H3477 H3477
Straight, upright, right; of physical paths and moral character; also a proper name in the title 'Book of Yashar.'
Yashar is one of those Hebrew words that holds a physical image and a moral ideal in perfect tension. At its root it means 'straight' — a level road, an unbent path — and this concrete spatial sense never fully disappears even when the word ascends into the heights of ethical praise. When Job is called yashar (Job 1:1), the reader senses a man whose life runs true like a well-laid road. The Deuteronomistic formula 'what is right in the eyes of YHWH' uses this same adjective to describe actions that please God, distinct from the personal character sense. German captures the overlap nicely: aufrichtig ('upright/sincere') for persons, but gerade ('straight') for roads. The mysterious 'Book of Yashar,' cited in Joshua and 2 Samuel, preserves the word as a literary title whose exact meaning — 'the upright one' or simply 'the straight record' — remains debated.
1. upright, righteous (of persons) — Upright and righteous as a character quality of persons — the dominant sense at 70 occurrences. Job is the paradigmatic yashar, described as 'blameless and upright' four times in the prologue alone (Job 1:1, 1:8, 2:3, 8:6). The plural yesharim appears frequently in Psalms and Proverbs as a class of the morally upright opposed to the wicked. German aufrichtig and Spanish recto both select moral-character vocabulary here, while French droit maintains the physical-moral ambiguity of the Hebrew. The substantival use 'the upright' in Ps 111:1 and Prov 2:21 confirms this as a lexicalized sense, not merely contextual. 70×
AR["أَقْوَمُهُمْ","المُسْتَقيمونَ","المُسْتَقِيمُ","الْمُسْتَقِيمُونَ","الْمُسْتَقِيمِينَ","مُستَقيمٌ","مُسْتَقيمٌ","مُسْتَقِيمًا","مُسْتَقِيمٌ"]·ben["সরল","সরলরা","সোজা","সৎ","সৎ-লোকেরা","সৎদের","সৎরা"]·DE["[ישר]","aufrichtig","der-aufrichtig","upright"]·EN["is-right","right","straight","that-seems-right","the-upright","upright","upright-one"]·FR["droit"]·heb["ישר","ישרים"]·HI["याशर","सीधा","सीधा-है","सीधे","सीधे-लोग","सीधे-लोगों","सेएध"]·ID["adalah-benar","jujur","lurus","orang-jujur","orang-orang-jujur","orang-orang-lurus","orang-orang-yang-jujur","yang-lurus"]·IT["retto"]·jav["ingkang-paling-leres","jujur","kang-leres","lempeng","leres","tiyang-jujur","tiyang-leres"]·KO["곧게","바르니라","바르다","바른","바른-것처럼","바른-자여","정직하고","정직하다","정직하시도다","정직한-자-가","정직한-자-들-은","정직한-자-들-이","정직한-자가","정직한-자들이","정직한지","진실하게"]·PT["o-reto","os-retos","reta","reto","retos"]·RU["прав","праведно","праведные","праведный","прямо","прямое","прямой","прямые","прямый","прямым,","прямыми -","честен"]·ES["el-recto","es-recto","los-rectos","recta","recto","rectos"]·SW["Uliye-adili","iliyonyooka","inayoonekana-sawa","mnyofu","mwadilifu","ni-sawa","unyofu","wanyofu"]·TR["Duz-olan","dogru","doğru","doğru-kişi","doğrular","doğrusu","duz","dürüst"]·urd["اُن-کا-سیدھا","سیدھا","سیدھا-ہے","سیدھوں-کے","سیدھی","سیدھی-ہے","سیدھے","سیدھے لوگ"]
1 Sam 29:6, 2 Kgs 10:15, Ezra 8:21, Neh 9:13, Job 1:1, Job 1:8, Job 2:3, Job 4:7, Job 8:6, Job 17:8, Job 23:7, Ps 7:10 (+38 more)
▼ 3 more senses below
Senses
2. right, correct (of actions/things) — Right, correct, or proper when applied to actions and things rather than persons — 43 occurrences dominated by the Deuteronomistic formula hayashar be'ene YHWH, 'what is right in the eyes of the LORD' (Deut 6:18; 12:25, 28). The shift from personal character to behavioral evaluation is cross-linguistically visible: Spanish uses lo recto (neuter abstract 'the right thing') rather than el recto ('the righteous one'), and German der rechte ('the right/proper') rather than der aufrichtige ('the sincere person'). Kings are judged by this standard throughout 1-2 Kings, making it a historiographic criterion as much as a moral one. 43×
AR["الـ-مُسْتَقِيمَ","المُستَقيمَ","المُسْتَقِيمَ","الْ-مُسْتَقِيمَ","الْمُسْتَقِيمَ","الْمُسْتَقِيمِ","ٱلْمُسْتَقِيمَ"]·ben["যা-সঠিক","সঠিক","সেই-সঠিক","সৎ","হ-সরল"]·DE["der-rechte","der-rechts"]·EN["the-right"]·FR["le-droit","le-droite"]·heb["ה-ישר"]·HI["जो-ठीक","सही","सीधा","हय्याशर"]·ID["-benar","-yang-benar","yang benar","yang-benar"]·IT["il-destra"]·jav["ingkang-leres","leres"]·KO["그-바른-것을","그-올바른-것","그-올바른-것을","그-옳은-것과","올바른-것을","옳은-것을","정직한-것","정직한-것을"]·PT["o-reto"]·RU["-праведное","-правильное","праведное","правильное","правое","прямое"]·ES["lo-recto"]·SW["kilicho-sawa","lililo-sawa","unyofu","yaliyo-sawa","yaliyonyooka"]·TR["doğru","doğru-o","doğru-olanı","doğruyu"]·urd["-جو-ٹھیک","-جو-ٹھیک-ہے","-سیدھا","جو-ٹھیک","درست","راستی","سیدھا","سیدھی","سیدھی-بات","صحیح","صحیح-"]
Exod 15:26, Deut 6:18, Deut 12:8, Deut 12:25, Deut 12:28, Deut 13:18, Deut 21:9, Josh 9:25, Judg 17:6, Judg 21:25, 1 Sam 12:23, 2 Sam 19:6 (+31 more)
3. straight, level (physically) — Physically straight, level, or direct — only 4 occurrences, but the probable semantic origin of the entire word. God leads Israel by a 'straight way' (derekh yesharah, Ps 107:7); Jeremiah promises a 'level path' where the exiles will not stumble (Jer 31:9). In Ezekiel's throne vision, the living creatures have 'straight feet' (Ez 1:7) and 'straight wings' (Ez 1:23). Spanish recta/recto, German gerade, and French droit all use spatial-directional vocabulary here, confirming the physical sense is distinctly perceived across languages even though the moral senses dominate statistically. 4×
AR["مُستَقيم","مُسْتَقيمَةٌ","مُسْتَقِيمٍ"]·ben["সরল","সোজা"]·DE["[ישר]","aufrichtig","gerade"]·EN["straight"]·FR["droit"]·heb["ישר","ישרה","ישרות"]·HI["सीधा","सीधे"]·ID["lurus"]·IT["retto"]·jav["lempeng"]·KO["곧은","바른"]·PT["reta","retas","reto"]·RU["прямая","прямому","прямые","прямым"]·ES["recta","rectas","recto"]·SW["iliyonyoka","nyofu","wa-moja-kwa-moja","yaliyonyooka"]·TR["doğru","düz"]·urd["سیدھا","سیدھی","سیدھے"]
4. Yashar (Book of Yashar) — The proper name Yashar in the title sefer hayyashar, 'the Book of Yashar' — 2 occurrences, both citing this now-lost ancient source. In Josh 10:13 the sun's standing still is said to be 'written in the Book of Yashar'; in 2 Sam 1:18 David's lament for Saul and Jonathan is attributed to it. Spanish el Justo and German der Yashar transliterate rather than translate, reflecting the title's semi-opaque status. Whether 'Yashar' means 'the upright one' or 'the straight/true record' remains an open question that touches on the word's full semantic range. 2×
AR["الياشَرِ","الْيَاشَرِ"]·ben["যাশরের","সরলের"]·DE["der-Yashar"]·EN["the-Yashar"]·FR["le-Yashar"]·heb["ה-ישר"]·HI["याशर-की","याशार-के"]·ID["Yashar"]·IT["il-Yashar"]·jav["Yasar"]·KO["야살의","야샬의"]·PT["o-Yashar"]·RU["Праведного","Яшар"]·ES["el-Justo","el-Yashar"]·SW["cha-Yashari","ha-Yashari"]·TR["Yaşar","Yaşar'ın"]·urd["یاشر-کے","یشر-کی"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† יָשָׁר adj. straight, right;—י׳ 1 S 29:6 + 70 times; cstr. יְשַׁר Pr 29:27; f. יְשָׁרָה Ez 1:7 + 4 times; pl. יְשָׁרִים Nu 23:10 + 31 times; cstr. יִשְׁרֵי ψ 7:11 + 8 times; f. יְשָׁרוֹת Ez 1:23 (del. Co);— 1. straight, level, of a way Is 26:7 Je 31:9 ψ 107:7 Ezr 8:21; foot Ez 1:7; wings v 23 (? v. supr.) 2. right, pleasing: a. to God, הַיָּשָׁר בעיני that which is right, pleasing in the eyes…