צָוָה485 H6680
To command, order, charge; in Pual, to be commanded; by extension, to appoint, commission, or send word.
Tsavah in the Piel is the Hebrew Bible's workhorse verb of authoritative speech — the word used when God directs Noah to build the ark (Gen 6:22), when Moses transmits Torah commands to Israel, and when kings issue royal decrees. Its sheer frequency (496 occurrences) reflects how central the command-obedience dynamic is to the biblical worldview. The Arabic cognate wasiya ('to enjoin, charge') preserves the same semantic core, while the Syriac cognate tswa shifts toward the physical — 'to heap up stones' — hinting at an ancient concrete background of setting up marker-stones as fixed directives. The Pual passive ('to be commanded') appears sparingly but significantly, as when Moses is told to act 'as the LORD commanded him' (Num 3:16), and a few striking occurrences extend beyond mere ordering into appointing leaders and dispatching messages.
Senses
1. command, order, charge — The overwhelmingly dominant sense: to command, order, or lay a charge upon someone with authority. This covers the full range of Piel active forms across all tenses, persons, and numbers — from God commanding Adam (Gen 2:16) to Moses commanding Israel (Deut 4:5) to human kings and officials issuing directives. The Arabic rendering amara and German befehlen/gebieten both capture the authoritative tone, while Spanish mandó and French commanda reflect the juridical weight. At 483 occurrences, this sense accounts for over 97% of the word's usage, confirming tsavah as essentially a one-sense verb with specialized peripheral extensions. 483×
AR["أَمَرَ","أَمَرَهُ","أَوْصَاهُ","أَوْصَى"]·ben["আজ্ঞা-করেছিল","আজ্ঞা-দিয়েছিলেন","আদেশ-করেছিলেন","আদেশ-করেছেন","আদেশ-দিয়েছিলেন","আদেশ-দিয়েছেন"]·DE["befahl","befohlen-hatte","gebot","geboten-hatte"]·EN["commanded"]·FR["commanda"]·heb["צוה","ציוה"]·HI["आग्या-दी","आज्ञा-दी","आज्ञा-दी-थी","आज्ञा-दी-है"]·ID["diperintahkan","memerintahkan","perintah","telah-diperintahkan"]·IT["comandò"]·jav["dhawuh","dipun-dhawuhaken","dipundhawuhaken"]·KO["명령하셨다","명령하였다","명하셨다","명하였다"]·PT["ordenou"]·RU["заповедал","повелел"]·ES["mandó"]·SW["aliamri","aliamuru","alimwamuru","alitaka","alivyoamuru","ameamuru","yake"]·TR["buyurdu","emretti"]·urd["حکم-دیا","حکم-دیا-تھا","حکم-دیا-ہے"]
Gen 6:22, Gen 7:9, Gen 7:16, Gen 21:4, Gen 47:11, Gen 50:16, Exod 7:6, Exod 7:10, Exod 7:20, Exod 12:28, Exod 12:50, Exod 16:16 (+38 more)
2. be commanded (passive) — The Pual passive: to be commanded, to receive or stand under a command. Only 9 occurrences, but they carry theological weight — particularly in Levitical instructions where Aaron and his sons 'were commanded' to perform specific rituals (Lev 8:35; 10:13). The passive shifts the focus from the authority who commands to the one who receives the charge. Arabic umira ('he was commanded') and Korean myeongnyeong-badda ('receive a command') both select dedicated passive-reception vocabulary, confirming this as a genuine voice-driven sense distinction rather than a contextual variation. 9×
AR["أُمِرَ","أُمِرْتَ","أُمِرْتُ","أُوصِيَ","يُؤمَرُ"]·ben["আজ্ঞা-পেয়েছিলাম","আদেশ-দিয়েছিলেন","আদেশ-দেওয়া-হয়েছিল","আদেশ-পাত","আদেশ-পেয়েছ","আদেশ-পেয়েছিলাম-আমি","আমাকে-আদেশ-দেওয়া-হয়েছিল","আমাকে-আদেশ-দেওয়া-হয়েছে"]·DE["bist-beauftragt","er-war-befahl","gebieten","ich-war-befahl","war-befahl"]·EN["I-was-commanded","are-commanded","he-was-commanded","was-commanded"]·FR["commander","il-était-commanda","je-était-commanda","sont-commanda","était-commanda"]·heb["יצווה","צוה","צוויתי","ציווה"]·HI["आज्ञा-दिए-गए-हो","आज्ञा-दी-गई","आज्ञा-दी-गई-मुझे","आज्ञा-दी-जाती-थी","मुझे-आज्ञा-दी-गई"]·ID["aku-diperintahkan","diperintahkan","diperintahkan-kepadaku"]·IT["comandare","egli-fu-comando","egli-fu-comandò","fu-comando","io-fu-comando","sono-comandò"]·jav["Kawula-dipundhawuhi","dipun-dhawuhi","dipundhawuhi","ingkang-dipun-dhawuhi","kawula-dipun-dhawuhi.","kawula-dipundhawuhaken","kula-dipun-dhawuhi","kula-dipundhawuhi","piyambakipun-dipun-dhawuhi."]·KO["내가-명령받은","내가-명을-받은","명령-받았다","명령됐다","명령받았다-나는","명령받은","명령을-받았다","명받았다"]·PT["era-ordenado","foi-ordenado","foste-ordenado","fui-ordenado"]·RU["было-повелено","повелено","повелено-мне","повелено-тебе"]·ES["estás-ordenado","fue-mandado","fui-mandado","fui-ordenado","me-fue-mandado","me-fue-mandado;","se-le-mandaba"]·SW["aliamriwa","alivyoamriwa","kuamrisha","niliamriwa","nilivyoamriwa"]·TR["aşağı","buyuruldum","emredildi","emredildin","emredildiğim","emredildiğim-gibi","emredilirdi"]·urd["حکم-دیا-جاتا","حکم-دیا-گیا","حکم-دیا-گیا-تھا-مجھے","حکم-دیا-گیا-مجھے","حکم-ہوا"]
3. appoint, commission, designate — To appoint or commission someone to a role or task — a Piel use where the emphasis shifts from verbal ordering to positional designation. In 1 Sam 25:30, Abigail speaks of the LORD appointing David as leader over Israel; in 2 Sam 6:21, David declares God chose him to be ruler. Arabic ayyina ('appoint') and Hindi niyukt karna ('to designate') both select appointment-specific vocabulary here, distinguishing this from generic commanding. Only 2 occurrences, but the semantic extension from 'charge someone to do X' to 'charge someone with the role of X' is natural and attested. 2×
AR["لِ-يُعَيِّنَنِي","وَأقامَكَ"]·ben["এবং-নিযুক্ত-করবেন-তোমাকে","নিযুক্ত-করতে"]·DE["und-er-appoints-du","zu-bestelle"]·EN["and-he-appoints-you","to-appoint"]·FR["et-il-appoints-tu","à-désigne"]·heb["ו-ציווה-ך","ל-צוות"]·HI["और-आज्ञा-देगा-तुझे","नियुक्त-करने-को"]·ID["dan-memerintahkanmu","untuk-memerintahkan"]·IT["a-stabilisci","e-egli-appoints-tu"]·jav["kangge-dhawuh","lan-piyambakipun-netepaken-panjenengan"]·KO["그리고-명하셨다","명하기-위해"]·PT["e-ordenar-te","para-ordenar"]·RU["и-поставит-тебя","повелеть"]·ES["para-mandar","y-te-ordene"]·SW["kuniamuru","na-akuamuru"]·TR["atamak","ve-atadı-seni"]·urd["اور-مقرر-کرے-گا-تجھے","مقرر-کرنے-کے-لیے"]
4. sense 4 — A substantival participle: one who commands, a commander. A single occurrence at Isa 55:4, where the Davidic figure is called 'a leader and commander to the peoples.' Spanish gobernante ('ruler') and German Gebieter ('one who commands') both nominalize the verb into a title of authority. The shift from action to agent-noun is a standard Hebrew participle function, but this instance is notable for its messianic overtones. 1×
AR["وَ-آمِرًا"]·ben["-এবং-আদেশদাতা"]·DE["und-von-gebot"]·EN["and-commander"]·FR["et-commander"]·heb["ו-מצווה"]·HI["और-आज्ञा-देनेवाला"]·ID["dan-penguasa"]·IT["e-da-comando"]·jav["lan-juru-dhawuh"]·KO["그리고-명령자로-"]·PT["e-comandante"]·RU["и-повелителем"]·ES["y-gobernante-de"]·SW["na-amri"]·TR["ve-buyuran"]·urd["اور-حکمران"]
5. sense 5 — To send word or dispatch orders — a Piel usage where the emphasis falls on the transmission of a message rather than the exercise of authority over a subordinate. In Gen 50:16, Joseph's brothers 'sent word' to him (vayetsavvu), dispatching a message through intermediaries. The Arabic arsalu ('they sent') and German sie-liessen-sagen ('they caused-to-say') both capture the mediated, delegated quality of this action, distinguishing it from direct face-to-face commanding. 1×
AR["فَأَرْسَلُوا"]·ben["আর-তারা-বার্তা-পাঠাল"]·DE["und-sie-ließen-sagen"]·EN["and-commanded"]·FR["et-commanda"]·heb["ו-צוה"]·HI["और-संदेश-भेजा-उन्होंने"]·ID["dan-memerintahkan"]·IT["e-comandò"]·jav["Lajeng-ndhawuhi"]·KO["그리고-명하였다"]·PT["E-ordenaram"]·RU["И-передали"]·ES["Y-mandaron"]·SW["akampa-amri"]·TR["Ve-haber-gönderdiler"]·urd["اور-پیغام-بھیجا-انہوں-نے"]
Related Senses
H0559 1. say, speak, tell (5297×)G3004 1. say, tell, speak (2226×)H7200 1. Qal: to see, perceive (1257×)H1696 1. speak, say, tell (Piel) (1105×)G4771 2. you (singular address) (1077×)H8085 1. Qal: hear, perceive aurally (921×)H0859a 1. you (2nd person masculine singular pronoun) (743×)H0398 1. eat (consume food) (697×)H4191 1. die (Qal: natural/general death) (645×)H7121 1. call, summon, name (575×)G3708 1. see, perceive visually (419×)G0191 1. hear, perceive sound (360×)H???? 3. (352×)H1818 1. blood (physical substance) (327×)H6030b 1. answer, respond, reply (289×)G2980 1. speak, talk (277×)G3708 2. behold, look (exclamatory) (256×)H5046 1. Hifil: to tell, report (237×)H7272 1. foot (body part) (236×)G0611 1. answer or respond verbally (232×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
[צָוָה485] vb. Pi. lay charge (upon), give charge (to), charge, command, order (BaZMG xli (1887), 641 Gerber 124 cp. Arabic وَصَى combine, ii. enjoin, iv. charge; وَصِيَّةٌ injunction, command; Syriac ܨܘܳܐ, head up stones, ܨܘܳܝܳܐ, stone-heap, Arabic صُوَّةٌ guide-stone, cf. Schulth 57; Gerber makes Heb. vb. denom. from מִצְוָה, but vb. is much earlier);—Pf. 3 ms. צִוָּה Gn 6:22 +; sf. צִוַּנִי Dt…