשָׁבָה

Genesis 6:5 מַחְשְׁבֹ֣ת [the] thoughts 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: Plans and devisings, thinking aimed at action. The word often means plotting, so this is scheming rather than passing thoughts.

Exodus 31:4 מַחֲשָׁבֹ֑ת designs

to design artistic works in gold, silver, and bronze,

Exodus 35:32 מַֽחַשָׁבֹ֑ת designs

to design artistic works in gold, silver, and bronze,

Exodus 35:33 מַחֲשָֽׁבֶת׃ design

to cut gemstones for settings, and to carve wood, so that he may be a master of every artistic craft.

Exodus 35:35 מַחֲשָׁבֹֽת׃ designs

He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and as weavers—as artistic designers of every kind of craft.

Here: 'Designs': artistic conceptions. 'Devisers of devisings' is a Hebrew wordplay. Elsewhere the same noun can mean schemes or plots, but here it means artistic invention (compare 31:4; 35:32).

2 Samuel 14:14 מַֽחֲשָׁב֔וֹת plans

For we will surely die and be like water poured out on the ground, which cannot be recovered. Yet God does not take away a life, but He devises ways that the banished one may not be cast out from Him.

Here: The noun comes from the same root as the verb, so it reads 'plans plans'. The repetition stresses deliberate, inventive effort. KJV 'devise means' and YLT 'devised devices' keep the echo.

1 Chronicles 28:9 מַחֲשָׁב֖וֹת thoughts

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: Plans and schemes, thinking that is headed toward action. 'The yetser of thoughts' is the purpose hidden behind the plans.

1 Chronicles 29:18 מַחְשְׁב֖וֹת [the] thoughts 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: Plans and intentions, the mind's calculating and devising. The supplied dictionary gloss "plot" fits other contexts; here it is neutral to positive: "the plans."

2 Chronicles 2:14 מַחֲשָׁ֑בֶת design

He is the son of a woman from the daughters of Dan, and his father is a man of Tyre. He is skilled in work with gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, purple, blue, and crimson yarn, and fine linen. He is experienced in every kind of engraving and can execute any design that is given him. He will work with your craftsmen and with those of my lord, your father David.

2 Chronicles 26:15 מַחֲשֶׁ֣בֶת invention of

And in Jerusalem he made skillfully designed devices to shoot arrows and catapult large stones from the towers and corners. So his fame spread far and wide, for he was helped tremendously until he became powerful.

Esther 8:3 מַֽחֲשַׁבְתּ֔וֹ plan his

And once again, Esther addressed the king. She fell at his feet weeping and begged him to revoke the evil scheme of Haman the Agagite, which he had devised against the Jews.

Esther 8:5 מַחֲשֶׁ֜בֶת [the] plan of

“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: Set in apposition to 'the letters', meaning it sits beside them as another name for them: 'the letters, Haman's scheme'. Esther presents the decree as one man's plot, not as the king's own law.

Esther 9:25 מַחֲשַׁבְתּ֧וֹ plan his

But when it came before the king, he commanded by letter that the wicked scheme which Haman had devised against the Jews should come back upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

Here: "His plan," meaning a calculated design rather than a passing thought. It refers to Haman's organized scheme to destroy the Jews.

Job 5:12 מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת [the] plans of

He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.

Here: "The plans of". Deliberate plans worked out in the mind, here schemes against others. The same word can mean a craftsman's design, but in this context it means calculated plotting.

Job 21:27 מַחְשְׁבֽוֹתֵיכֶ֑ם thoughts your

Behold, I know your thoughts full well, the schemes by which you would wrong me.

Psalm 33:10 מַחְשְׁב֥וֹת [the] plans of

The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations; He thwarts the devices of the peoples.

Here: Worked-out designs or schemes, from a verb meaning to reckon or devise. It can describe a craftsman's designs (Exod 31:4) or a schemer's plots. It returns in v. 11: 'the plans of his heart' stand for all generations.

Psalm 33:11 מַחְשְׁב֥וֹת [the] plans of

The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the purposes of His heart to all generations.

Here: Worked-out designs and intentions, not passing thoughts. The same word is used for the 'devices of the peoples' in verse 10, which Yahweh frustrates.

Psalm 40:5 וּמַחְשְׁבֹתֶ֗יךָ and plans your

Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders You have done, and the plans You have for us—none can compare to You—if I proclaim and declare them, they are more than I can count.

Here: 'And your plans/designs.' This means purposes God has worked out, not passing thoughts. The pairing with 'wonders' links what God planned to what he then carried out.

Psalm 56:5 מַחְשְׁבֹתָ֣ם plans their

All day long they twist my words; all their thoughts are on my demise.

Here: "Their schemes." These are deliberate plans and plots, not stray thoughts. The word comes from a root meaning to reckon or devise. The next verse spells the schemes out: they band together, lie in ambush and watch his steps.

Psalm 92:5 מַחְשְׁבֹתֶֽיךָ׃ thoughts your

How great are Your works, O LORD, how deep are Your thoughts!

Here: "Your plans/purposes": not God's passing ideas but what he intends and is working toward. Here, his purpose that lets the wicked spring up like grass only to be destroyed for ever (v. 7).

Psalm 94:11 מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת [the] thoughts of

The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile.

Here: Not stray feelings but calculations and designs, the plans people work out in their heads. In this psalm that means the scheming of the oppressors in verses 4–7.

Proverbs 6:18 מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת plans of

a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil,

Here: Plural 'plans of', linked to the next word. These are worked-out designs, not passing thoughts. The same word is used for a craftsman's artistic designs.

Proverbs 12:5 מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת [the] plans of

The plans of the righteous are just, but the counsel of the wicked leads to deceit.

Here: From the verb ḥāshav, 'to reckon, calculate, devise'. Not passing thoughts but what a person works out and intends to do. The word itself is neutral: it can be good plans or evil schemes. Here the plans belong to the righteous.

Proverbs 15:22 מַ֭חֲשָׁבוֹת plans

Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.

Here: What a person has worked out in their head: plans, intentions, designs. The word can mean wicked plots elsewhere, but here it is neutral: any plan someone has thought up.

Proverbs 15:26 מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת [the] plans of

The LORD detests the thoughts of the wicked, but the words of the pure are pleasant to Him.

Here: Deliberate designs worked out in the mind, not passing thoughts. In this context they are the kind of plotting that leads to the land-grabbing and bribery named in the verses on either side.

Proverbs 16:3 מַחְשְׁבֹתֶֽיךָ׃ plans your

Commit your works to the LORD and your plans will be achieved.

Here: This means what you have worked out to do: plans, designs, schemes. It does not mean the general flow of your thoughts. Elsewhere the word can mean wicked 'plots' (Prov 6:18; 15:26), which explains the supplied gloss 'plot', but here it is neutral: your plans.

Proverbs 19:21 מַחֲשָׁב֣וֹת plans

Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the LORD will prevail.

Here: The things a person thinks up and works out: plans, designs, calculations. Here it is neutral, neither good nor wicked. The plural suggests many plans, often competing or shifting.

Proverbs 20:18 מַ֭חֲשָׁבוֹת plans

Set plans by consultation, and wage war under sound guidance.

Here: The plans someone has worked out in their head: what they intend to do and how. The word is neutral. It can mean a craftsman's design, a good intention, or a plot. Here it means plans in general, and it stands first in the line for emphasis: "plans, these become firm through counsel."

Proverbs 21:5 מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת [the] plans of

The plans of the diligent bring plenty, as surely as haste leads to poverty.

Here: The schemes a person works out in the mind: reckoning, devising, planning ahead. Here it is neutral and positive, the careful forethought of a capable person, not 'plots'. The plural suggests a habit of planning, not one plan.

Isaiah 55:7 מַחְשְׁבֹתָ֑יו thoughts his

Let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.

Here: 'His plans': the things he works out and intends to carry out. This is less his passing thoughts than his designs and schemes. The word is picked up straight away in v.8: 'My plans are not your plans.'

Isaiah 55:8 מַחְשְׁבוֹתַי֙ מַחְשְׁב֣וֹתֵיכֶ֔ם thoughts my, [are] thoughts your

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.

Here: 'My plans / my intentions.' Not just passing ideas: what God intends and has decided to do. In context, what He intends is pardon and bringing the exiles home.

Isaiah 55:9 וּמַחְשְׁבֹתַ֖י מִמַּחְשְׁבֹתֵיכֶֽם׃ and thoughts my, more than thoughts your

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.

Here: 'And my plans/intentions': what God has in mind to do. It is not mainly his process of thinking. The same word as Jeremiah 29:11's 'the plans I have for you.'

Isaiah 59:7 מַחְשְׁבֽוֹתֵיהֶם֙ מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת thoughts their, [are] thoughts of

Their feet run to evil; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and destruction lie in their wake.

Here: From a root meaning 'reckon, calculate, design'. These are plans and schemes worked out in advance, not passing thoughts. The violence of the first line is planned.

Isaiah 65:2 מַחְשְׁבֹתֵיהֶֽם׃ own thoughts their

All day long I have held out My hands to an obstinate people who walk in the wrong path, who follow their own imaginations,

Here: 'Their plans.' It means intentions and schemes, what they have worked out to do, not idle daydreams. It echoes Isaiah 55:7–8, where the wicked were invited to abandon their 'way' and their 'plans', because God's plans are not theirs.

Isaiah 66:18 וּמַחְשְׁבֹ֣תֵיהֶ֔ם and thoughts their

“And I, knowing their deeds and thoughts, am coming to gather all nations and tongues, and they will come and see My glory.

Here: 'And their schemings', the inner plans behind the outward acts. Earlier in this section the same word describes a rebellious people 'walking after their own thoughts' (65:2). The word leans toward 'designs', not neutral 'thinking'.

Jeremiah 4:14 מַחְשְׁב֥וֹת [the] thoughts of

Wash the evil from your heart, O Jerusalem, so that you may be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts within you?

Here: Not stray passing thoughts but worked-out plans and designs — what a person is plotting. The same word is used of God's 'plans' for Israel in Jeremiah 29:11.

Jeremiah 6:19 מַחְשְׁבוֹתָ֑ם own schemes their

Hear, O earth! I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their own schemes, because they have paid no attention to My word and have rejected My instruction.

Here: Their plans, schemes, things deliberately devised. In context this means the greed, fraud and false assurances of 'peace' in 6:13–14, not passing private thoughts.

Jeremiah 11:19 מַחֲשָׁב֗וֹת plans

For I was like a gentle lamb led to slaughter; I did not know that they had plotted against me: “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit; let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be remembered no more.”

Here: A noun from the same root as the verb, so the phrase is literally 'they plotted plots', meaning they schemed in earnest. KJV keeps the echo: 'devised devices'.

Jeremiah 18:11 מַֽחֲשָׁבָ֑ה a plan

Now therefore, tell the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem that this is what the LORD says: ‘Behold, I am planning a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways, and correct your ways and deeds.’

Here: A noun from the same root as the verb, so literally 'devising a devising'. In verse 12 the people answer with this same word: 'we will follow our own plans (machshevotenu)'.

Jeremiah 18:12 מַחְשְׁבוֹתֵ֙ינוּ֙ own plans our

But they will reply, ‘It is hopeless. We will follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’”

Here: "Our plans" answers God's own "plan" in verse 11 ("I am devising a plan against you"). They set their plans against his, using the same word.

Jeremiah 18:18 מַחֲשָׁבוֹת֒ plans

Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us denounce him and pay no heed to any of his words.”

Here: A noun from the same root as the verb: 'devise devisings', 'plot plots' (as the KJV keeps it). The repetition stresses that this is a deliberate design. The same word is used of God's 'plan' in 18:11 and of the people's own 'plans' in 18:12.

Jeremiah 29:11 הַמַּחֲשָׁבֹ֗ת מַחְשְׁב֤וֹת the plans, plans of

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.

Here: 'The plans' or 'the designs': a deliberate intention that someone works out, not a passing thought. Earlier in Jeremiah the same word described God's plan against Judah (18:11), so its use here reverses that plan.

Jeremiah 49:20 וּמַ֨חְשְׁבוֹתָ֔יו and purposes his

Therefore hear the plans that the LORD has drawn up against Edom and the strategies He has devised against the people of Teman: Surely the little ones of the flock will be dragged away; certainly their pasture will be made desolate because of them.

Jeremiah 49:30 מַחֲשָׁבָֽה׃ a purpose

Run! Escape quickly! Lie low, O residents of Hazor,” declares the LORD, “for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has drawn up a plan against you; he has devised a strategy against you.

Jeremiah 50:45 וּמַ֨חְשְׁבוֹתָ֔יו and purposes his

Therefore hear the plans that the LORD has drawn up against Babylon and the strategies He has devised against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the little ones of the flock will be dragged away; certainly their pasture will be made desolate because of them.

Jeremiah 51:29 מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת [the] plans of

The earth quakes and writhes because the LORD’s intentions against Babylon stand: to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.

Here: The worked-out designs of Yahweh, the same word used in Jeremiah 29:11 ('the plans I have for you'). Here they are plans of judgment aimed at Babylon.

Lamentations 3:60 מַחְשְׁבֹתָ֖ם plans their

You have seen all their malice, all their plots against me.

Lamentations 3:61 מַחְשְׁבֹתָ֖ם plans their

O LORD, You have heard their insults, all their plots against me—

Here: "Their schemes": the plans they work out in secret. Set beside the spoken taunts, it means God knows both what they say aloud and what they plot privately.

Ezekiel 38:10 מַחֲשֶׁ֥בֶת a plan

This is what the Lord GOD says: On that day, thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will devise an evil plan.

Here: A noun from the same root as the verb, so the phrase reads 'plan a plan' or 'scheme a scheme'. That doubling stresses how deliberate it is. Here the word means a plot.

Daniel 11:24 מַחְשְׁבֹתָ֖יו plans his

In a time of peace, he will invade the richest provinces and do what his fathers and forefathers never did. He will lavish plunder, loot, and wealth on his followers, and he will plot against the strongholds—but only for a time.

Daniel 11:25 מַחֲשָׁבֽוֹת׃ plans

And with a large army he will stir up his power and his courage against the king of the South, who will mobilize a very large and powerful army but will not withstand the plots devised against him.

Micah 4:12 מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת [the] thoughts of

But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD or understand His plan, for He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.

Here: God's plans or designs: what he has worked out and intends to do. It does not mean his inner musings. The nations have their own scheme, to defile Zion and gloat over her (v. 11), but they cannot see the scheme above theirs.