בֶּ֫צַע
be.tsa
unjust-gain
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Hebrew word "בֶּ֫צַע" (be.tsa) has a short definition of "unjust-gain." This term is part of the semantic domain of Sin & Righteousness, indicating its connection to moral concepts. The word appears 23 times in the Bible, suggesting its importance in the text. Given its definition, "unjust-gain" likely refers to acquiring wealth or possessions through unfair or immoral means. This could include theft, exploitation, or other forms of dishonesty. The word's association with sin and righteousness implies that it has significant moral implications, possibly highlighting the consequences of engaging in such behavior. The frequency of its occurrence in the Bible underscores its relevance to the text's themes and messages. It is likely used to convey the idea that wealth acquired through unjust means is not only morally reprehensible but also potentially fleeting or unstable.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
23 total occurrences across the text
Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous? Or does it benefit him that you make your ways perfect?
Psalms 30:9“What profit is there in my destruction, if I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise you? Shall it declare your truth?
Psalms 119:36Turn my heart toward your statutes, not toward selfish gain.
Proverbs 1:19So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It takes away the life of its owners.
Proverbs 15:27He who is greedy for gain troubles his own house, but he who hates bribes will live.
Proverbs 28:16A tyrannical ruler lacks judgment. One who hates ill-gotten gain will have long days.
Isaiah 33:15He who walks righteously and speaks blamelessly, he who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing to take a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from looking at evil—
Isaiah 56:11Yes, the dogs are greedy. They can never have enough. They are shepherds who can’t understand. They have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain, from every quarter.
Isaiah 57:17I was angry because of the iniquity of his covetousness and struck him. I hid myself and was angry; and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart.
Jeremiah 6:13“For from their least even to their greatest, everyone is given to covetousness. From the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely.
Jeremiah 8:10Therefore I will give their wives to others and their fields to those who will possess them. For everyone from the least even to the greatest is given to covetousness; from the prophet even to the priest everyone deals falsely.
Jeremiah 22:17But your eyes and your heart are only for your covetousness, for shedding innocent blood, for oppression, and for doing violence.”
Jeremiah 51:13You who dwell on many waters, abundant in treasures, your end has come, the measure of your covetousness.
Ezekiel 22:13“ ‘ “Behold, therefore I have struck my hand at your dishonest gain which you have made, and at your blood which has been within you.
Ezekiel 22:27Her princes within it are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain.
Ezekiel 33:31They come to you as the people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but don’t do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their gain.
Micah 4:13Arise and thresh, daughter of Zion; for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hoofs bronze; and you will beat in pieces many peoples: and I will devote their gain to Yahweh, and their substance to the Lord of the whole earth.
Habakkuk 2:9Woe to him who gets an evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the hand of evil!
Malachi 3:14You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God;’ and ‘What profit is it that we have followed his instructions, and that we have walked mournfully before Yahweh of Armies?
Genesis 37:26Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?
Exodus 18:21Moreover you shall provide out of all the people able men which fear God: men of truth, hating unjust gain; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
Judges 5:19“The kings came and fought, then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo. They took no plunder of silver.
1 Samuel 8:3His sons didn’t walk in his ways, but turned away after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.