Hebrew word · H8454

תּוּשִׁיָּה

teshuveh

wisdom

Sound wisdom, practical competence, effective success, resourcefulness. Its basic sense seems to be 'what works': ability that produces results. Where it came from is uncertain. One proposal links it to yēsh, 'there is, being' (which is why YLT has 'substance').

Appears 12 times in 12 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) wisdom, sound knowledge, success, sound or efficient wisdom, abiding success

1a) sound or efficient wisdom

1b) abiding success (of the effect of sound wisdom)

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 Proverbs 8:14

Range of meaning

Sound wisdom, practical competence, effective success, resourcefulness. Its basic sense seems to be 'what works': ability that produces results. Where it came from is uncertain. One proposal links it to yēsh, 'there is, being' (which is why YLT has 'substance'). Another links it to a root meaning 'to be level or sound.' Its meaning is clearer from how it is used than from its origin.

Against the English

English versions vary a lot: 'sound wisdom' (KJV), 'sound judgment' (BSB), 'sound knowledge' (WEB), 'substance' (YLT). An NLT-style rendering, 'success,' brings out the result-producing side. 'Judgment' and 'knowledge' make it sound like something that happens only in the mind. 'Substance' follows the guessed origin of the word, not how it was used.

Used elsewhere in the period

Job 5:12: God frustrates the schemes of the crafty 'so their hands achieve no tûshiyyāh' (no success). Job 6:13: Job has lost all tûshiyyāh, meaning he has no resources left. Isa 28:29: the LORD is 'wonderful in counsel, great in tûshiyyāh,' the same pairing as here. Job 12:16 attributes 'strength and tûshiyyāh' to God. Prov 2:7: God 'stores up tûshiyyāh for the upright.' The Septuagint here translates it asphaleia ('security, steadiness'). The Vulgate has aequitas ('fairness').

From the study of Proverbs 2:7

Range of meaning

Of uncertain origin; often linked to the root behind יֵשׁ, 'there is, substance'. Its uses cluster around effective, practical capability: sound judgment that succeeds, competence, resourcefulness, a successful outcome, even rescue. HALOT and BDB give both 'sound wisdom' and 'success' depending on context.

Against the English

'Sound wisdom' (KJV, BSB, ESV, NASB, WEB) leans toward the mind. 'Success' (NIV) leans toward the result. YLT's 'substance' follows the guessed etymology. The Hebrew holds both together: the kind of wisdom that delivers results and lasts.

How it drifted

In modern English, 'sound wisdom' sounds like correct ideas or good theory. The Hebrew word is about whether something works.

Used elsewhere in the period

Job 5:12: God frustrates the crafty 'so that their hands achieve no tûšiyyāh' (no success). Job 6:13: 'is not tûšiyyāh driven from me?' (resources, ability to recover). Job 26:3 and Isa 28:29: practical counsel and effective skill. Prov 3:21 and 8:14: paired with 'discretion' and 'counsel', and claimed by personified Wisdom. Mic 6:9 uses it of wise prudence. Only about a dozen occurrences, almost all in wisdom texts. The LXX here renders it sōtēria, 'deliverance/safety'.

From the study of Proverbs 18:1

Range of meaning

A wisdom-literature word for sound, effective wisdom: competence, resourcefulness, the know-how that leads to success and deliverance. It appears in Prov 2:7 ('he stores up sound wisdom for the upright'), 3:21, 8:14 (Wisdom says 'counsel and sound wisdom are mine'), Job 5:12; 6:13; 11:6; 12:16; 26:3, Isa 28:29 and Mic 6:9. Its etymology is uncertain. BDB and HALOT give senses ranging from 'sound wisdom' to 'success' and 'help'.

Against the English

'Sound judgment' (BSB, ESV, WEB), 'sound wisdom' (NASB), 'wisdom' (KJV), 'common sense' (NLT). Plain 'wisdom' can sound abstract or intellectual. Tūshiyyāh is practical: the counsel that works.

Used elsewhere in the period

It is almost entirely confined to the wisdom books (Job, Proverbs) and to wisdom-flavoured prophetic lines (Isa 28:29). In Proverbs 8:14 it is one of Lady Wisdom's own possessions, alongside counsel ('ēṣāh).

Where it appears

Job · 6

  1. Job 5:12 תּוּשִׁיָּֽה׃ success

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

    Here: The object of "do": their hands do not produce anything solid or effective. The word joins practical wisdom with the success that wisdom brings. It is the thing that actually works, and the schemers never reach it.

  2. Job 6:13 וְ֝תֻשִׁיָּ֗ה and sound wisdom

    Is there any help within me now that success is driven from me?

  3. Job 11:6 לְֽת֫וּשִׁיָּ֥ה [belongs] to sound wisdom

    and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides. Know then that God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves.

    Here: A rare wisdom word for insight that actually works and gets results. Here: 'to real insight there is a double side'.

  4. Job 12:16 וְתֽוּשִׁיָּ֑ה and sound wisdom

    True wisdom and power belong to Him. The deceived and the deceiver are His.

    Here: Practical know-how that actually gets results, wisdom that works. Set beside 'strength', it describes power that always achieves what it aims at. Zophar has just used the same word (11:6), and Job takes it back from him.

  5. Job 26:3 וְ֝תוּשִׁיָּ֗ה and sound wisdom

    How you have counseled the unwise and provided fully sound insight!

  6. Job 30:22 תּוּשִׁיָּֽה׃ success

    You snatch me up into the wind and drive me before it; You toss me about in the storm.

Proverbs · 4

  1. Proverbs 2:7 תּוּשִׁיָּ֑ה success

    He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk with integrity,

    Here: What God stores up: practical wisdom that actually works and gets a person through, with overtones of success and deliverance. It is not abstract or theoretical knowledge.

  2. Proverbs 3:21 תֻּ֝שִׁיָּ֗ה sound wisdom

    My son, do not lose sight of this: Preserve sound judgment and discernment.

    Here: Practical, effective wisdom: the know-how that actually succeeds and leads to deliverance and good outcomes. In 2:7 God 'stores it up' for the upright, so it is a gift as well as a skill.

  3. Proverbs 8:14 וְתוּשִׁיָּ֑ה and sound wisdom

    Counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have insight and strength.

    Here: Know-how that actually works and gets results. Counsel is the plan; tûshiyyāh is the skill that makes the plan succeed.

  4. Proverbs 18:1 תּ֝וּשִׁיָּ֗ה sound wisdom

    He who isolates himself pursues selfish desires; he rebels against all sound judgment.

    Here: Practical wisdom that works: sound, competent judgment and the success it brings (Prov 2:7; 3:21; 8:14). This is what the separatist resists. He does not just lack it; he pushes back against it.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 28:29 תּוּשִׁיָּֽה׃ ס sound wisdom

    This also comes from the LORD of Hosts, who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom.

    Here: A rare wisdom word for practical know-how that actually succeeds. It is the skill that gets results, so the KJV gives 'working'. Here it caps the parable: God's wisdom accomplishes what it sets out to do.

Micah · 1

  1. Micah 6:9 וְתוּשִׁיָּ֖ה and success

    The voice of the LORD calls out to the city (and it is sound wisdom to fear Your name): “Heed the rod and the One who ordained it.

    Here: A word from the wisdom books for practical wisdom that actually works: good judgment that leads to success. Its arrival in a prophetic oracle marks this clause as an aside in proverb style, set into the middle of the summons.

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