To serve
צָבָאStrong’s H6633tsava (tsa-va)
Appears in 12 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Tsava is the Hebrew word usually translated “serve”, “who mustered” and “which wage war”. It appears in 12 verses of the Old Testament.
“And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.”
Meaning
- To go forth, wage war, fight, serve(Qal) · (Hiphil) to cause to go forth, muster
How it's translated
- to serve 2
- who mustered 2
- which wage war 2
- the serving 1
- they served 1
- and they waged war 1
- who had gone to war 1
- who were serving 1
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Numbers 4
- Isaiah 3
- Exodus 1
- 1 Samuel 1
- 2 Kings 1
- Jeremiah 1
7 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- Exodus 38:8And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the lookingglasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
- Numbers 4:23From thirty years old and upward until fifty years old shalt thou number them; all that enter in to perform the service, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.
- Numbers 8:24This is it that belongeth unto the Levites: from twenty and five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service of the tabernacle of the congregation:
- Numbers 31:7And they warred against the Midianites, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew all the males.
- Numbers 31:42And of the children of Israel’s half, which Moses divided from the men that warred,
- 1 Samuel 2:22Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Hebrew dictionary
צָבָא tsava · to serve
1) to go forth, wage war, fight, serve 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to wage war, fight, go forth to war 1a2) to serve (at sacred tent) 1b) (Hiphil) to cause to go forth, muster
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “serve” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
SERVE, verb transitive
serv. [Latin servio. This verb is supposed to be from the noun servus, a servant or slave, and this from servo, to keep.]
- To work for; to bestow the labor of boky and mind in the employment of another.“Jacob loved Rachel and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy youngest daughters” Genesis 29:18“No man can serve two masters” Matthew 6:24
- To act as the minister of; to perform official duties to; as, a minister serves his prince.
- To attend at command; to wait on.
- To obey servilely or meanly. be not to wealth a servant.
All definitions and other forms of “serve”
- To supply with food; as, to be served in plate.
- To be subservient or subordinate to.
- To perform the duties required in; as, the curate served two churches.
- To obey; to perform duties in the employment of; as, to serve the king or the country in the army or navy.
- To be sufficient, or to promote; as, to serve one's turn, end or purpose.
- To help by good offices; as, to serve one's country.
- To comply with; to submit to.
- To be sufficient for; to satisfy; to content.
- To be in the place of any thing to one.
- To treat; to requite; as, he served me ungratefully; he served me very ill; We say also, he served me a trick, that is he deceived me, or practiced an artifice on me.
- In Scripture and theology, to obey and worship; to act in conformity to the law of a superior, and treat him with due reverence.“Fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and truth. As for me and my house, we will serve the lord” Joshua 24:14
- In a bad sense, to obey; to yeild compliance or act according to.“Serving divers lusts and treasures” Titus 3:3
- To worship; to render homage to; as, to serve idols or false gods.
- To be a slave to; to be in bondage to.
- To serve one's self of, to use; to make use of; a Gallicism, [se sevir de.]
- To use; to manage; to apply.
- In seamen's language, to wind something round a rope to prevent friction.
SERVE, verb intransitive
serv.
- To be a servant or slave.“The Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve” Isaiah 14:3
- To be employed in labor or or other business for another.
- To be in subjection.
- To wait; to attend; to perform domestic offices to another.
- To perform duties, as in the army, navy or in any office.
- To answer; to accomplish the end.
- To be sufficient for a purpose.
- To suit; to be convenient.
- To conduce; to be of use.
- To officiate or minister; to do the honors of; as, to serve at a public dinner.
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.