To choose
בָּחַרStrong’s H0977bachar (ba-char)
Appears in 163 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Bachar is the Hebrew word usually translated “choose”, “chosen” and “have chosen”. It appears in 163 verses of the Old Testament.
“Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the LORD shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.”
Meaning
- To choose, elect, decide for(Qal) to choose · (Niphal) to be chosen · (Pual) to be chosen, selected
How it's translated
- he will choose 28
- chosen 23
- i have chosen 17
- he has chosen 15
- and he chose 13
- you have chosen 11
- choose 5
- he chose 4
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Deuteronomy 31
- Isaiah 19
- Psalms 14
- 2 Chronicles 13
- 1 Samuel 12
- 1 Kings 12
22 books in all.
Related words
Explore in Scripture
- Zechariah 2:12In contextAnd the LORD shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again.
- Zechariah 3:2In contextAnd the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
- Genesis 6:2That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
- Genesis 13:11Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.
- Exodus 14:7And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them.
- Exodus 17:9And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.
All 163 verses, by book
Hebrew dictionary
בָּחַר bachar · to choose
1) to choose, elect, decide for 1a) (Qal) to choose 1b) (Niphal) to be chosen 1c) (Pual) to be chosen, selected
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “choose” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
CHOOSE, verb transitive
- To pick out; to select; to take by way of preference from two or more things offered; to make choice of.“The man the Lord doth choose shall be holy” Numbers 16:7
- To take in preference.“Let us choose to us judgment” Job 34:4
- To prefer; to choose for imitation; to follow.“Envy not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways” Proverbs 3:31
- To elect for eternal happiness; to predestinate to life.“Many are called but few chosen” Matthew 20:16“For his elects sake, whom he hath chosen” Mark 13:20
All definitions and other forms of “choose”
- To elect or designate to office or employment by votes or suffrages.
CHOOSE, verb intransitive
- To prefer; as, I choose to go.
- To have the power of choice.
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Hebrew, not from any one translation.