To seek
בָּקַשׁStrong’s H1245baqash (ba-qash)
Appears in 215 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Baqash is the Hebrew word usually translated “seek”, “seeking” and “sought”. It appears in 215 verses of the Old Testament.
“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.”
Meaning
- To seek, require, desire, exact, request(Piel) · (Pual) to be sought
How it's translated
- seek 28
- seeking 26
- to seek 24
- and he sought 9
- he seeks 7
- i will seek 6
- he sought 4
- and to seek 4
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Psalms 26
- 1 Samuel 25
- Jeremiah 20
- Proverbs 14
- 2 Samuel 11
- 1 Kings 10
33 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- Daniel 1:20In contextAnd in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.
- Daniel 8:15In contextAnd it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.
- Daniel 9:3In contextAnd I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
- Zechariah 6:7In contextAnd the bay went forth, and sought to go that they might walk to and fro through the earth: and he said, Get you hence, walk to and fro through the earth. So they walked to and fro through the earth.
- Zechariah 8:21In contextAnd the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also.
- Zechariah 8:22In contextYea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD.
All 215 verses, by book
- Leviticus 1
- 19:31
- Ruth 1
- 3:1
- 1 Samuel 25
- 9:310:210:1410:2113:1414:416:1619:219:1020:120:1622:2323:1023:1423:1523:2524:224:925:2625:2926:226:2027:127:428:7
- Job 1
- 10:6
- Psalms 26
- 4:224:627:427:834:1435:437:2537:3237:3638:1240:1440:1654:363:969:670:270:471:1371:2483:1686:14104:21105:3105:4119:176122:9
- Jeremiah 20
- 2:242:334:305:111:2119:719:921:722:2526:2129:1334:2034:2138:1644:3045:546:2649:3750:450:20
- Amos 1
- 8:12
Hebrew dictionary
בָּקַשׁ baqash · to seek
1) to seek, require, desire, exact, request 1a) (Piel) 1a1) to seek to find 1a2) to seek to secure 1a3) to seek the face 1a4) to desire, demand 1a5) to require, exact 1a6) to ask, request 1b) (Pual) to be sought
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “seek” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
SEEK, verb transitive
pret and participle passive sought, pronounced sawt. [L. sequor, to follow; for to seek is to go after, and the primary sense is to advance, to press, to drive forward, as in the L. peto.]
- To go in searh or quest of; to look for; to search for by going from place to place.
- To inquire for; to ask for; to solicit; to endeavor to find or gain by any means.“The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God” Psalms 104:21“He found no place for repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears” Hebrews 12:17“Others tempting him, sought of him a sign” Luke 11:16
- Seek is followed sometimes by out or after.
- To make search or inquiry; to endeavor to make discovery.“Seek ye out of the book of the Lord” Isaiah 34:16
All definitions
- To endeavor.
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.