TR: tsâlach → euodoō (Prosper / Advance Successfully)¶
The Chain¶
Hebrew OT LXX (Greek OT) Greek NT
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צָלַח (tsâlach) → εὐοδόω (euodoō) → εὐοδόω (euodoō)
H6743, 64x OT 32x as translation 3x in NT
"push forward, of tsâlach "have a good journey,
prosper" (PMI 8.16, dominant) prosper, succeed"
OT Usage (Hebrew)¶
| Strong's | Word | Occurrences | Primary Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| H6743 | צָלַח (tsâlach) | 64 | push forward; Qal = rush, succeed; Hiphil = cause to prosper, grant success |
| H6744 | צְלַח (tselach, Aram.) | 4 | prosper (Daniel/Ezra Aramaic sections) |
Key OT passages: - Gen 39:2-3 — "The LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man... the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand." - Jos 1:8 — "meditate therein day and night... for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." - Isa 53:10 — "the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand" (Servant song). - Dan 8:12, 24, 25; 11:27, 36 — applied to the little horn and willful king: the verb's positive sense is held in morally ironic tension. The horn genuinely succeeds (never negated in Daniel), yet the success is bounded by divine limit ("till the indignation be accomplished").
Canonical study: H6743-tsalach.md
LXX Bridge¶
| Hebrew | Greek Translation | Co-occ | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| tsâlach (H6743) | εὐοδόω (G2137) | 32 | 28.52 | Primary equivalent — dominant bridge |
| tsâlach (H6743) | κατευθύνω (G2720) | 12 | 16.56 | "Direct straight" — "prosperous way" idiom |
| tsâlach (H6743) | διαφθείρω (G1311) | 3 | 5.71 | Negative contexts (Jer/Eze ruin) |
Reverse mapping (G2137 ← Hebrew):
| Greek | ← Hebrew Source | Co-occ | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| εὐοδόω (G2137) | tsâlach (H6743) | 32 | Near-monopoly — euodoō is the LXX's default for tsâlach |
| εὐοδόω (G2137) | derek (H1870) | 10 | Collocational — "prosper [one's] way" |
| εὐοδόω (G2137) | dârash (H1875) | 3 | "Seek [the LORD] and prosper" contexts |
Semantic continuity and shift: - Continuity: Both verbs center on "journey/way going well." Hebrew tsâlach pushes forward; Greek euodoō (eu + hodos) literally "travels a good road." The metaphor is preserved. - Shift: The LXX softens the Qal's raw force of "rushing upon" (Spirit upon Samson/Saul/David). Greek translators typically render those Qal idioms with other verbs (ἅλλομαι "leap," ἐφάλλομαι), reserving εὐοδόω for the "prosper" senses. Result: εὐοδόω inherits tsâlach's prospering register but not its Spirit-rushing register.
NT Usage (Greek)¶
| Strong's | Word | Occurrences | Primary Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| G2137 | εὐοδόω (euodoō) | 3 | have a good journey; prosper, succeed |
All NT occurrences: - Rom 1:10 — Paul: "making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you." (literal journey sense, closest to LXX Gen 24:21 usage) - 1 Cor 16:2 — "let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him." (financial / providential prosperity) - 3 John 1:2 — "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." (comprehensive well-being — bodily, material, spiritual)
Canonical Greek study: (none yet — TODO: create G2137 study)
Direct OT → NT Thematic Links¶
The NT uses εὐοδόω only 3 times, and none are direct quotations of OT passages. The continuity is lexical and conceptual rather than citational.
| NT Verse | OT Echo | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Rom 1:10 | Gen 24:21, 40, 56 (servant's "prosperous journey") | Paul frames his apostolic travel plans in the LXX idiom of divinely-granted passage |
| 1 Cor 16:2 | Deut 15:14; 2 Chr 26:5 (God "prospering" the faithful) | Financial giving grounded in covenant-prosperity language |
| 3 John 1:2 | Psa 1:3 ("whatever he does shall prosper") | Comprehensive blessing formula, tri-fold prospering of soul/body/work |
Continuity and Shifts¶
What stays the same across testaments: - Core "journey/way-going-well" metaphor (tsâlach "push forward" → euodoō "travel good road"). - Divine agency: the subject causing prosperity is normally God (Gen 24; 39; 2 Chr; 3 John 1:2). - Conditional / bounded character: prosperity is granted, not intrinsic.
What shifts: - Frequency collapse: 64 OT uses → 3 NT uses. The NT does not carry forward the large prophetic-judgment idiom ("shall NOT prosper") that dominates Jeremiah and Ezekiel. - Charismatic "rushing" sense is lost. The Qal "Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon" is not rendered by euodoō and is not picked up by the NT through this word at all. NT Spirit-empowerment language migrates to different verbs (πίμπλημι, ἐπέρχομαι, etc.). - Daniel's ironic horn-prospers usage is not echoed in NT εὐοδόω. Paul/John use euodoō only in pastoral/blessing registers. The "beast-prospers" theme in Revelation uses different vocabulary (νικάω "overcome," ἐξουσία "authority"). - Narrowing to personal blessing. OT tsâlach spans nations, kings, armies, crops, journeys, missions. NT εὐοδόω narrows to individual travel, giving, and well-being.
Generated from: gather_trace_data.py, search_strongs.py (--lxx-map, --hebrew-source) Last updated: 2026-04-19