WG: Upright
Overview
The uprightness concept in Hebrew Scripture involves a cluster of adjectives describing moral character. Yashar (H3477) anchors the group with its root sense of "straight/direct," while related words contribute nuances of completeness (tam/tamiym), legal conformity (tsaddiyq), general goodness (towb), and the verbal root (yashar H3474).
Word Group Members
| Strong's |
Word |
Transliteration |
POS |
Occurrences |
Role in Concept |
Library Entry |
| H3477 |
יָשָׁר |
yashar |
adj |
119 |
Core — straightness of path/character |
H3477-yashar.md |
| H6662 |
צַדִּיק |
tsaddiyq |
adj |
197 |
Legal/relational — conformity to standard |
H6662-tsaddiyq.md |
| H8535 |
תָּם |
tam |
adj |
14 |
Completeness — blameless integrity |
TODO(need H8535 study) |
| H8549 |
תָּמִים |
tamiym |
adj |
85 |
Wholeness — without blemish, entire |
H8549-tamiym.md |
| H2896 |
טוֹב |
towb |
adj/noun |
521 |
Broad positive — good in widest sense |
TODO(need H2896 study) |
| H3474 |
יָשַׁר |
yashar |
verb |
26 |
Root verb — to be straight or even |
TODO(need H3474 study) |
Relationships
Shared Roots
- yashar (H3477, adj) and yashar (H3474, verb) — same y-sh-r root; adjective is the stative form of the verb
- tam (H8535) and tamiym (H8549) — both from t-m-m root "be complete"
Co-occurrence (appear in same verses)
| Word A |
Word B |
Shared Verses |
Typical Context |
| yashar (H3477) |
towb (H2896) |
15 |
"right and good" — hendiadys in regnal/covenantal evaluation (Deu 6:18, 2Ch 14:2, 31:20) |
| yashar (H3477) |
tsaddiyq (H6662) |
13 |
Virtue parallelism — "righteous...upright" (Deu 32:4, Psa 97:11, Pro 29:27) |
| tsaddiyq (H6662) |
towb (H2896) |
13 |
"more righteous...rewarded me good" — character comparison (1Sa 24:17) |
| yashar (H3477) |
tam (H8535) |
5 |
"perfect and upright" — Job's character formula (Job 1:1, 1:8, 2:3) |
| yashar (H3477) |
tamiym (H8549) |
4 |
"perfect...just and right" — divine character (Deu 32:4); "upright shall inherit good" (Pro 28:10) |
| tsaddiyq (H6662) |
tamiym (H8549) |
3 |
"just man and perfect" — Noah (Gen 6:9) |
| tamiym (H8549) |
towb (H2896) |
3 |
"done truly and sincerely" — Jdg 9:16 |
LXX Overlaps (Shared Greek Targets)
| Hebrew Words |
Shared Greek |
Notes |
| yashar + tsaddiyq |
δίκαιος (G1342) |
LXX renders both as dikaios — yashar 21x, tsaddiyq 182x; Greek conflates "straight" and "legally just" |
| yashar + tsaddiyq |
εὐθύς (G2117) |
yashar 29x, tsaddiyq 8x; path-straightness sense occasionally applied to tsaddiyq |
| towb + yashar |
καλός (G2570) |
towb 98x, yashar 9x; Greek "beautiful/good" absorbs both |
Roles in the Concept
- Core quality: yashar (יָשָׁר) — the directness and straightness of character; root metaphor is a path without crookedness
- Legal standard: tsaddiyq (צַדִּיק) — conformity to the covenantal/relational norm; measured against an external standard
- Completeness: tam (תָּם) / tamiym (תָּמִים) — wholeness and integrity; nothing lacking, nothing blemished
- General goodness: towb (טוֹב) — the broadest positive quality; frequently paired with yashar to form the hendiadys "right and good"
- Root action: yashar (יָשַׁר) verb — the act of being or making straight; provides the verbal basis for the concept
Distinguishing the Members
| Aspect |
yashar |
tsaddiyq |
tam/tamiym |
towb |
| Root metaphor |
Straight path |
Scale/standard |
Whole/complete |
Pleasant/beneficial |
| Opposite |
crooked (aqash) |
wicked (rasha) |
blemished |
evil (ra) |
| Typical subject |
person, way, eyes |
person, nation |
person, animal (sacrifice) |
anything |
| Typical formula |
"right in the eyes of..." |
"the righteous shall..." |
"perfect and upright" |
"good and right" |
Key Passages Where Multiple Group Words Appear Together
- Deu 32:4 — [yashar + tsaddiyq + tamiym]: "He is the Rock, his work is perfect (tamiym): for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just (tsaddiyq) and right (yashar) is he"
- Job 1:1 — [yashar + tam]: "that man was perfect (tam) and upright (yashar), and one that feared God, and eschewed evil"
- Pro 28:10 — [yashar + tamiym + towb]: "Whoso causeth the righteous (yashar) to go astray in an evil way, he shall fall himself into his own pit: but the upright (tamiym) shall have good (towb) things in possession"
Generated from: gather_word_group_data.py, search_strongs.py, co-occurrence queries
Last updated: 2026-05-11