Hebrew word · H7189

קֹ֫שֶׁט

koshet

bow

As vocalised, a rare noun meaning 'truth, reliability', found otherwise only in Prov 22:21 (in a phrase alongside the common word 'emet, 'truth') and common in Aramaic (qšṭ, 'truth, right'; Dan 2:47; 4:37).

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

bow

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 60:4

Range of meaning

As vocalised, a rare noun meaning 'truth, reliability', found otherwise only in Prov 22:21 (in a phrase alongside the common word 'emet, 'truth') and common in Aramaic (qšṭ, 'truth, right'; Dan 2:47; 4:37). Many scholars think it is either a variant spelling of qešet, 'bow', or a deliberate pun on it.

Against the English

KJV, WEB, YLT and the NASB tradition have 'truth'. BSB, ESV, NIV, NRSV and the Septuagint have 'bow' or 'bowshot'. NLT paraphrases 'attack'.

How it drifted

Not drift in the usual sense but a real reading choice. 'Because of the truth' came into English through the medieval Jewish vowel tradition and the KJV. It gives the verse a moral flavour ('a banner for the truth') that the battle context may not intend.

Used elsewhere in the period

Septuagint Ps 59:6 apo prosōpou toxou, 'from the face of the bow'. The Vulgate follows the Septuagint (a facie arcus). Prov 22:21 qōšṭ 'imrê 'emet, 'the truth of reliable words'. Aramaic qšṭ is widely attested, including in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the targums (later Aramaic translations of the Bible).

From the study of Proverbs 22:21

Range of meaning

'Truth, certainty, what is right.' Rare in Hebrew (here and Ps 60:4 [60:6 Heb], qōšeṭ, where the sense is debated). Very common in Aramaic (Dan 2:47 'truly'; Dan 4:37 'his works are truth'), and later in Syriac and Jewish Aramaic as the ordinary word for 'truth'.

Against the English

KJV/YLT 'certainty' and NASB-type renderings catch the sense of firmness. BSB/WEB merge it with ʾĕmet into 'true and reliable' or simply 'truth', which is fair but hides that the Hebrew piles up two different 'truth' words.

Used elsewhere in the period

Aramaic qšṭ appears in Daniel and in Aramaic texts of the Persian period and later. Its appearance here fits the international, scribal flavour of this section of Proverbs.

Where it appears

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 60:4 קֹ֣שֶׁט [the] bow

    You have raised a banner for those who fear You, that they may flee the bow. Selah

    Here: The vowels point to a rare word for 'truth', used elsewhere only in Proverbs 22:21 and familiar from Aramaic. But in a battle scene the word sounds almost the same as qeshet, 'bow', which is how the Greek translators read it. The supplied data glosses it 'bow'.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 22:21 קֹ֭שְׁטְ [the] truth of

    to show you true and reliable words, that you may soundly answer those who sent you?

    Here: A rare word, found in Hebrew elsewhere only once (Ps 60:4) and common in Aramaic (Dan 2:47; 4:37). Here it means the certainty or 'trueness' of what follows: 'the sure truth of'. It is linked grammatically to the next word: 'the truth of the words of…'.

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