H3247 — יְסוֹד (yesod)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H3247
Original: יְסוֹד
Transliteration: yesod (yᵉçôwd)
Pronunciation: yes-ode'
Part of Speech: Feminine noun
Root: יָסַד (yasad, H3245) — to set, found, establish
Occurrences: 20 unique verses (22 tokens) across 10 books
First Occurrence: Exo 29:12 — "and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From H3245 (yasad); a foundation (literally or figuratively): — bottom, foundation, repairing.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
the bottom	9	45.0%
foundation	2	10.0%
the foundation	2	10.0%
the foundations thereof	2	10.0%
her foundations	1	5.0%
of the foundation	1	5.0%
the foundation thereof	1	5.0%
whose foundation	1	5.0%
and the repairing	1	5.0%

The dominant rendering is "bottom" (45%), used exclusively for the base of the altar in sacrificial contexts. "Foundation" and its variants account for the remaining 55%, applied to buildings, cities, and persons.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Leviticus	8	0.93
Job	2	0.19
2 Chronicles	2	0.24
Ezekiel	2	0.16
Habakkuk	1	1.79
Micah	1	0.95
Exodus	1	0.08
Proverbs	1	0.11
Lamentations	1	0.65
Psalms	1	0.04

Leviticus dominates with 8 of 20 occurrences (40%), all in the sacrificial "bottom of the altar" formula. The word splits sharply between cultic usage (Exodus + Leviticus = 9 occurrences, all "bottom") and architectural/metaphorical usage (remaining 11 occurrences across prophets, wisdom, and historical books, all "foundation").

Semantic Categories¶

1. Base of the Sacrificial Altar¶

The most frequent usage — the physical base/bottom where blood is poured out during offerings. Appears exclusively in Leviticus and Exodus.

Exo 29:12 — "thou shalt take of the blood of the bullock, and put it upon the horns of the altar with thy finger, and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar"
Lev 4:7 — "shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering"
Lev 5:9 — "the rest of the blood shall be wrung out at the bottom of the altar: it is a sin offering"
Lev 8:15 — "poured the blood at the bottom of the altar, and sanctified it, to make reconciliation upon it"

2. Foundation of a Building or City (Literal)¶

The structural base of walls, buildings, or cities — often in contexts of destruction where foundations are exposed or demolished.

Eze 13:14 — "I will break down the wall... so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered"
Eze 30:4 — "they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down"
Mic 1:6 — "I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof"
2Ch 23:5 — "a third part shall be at the gate of the foundation"

3. Foundation of a Person or People (Metaphorical)¶

Used figuratively for the basis or ground of a person's existence, whether stable or destroyed.

Pro 10:25 — "the righteous is an everlasting foundation"
Job 4:19 — "them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust"
Job 22:16 — "whose foundation was overflown with a flood"
Hab 3:13 — "thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck"

4. Foundation as Object of Judgment¶

In prophetic usage, the uncovering or destroying of foundations signifies total divine judgment — nothing remains hidden or intact.

Lam 4:11 — "hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof"
Psa 137:7 — "who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof"

5. Repairing / Restoration¶

One occurrence uses yesod in the sense of foundational repair work on the temple.

2Ch 24:27 — "the repairing of the house of God"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
דָּם (dam)	H1818	9x	"blood... at the bottom of the altar" — blood poured at the yesod
מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbeach)	H4196	9x	"bottom of the altar" — yesod as the altar's base
קֶרֶן (qeren)	H7161	8x	blood placed on horns, remainder poured at bottom
נָתַן (nathan)	H5414	8x	"put blood upon... pour at the bottom"
שָׁפַךְ (shaphak)	H8210	7x	"pour out blood at the bottom" — the pouring action
אֶצְבַּע (etsba)	H676	6x	"with his finger... at the bottom" — priestly finger-application
עֹלָה (olah)	H5930	5x	"altar of burnt offering" — the altar whose base receives blood
חַטָּאָה (chattaah)	H2403	3x	sin offering blood poured at the bottom

The collocations overwhelmingly cluster around the sacrificial blood-pouring ritual: dam (blood) + mizbeach (altar) + shaphak (pour) + qeren (horn) + etsba (finger). This ritual formula accounts for 9 of the 20 occurrences.

Word Family / Cognates¶

H3245 יָסַד (yasad) — root verb: to set, found, lay a foundation, establish
H3246 יְסֻד (yesud) — foundation (variant form)
H4143 מוּסָד (muwsad) — foundation (from same root)
H4144 מוֹסָד (mowsad) — foundation
H4146 מוֹסָדָה (mowsadah) — foundation (feminine form)

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
יָסַד (yasad)	H3245	"foundation"	yasad is the verb "to found/establish"; yesod is the noun "foundation/base"
מוּסָד (muwsad)	H4143	"foundation"	muwsad refers to foundations of buildings/walls; yesod includes both architectural and altar-base senses
אֶדֶן (eden)	H134	"foundations thereof"	eden = socket/base of the tabernacle frame; yesod = base of the altar
שֶׁרֶשׁ (sheresh)	H8328	"bottom"	sheresh = root (of a plant or metaphorical); yesod = structural base/foundation

Semantic Domains¶

Constructions — architectural foundations, structural bases
Endure — permanence, stability (as in "everlasting foundation")

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI	Notes
βάσις (basis) G939	9	7.51	Primary — used for altar-base "bottom" contexts
κέρας (keras) G2768	8	6.98	Contextual — LXX renders the horn/base pair together
θεμέλιος (themelios) G2310	6	7.34	Used for architectural "foundation" contexts

The LXX distinguishes the two main senses: βάσις for the physical altar base (cultic usage) and θεμέλιος for architectural/metaphorical foundations.