Hebrew word · H6775

צָמַד

vaiyitzamed

to join

Basic sense "to bind, fasten, couple." Related noun tsemed = a yoke or team of two oxen (1 Samuel 11:7; 1 Kings 19:19), and by extension an acre (what a yoke can plough in a day). Passive form: a sword "fastened" to a belt (2 Samuel 20:8).

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to bind, join, fasten

1a) (Niphal) to join, join or attach oneself to

1b) (Pual) to be fastened, be bound

1c)(Hiphil) to combine, fit together, hitch up

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 Psalm 106:28

Range of meaning

Basic sense "to bind, fasten, couple." Related noun tsemed = a yoke or team of two oxen (1 Samuel 11:7; 1 Kings 19:19), and by extension an acre (what a yoke can plough in a day). Passive form: a sword "fastened" to a belt (2 Samuel 20:8). Causative: a tongue that "harnesses" or frames deceit (Psalm 50:19). The reflexive/passive form used here appears only for the Peor affair (Numbers 25:3, 5; Psalm 106:28).

Against the English

KJV/WEB "joined themselves" is accurate but bland; modern "join" suggests signing up for a group. YLT "are coupled" and BSB "yoked themselves" keep the farmyard picture of two animals bound in one harness.

How it drifted

English "join" has become a membership word (join a club, a gym). The Hebrew picture is a binding harness: you pull together with whatever you are yoked to.

Used elsewhere in the period

Numbers 25:3, 5 ("Israel yoked itself to Baal of Peor"), the source story this verse quotes. The Septuagint translates it in all three places with etelesthēsan, "they were initiated/consecrated," the vocabulary of entry into a cult or mystery rite, showing that ancient Jewish translators heard formal religious bonding in the word. The Vulgate follows with initiati sunt, "they were initiated."

Where it appears

Numbers · 2

  1. Numbers 25:3 וַיִּצָּ֥מֶד and it joined itself

    So Israel joined in worshiping Baal of Peor, and the anger of the LORD burned against them.

  2. Numbers 25:5 הַנִּצְמָדִ֖ים who have joined themselves

    So Moses told the judges of Israel, “Each of you must kill all of his men who have joined in worshiping Baal of Peor.”

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 20:8 מְצֻמֶּ֤דֶת [was] fastened

    And while they were at the great stone in Gibeon, Amasa joined them. Now Joab was dressed in military attire, with a dagger strapped to his belt. And as he stepped forward, he slipped the dagger from its sheath.

Psalms · 2

  1. Psalm 50:19 תַּצְמִ֥יד it harnesses

    You unleash your mouth for evil and harness your tongue to deceit.

  2. Psalm 106:28 וַ֭יִּצָּ֣מְדוּ and they joined themselves

    They yoked themselves to Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.

    Here: "And they yoked themselves." The root pictures two animals harnessed together (a tsemed is a yoke or pair of oxen). The verb form is reflexive: Israel harnessed itself to this god, a binding attachment of loyalty, not a casual visit. It repeats the exact word of the original story in Numbers 25:3, 5.

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