H1319 — בָּשַׂר (basar)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H1319
Original: בָּשַׂר
Transliteration: basar
Pronunciation: baw-sar'
Part of Speech: Verb
Root: Primitive root; properly, to be fresh, i.e. full (rosy, figuratively cheerful); to announce (glad news)
Cognate Noun: H1309 בְּשׂוֹרָה (besorah) — glad tidings, reward for good news
Occurrences: 27 tokens in 21 unique verses across 8 books
First Occurrence: 1 Sam 4:17 — "And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A primitive root; properly, to be fresh, i.e. full (rosy, figuratively cheerful); to announce (glad news): — messenger, preach, publish, shew forth, (bear, bring, carry, preach, good, tell good) tidings.

Verb Stem Distribution¶

Stem	Count	Typical Meaning
Piel	23	announce, bear tidings, preach good news
Hithpael	1	receive good news (reflexive/passive — 2 Sam 18:31)

Overwhelmingly Piel (intensive active): the word's primary usage is the active, purposeful proclamation of news. The Piel stem emphasizes the declarative, herald-like character of the action. The sole Hithpael occurrence (2 Sam 18:31) carries a reflexive sense — the king receiving the tidings rather than proclaiming them.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
tidings (various phrases)	10	47.6%
good tidings (various phrases)	6	28.6%
shew forth	2	9.5%
preached / preach	2	9.5%
publish / published	2	9.5%
messenger	1	4.8%

Note: Some verses carry multiple translation phrases. The KJV renders the participial form מְבַשֵּׂר (mevasser) as "him that bringeth good tidings" in the prophetic passages (Isa 40:9; 52:7; 61:1; Nah 1:15).

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Nahum	1	2.1
2 Samuel	6	0.9
Isaiah	5	0.4
1 Samuel	2	0.2
1 Chronicles	2	0.2
1 Kings	1	0.1
Psalms	3	0.1
Jeremiah	1	0.1

Usage concentrates in two distinct domains: (1) the narrative books of Samuel and Kings, where the word describes battlefield messengers, and (2) the prophetic/worship literature (Isaiah, Psalms, Nahum), where it describes the proclamation of God's salvation. The Isaianic cluster (5 occurrences) is theologically dominant and becomes the foundation for the NT gospel concept.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Battlefield/Royal Messenger — Bringing News of Victory or Defeat¶

1 Sam 4:17 — "And the messenger (mevasser) answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter"
1 Sam 31:9 — "they... sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of their idols"
2 Sam 1:20 — "Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice"
2 Sam 18:19-20 — "Let me now run, and bear the king tidings... Thou shalt not bear tidings this day"

This is the earliest and most concrete usage: a runner bearing news from the battlefield to the king or city. The news can be good or bad (Saul's death in 1 Sam 31:9; David's enemy Absalom's death in 2 Sam 18). The Philistine context recurs across 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, and 1 Chronicles.

2. Birth Announcement¶

Jer 20:15 — "Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee"

A messenger bearing news of a birth — the only occurrence where the news delivered is cursed rather than welcomed.

3. Prophetic Herald of Salvation — The Mevasser¶

Isa 40:9 — "O Zion, that bringest good tidings (mevasseret), get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice"
Isa 41:27 — "I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings (mevasser)"
Isa 52:7 — "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings (mevasser), that publisheth peace... that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!"
Nah 1:15 — "Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings (mevasser), that publisheth peace!"

The defining prophetic usage. The mevasser is no longer a battlefield runner but a divine herald announcing God's reign, salvation, and peace. Isaiah 52:7 and Nahum 1:15 share nearly identical language. This cluster transforms the word from a military/royal term into a theological one.

4. Anointed Proclamation to the Afflicted¶

Isa 61:1 — "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings (levassar) unto the meek"

The culmination of the prophetic usage: the herald is now anointed by God's Spirit to proclaim good news specifically to the poor/meek. Jesus directly applies this passage to himself in Luke 4:18-21.

5. Liturgical Proclamation — Declaring God's Salvation in Worship¶

Psalm 40:9 — "I have preached (bissarti) righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD"
Psalm 68:11 — "The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it"
Psalm 96:2 — "Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day"
1 Chr 16:23 — "Sing unto the LORD, all the earth; shew forth from day to day his salvation"

Worship contexts where basar describes the communal proclamation of God's righteousness and salvation. Psalm 96:2 and 1 Chronicles 16:23 are parallel texts.

6. Proclamation of God's Praises Among the Nations¶

Isa 60:6 — "all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD"

The nations themselves join in the proclamation — the good news extends beyond Israel.

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
אָמַר ('amar)	H559	10x (48%)	Speech context — the herald speaks
הִנֵּה (hinneh)	H2009	8x (38%)	"Behold!" — attention-getting formula before the news
יְהֹוָה (Yehovah)	H3068	7x (33%)	God as the source or subject of the news
הַר (har)	H2022	3x (14%)	"upon the mountains" — the herald arrives over the hills (Isa 52:7; Nah 1:15)
יְשׁוּעָה (yeshu'ah)	H3444	3x (14%)	"salvation" — the content of the good tidings
צִיּוֹן (Tsiyyon)	H6726	3x (14%)	"Zion" — the destination/recipient of the good news
מֶלֶךְ (melek)	H4428	4x (19%)	"king" — either the king receiving news or God reigning
פְּלִשְׁתִּי (Pelishtiy)	H6430	4x (19%)	"Philistines" — battlefield context in Samuel-Chronicles
עַם ('am)	H5971	3x (14%)	"people" — the audience for the proclamation

Word Family / Cognates¶

H1309 בְּשׂוֹרָה (besorah) — feminine noun: glad tidings, reward for good news (6 occurrences, all in 2 Samuel and 2 Kings 7:9). Formed from the same root.
H1320 בָּשָׂר (basar) — masculine noun: flesh, body, kin. Same consonantal root but semantically distinct (the connection is through the primitive sense of "freshness/vitality").

Synonyms¶

H5046 נָגַד (nagad) — declare, announce, make known; overlaps with bâsar in the act of publicly reporting news.
H8085 שָׁמַע (shamaʻ) — hear, report, proclaim; surfaced by search_relationships.py as a close communication-field neighbor.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms returned by search_relationships.py for H1319.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
דָּבָר (dabar)	H1697	"tidings" (2x)	General word/matter; basar specifically denotes news delivery by a herald
שְׁמוּעָה (shemu'ah)	H8052	"tidings" (2x)	A report/rumor that is heard; basar emphasizes the active proclamation, not passive reception
H1309 בְּשׂוֹרָה (besorah)	H1309	"tidings" (3x)	The noun form (the news itself or the reward for it); basar is the verb (the act of announcing)

UBS Semantic Domains¶

Code	Domain Label	Notes
002004001009008	Speak	`search_relationships.py` places bâsar within the proclamation/speaking field, fitting its heraldic "announce good news" profile.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
εὐαγγελίζω (euangelizo) G2097	18x	29.44	Dominant equivalent — the primary LXX rendering across all prophetic passages
ἀλλόφυλος (allophylos) G246	4x	6.82	"Philistine" — in Philistine battlefield context
Σιών (Sion) G4622	3x	5.99	Co-occurrence in Zion passages, not a translation of basar itself

The LXX consistently renders basar as euangelizo (G2097) — the verb that becomes the foundation for the entire NT "gospel" vocabulary. This is the single most important Hebrew-to-Greek semantic bridge for the gospel concept. The Greek noun euangelion (G2098, "gospel") is derived from this same verb.