H6968 H6968
uprightness, erect posture; metaphorically, the bearing of free persons rather than slaves
This feminine noun appears as an adverb in Leviticus 26:13, where God recalls the Exodus: 'I broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk upright.' The upright posture symbolizes freedom and dignity, contrasting with the bent backs of slaves under burdens. The image is both literal (freed from physical labor) and metaphorical (restored to human dignity). Walking upright becomes shorthand for the entire liberation from Egypt—physical, social, and spiritual.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Uprightness or erect posture, used adverbially to describe how God enabled Israel to walk after liberation from Egyptian bondage. The phrase 'I made you go upright' (qomemiyuth) evokes both physical straightness—no longer bent under slave labor—and moral dignity restored. Translations consistently render this as 'upright' or 'erect,' recognizing the double significance: literal bodily posture expressing deeper realities of freedom, honor, and covenant relationship with YHWH who restores humanity to its proper stature. 1×
AR["مُنْتَصِبِينَ"]·ben["খাড়াভাবে।"]·DE["upright"]·EN["upright"]·FR["upright"]·heb["קוממיות"]·HI["सीधे"]·ID["[]"]·IT["upright"]·jav["kanthi-jumeneng."]·KO["바로-서서"]·PT["eretos"]·RU["прямо"]·ES["erguidos"]·SW["wima"]·TR["dik"]·urd["سیدھے-سر"]
Related Senses
H2896a 1. good (quality or moral) (305×)H7563 1. wicked person (259×)H7451c 1. moral evil or wickedness (234×)H5771 1. iniquity, sin, wrongdoing (222×)H6662 1. righteous person (substantive) (195×)G0266 1. sin, failure, transgression (173×)H2403b 1. sin, transgression (170×)H2617a 1. Covenant faithfulness, steadfast love (167×)H2398 1. Qal: to sin, commit sin (165×)H6666 1. righteousness, moral uprightness (145×)G5485 1. grace, divine favor (141×)H7451a 1. morally evil, wicked (129×)H2403b 2. sin-offering, sacrifice for sin (120×)G2570 1. good, right, excellent (98×)H6588 1. transgression, offense against God (88×)G0018 1. good (moral quality) (85×)H2896b 1. good, what is good (85×)H7451b 1. evil, wickedness (moral) (83×)H7451a 2. evil, harm, calamity (80×)G1342 1. righteous, upright (of persons) (70×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† קוֹמְמִיּוּת n.f. uprightness;—only as adv. Lv 26:13 made you go upright, i.e. as freemen.