H3477 — יָשָׁר (yashar)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H3477
Original: יָשָׁר
Transliteration: yashar
Pronunciation: yaw-shawr
Part of Speech: Adjective
Root: יָשַׁר (yashar, H3474) — to be straight or even; figuratively to be right, pleasant, prosperous
Occurrences: 119 unique verses (124 tokens)
First Occurrence: Exo 15:26 — "And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight..."
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From H3474; straight (literally or figuratively): — convenient, equity, Jasher, just, meet(-est), pleased well, right(-eous), straight, (most) upright(-ly, -ness).

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
right	43	36.1%
the upright	10	8.4%
of the upright	9	7.6%
and right	6	5.0%
upright	6	5.0%
the righteous	5	4.2%
and upright	4	3.4%
straight	3	2.5%
convenient	2	1.7%
for the upright	2	1.7%
of the righteous	2	1.7%
Other (22 renderings, 1x each)	22	18.5%

Summary: "Right" and "upright" renderings dominate (~67%); "righteous" (~10%); "straight" (~2.5%); the remainder are contextual.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Proverbs	25	2.7
Psalms	25	1.0
Micah	4	3.8
2 Chronicles	11	1.3
2 Kings	10	1.4
Job	8	0.7
Deuteronomy	7	0.7
1 Kings	6	0.7
Jeremiah	5	0.4
Judges	2	0.3
Joshua	2	0.3
2 Samuel	2	0.3
Ezekiel	2	0.2
1 Samuel	2	0.2
Hosea	1	0.5
Ecclesiastes	1	0.5
Ezra	1	0.4
Daniel	1	0.3
Nehemiah	1	0.2
Exodus	1	0.1
Numbers	1	0.1
Isaiah	1	0.1

Patterns: Highest density in Micah (3.8) and Proverbs (2.7). Wisdom literature (Proverbs + Job + Psalms + Ecclesiastes) accounts for ~50% of all occurrences. Historical books (1–2 Kings, 2 Chronicles) contribute another ~23%, almost entirely in the regnal evaluation formula. Absent from Leviticus, the Minor Prophets except Hosea and Micah, and all NT-era writings.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Royal/Covenantal Evaluation — "doing right in the sight of the LORD"¶

The dominant formulaic usage. Kings are evaluated by whether they did "that which was right" (hayyashar) in the eyes of YHWH. - 1Ki 15:5 — "David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him" - 2Ki 22:2 — "And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father" - 2Ch 29:2 — "And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done" - Deu 6:18 — "And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD"

2. Moral Character — The Upright Person¶

Describes a person of integrity; used as a substantive ("the upright") to denote a character type, often in contrast to the wicked. - Job 1:1 — "that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil" - Pro 2:21 — "For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it" - Pro 11:3 — "The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them" - Mic 7:2 — "The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men"

3. Upright in Heart — Internal Disposition¶

Specifically combined with "heart" (leb) to denote inner moral alignment, not just external behavior. - Psa 7:10 — "My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart" - Psa 11:2 — "that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart" - Psa 32:11 — "Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart" - Psa 125:4 — "Do good, O LORD, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts"

4. Attribute of God / Divine Standards¶

Applied to God himself, his statutes, his word, and his ways. - Deu 32:4 — "a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he" - Psa 19:8 — "The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart" - Psa 25:8 — "Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way" - Psa 92:15 — "To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him"

5. Right in One's Own Eyes — Autonomous Judgment¶

Used critically for self-directed moral reasoning without divine reference. - Jdg 17:6 — "every man did that which was right in his own eyes" - Jdg 21:25 — "every man did that which was right in his own eyes" - Pro 12:15 — "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes" - Pro 21:2 — "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts"

6. Literal Physical Straightness¶

Applied to physical objects or paths — the original spatial sense. - Eze 1:7 — "And their feet were straight feet" - Eze 1:23 — "under the firmament were their wings straight" - Jer 31:9 — "I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way" - Psa 107:7 — "And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation"

7. The Book of Jasher¶

Proper noun usage — the "Book of the Upright" (Sepher Hayyashar), a lost ancient text cited in the OT. - Jos 10:13 — "Is not this written in the book of Jasher?" - 2Sa 1:18 — "behold, it is written in the book of Jasher"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
יְהֹוָה (YHWH)	H3068	47x (39%)	"right in the sight of the LORD" — regnal formula
עַיִן (ayin)	H5869	43x (36%)	"right in his/own eyes" — evaluation formula
עָשָׂה (asah)	H6213	39x (33%)	"do that which is right" — action pairing
כֹּל (kol)	H3605	37x (31%)	"all the ways" — totality modifier
דֶּרֶךְ (derek)	H1870	24x (20%)	"the right way" / "ways are right" — path metaphor
אָב (ab)	H1	18x (15%)	"as David his father" — regnal comparison
אִישׁ (ish)	H376	18x (15%)	"every man" — individual-judgment formula
טוֹב (towb)	H2896	15x (13%)	"right and good" — hendiadys pairing
צַדִּיק (tsaddiyq)	H6662	13x (11%)	"righteous...upright" — virtue parallelism
דָּוִד (David)	H1732	13x (11%)	"David his father" — standard of uprightness
לֵב (leb)	H3820	10x (8%)	"upright in heart" — internal disposition

Synonyms¶

H6662 צַדִּיק (tsaddiyq) — just, righteous (focuses on conformity to a legal/covenantal standard)
H8535 תָּם (tam) — complete, perfect, blameless (wholeness of character)
H8549 תָּמִים (tamiym) — entire, without blemish, complete (integrity/wholeness)
H571 אֶמֶת (emeth) — truth, faithfulness (reliability/stability)
H530 אֱמוּנָה (emunah) — faithfulness, firmness
H2896 טוֹב (towb) — good (broad positive quality)
H4941 מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) — judgment, justice, ordinance
H5355 נָקִי (naqiy) — innocent, clean, free
H2134 זַךְ (zak) — pure, clean, clear

Antonyms¶

H7563 רָשָׁע (rasha) — wicked, guilty
H5766 עָוֶל (evel) — injustice, unrighteousness, wrong
H898 בָּגַד (bagad) — deal treacherously, act faithlessly
H3868 לוּז (luz) — turn aside, be perverse, depart

Word Family / Cognates¶

H3474 יָשַׁר (yashar) — root verb: to be straight or even; figuratively to be right, prosperous (26v)
H3476 יֹשֶׁר (yosher) — noun: uprightness, rightness, equity (14v)
H4334 מִישׁוֹר (miyshowr) — noun: level place, plain; equity, uprightness (23v)
H4339 מֵישָׁר (meyshar) — noun: evenness, uprightness, equity (19v)

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
צַדִּיק (tsaddiyq)	H6662	"righteous" (60v vs 5v)	tsaddiyq = conformity to legal/relational standard; yashar = inherent straightness/directness
תָּמִים (tamiym)	H8549	"upright" (6v vs 6v)	tamiym = completeness, wholeness, without blemish; yashar = directness of path or character
יְמָנִי (yemani)	H3233	"right" (12v vs 43v)	yemani = directional (right hand/side); yashar = moral/qualitative
יָמִין (yamiyn)	H3225	"right" (6v vs 43v)	yamiyn = right hand/side (spatial); yashar = moral straightness
מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat)	H4941	"right" (7v vs 43v)	mishpat = judicial verdict/ordinance; yashar = inherent quality of being straight

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
εὐθύς (euthys) G2117	29	22.40	Primary — carries the literal "straight/level" sense
δίκαιος (dikaios) G1342	21	11.88	When yashar means "righteous/just"
ὀρθός (orthos) G3717	12	17.39	"Right/upright" — physical and moral
ἀρεστός (arestos) G701	7	12.78	"Pleasing/agreeable" — when yashar connotes what is fitting
ἀληθινός (alethinos) G228	7	10.86	"True/genuine" — when yashar = truthful

Note: The LXX splits yashar across multiple Greek words depending on context: euthys for spatial/path usage, dikaios for moral-legal usage, orthos for moral-vertical uprightness. Hebrew yashar holds all these together as one concept.

Semantic Domains¶

Shape — straight, level, even (physical sense)
Right — morally correct, proper, fitting
Faithful — reliable, trustworthy character
Innocent — blameless, without guilt
Just — equitable, fair