דּוֹר
dor
generation
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# The Hebrew Word דוֹר (Dor): Generation and Lineage The Hebrew word דוֹר (dor) appears 167 times throughout the Hebrew Bible and carries the fundamental meaning of "generation." In its most basic sense, the word refers to a cohort of people living at the same time, typically those descended from a common ancestor or living within a similar span of years. This concept was essential to ancient Hebrew thought, which organized history and genealogy around successive generations rather than fixed chronological systems. Beyond its literal meaning of a age-group of people, the word's frequency and distribution suggest it served important functions in biblical narrative and legal texts. The term appears regularly in genealogical passages, historical accounts, and in formulations discussing the span of human life and continuity. Its 167 occurrences indicate that tracking generational succession—who came after whom, how long each generation lasted, and how practices or promises carried forward through time—was a central preoccupation of biblical writers. The word thus became a key mechanism for understanding both family descent and the unfolding of history itself. The prevalence of דוֹר across such a large number of biblical passages underscores how thoroughly the concept of generational identity permeated Hebrew thought. Whether marking time ("in that generation"), establishing lineage, or emphasizing continuity across centuries, the word served as a fundamental organizing principle
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
167 total occurrences across the text — showing 50
and that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor their memory perish from their offspring,
Esther 9:28and that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor their memory perish from their offspring,
Job 8:8“Please inquire of past generations. Find out about the learning of their fathers.
Job 42:16After this Job lived one hundred forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, to four generations.
Psalms 10:6He says in his heart, “I shall not be shaken. For generations I shall have no trouble.”
Psalms 10:6He says in his heart, “I shall not be shaken. For generations I shall have no trouble.”
Psalms 12:7You will keep them, Yahweh. You will preserve them from this generation forever.
Psalms 14:5There they were in great fear, for God is in the generation of the righteous.
Psalms 22:30Posterity shall serve him. Future generations shall be told about the Lord.
Psalms 24:6This is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek your face—even Jacob.
Psalms 33:11The counsel of Yahweh stands fast forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
Psalms 33:11The counsel of Yahweh stands fast forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
Psalms 45:17I will make your name to be remembered in all generations. Therefore the peoples shall give you thanks forever and ever.
Psalms 45:17I will make your name to be remembered in all generations. Therefore the peoples shall give you thanks forever and ever.
Psalms 48:13Notice her bulwarks. Consider her palaces, that you may tell it to the next generation.
Psalms 49:11Their inward thought is that their houses will endure forever, and their dwelling places to all generations. They name their lands after themselves.
Psalms 49:11Their inward thought is that their houses will endure forever, and their dwelling places to all generations. They name their lands after themselves.
Psalms 49:19he shall go to the generation of his fathers. They shall never see the light.
Psalms 61:6You will prolong the king’s life. His years will be for generations.
Psalms 61:6You will prolong the king’s life. His years will be for generations.
Psalms 71:18Yes, even when I am old and gray-haired, God, don’t forsake me, until I have declared your strength to the next generation, your might to everyone who is to come.
Psalms 72:5They shall fear you while the sun endures; and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.
Psalms 72:5They shall fear you while the sun endures; and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.
Leviticus 3:17“ ‘It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings, that you shall eat neither fat nor blood.’ ”
Psalms 73:15If I had said, “I will speak thus”; behold, I would have betrayed the generation of your children.
Psalms 77:8Has his loving kindness vanished forever? Does his promise fail for generations?
Psalms 77:8Has his loving kindness vanished forever? Does his promise fail for generations?
Psalms 78:4We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of Yahweh, his strength, and his wondrous deeds that he has done.
Psalms 78:6that the generation to come might know, even the children who should be born; who should arise and tell their children,
Psalms 78:8and might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that didn’t make their hearts loyal, whose spirit was not steadfast with God.
Psalms 78:8and might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that didn’t make their hearts loyal, whose spirit was not steadfast with God.
Psalms 79:13So we, your people and sheep of your pasture, will give you thanks forever. We will praise you forever, to all generations.
Psalms 79:13So we, your people and sheep of your pasture, will give you thanks forever. We will praise you forever, to all generations.
Psalms 85:5Will you be angry with us forever? Will you draw out your anger to all generations?
Psalms 85:5Will you be angry with us forever? Will you draw out your anger to all generations?
Psalms 89:1I will sing of the loving kindness of Yahweh forever. With my mouth, I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
Psalms 89:1I will sing of the loving kindness of Yahweh forever. With my mouth, I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
Psalms 89:4‘I will establish your offspring forever, and build up your throne to all generations.’ ”
Psalms 89:4‘I will establish your offspring forever, and build up your throne to all generations.’ ”
Psalms 90:1Lord, you have been our dwelling place for all generations.
Psalms 90:1Lord, you have been our dwelling place for all generations.
Psalms 95:10Forty long years I was grieved with that generation, and said, “It is a people that errs in their heart. They have not known my ways.”
Psalms 100:5For Yahweh is good. His loving kindness endures forever, his faithfulness to all generations.
Psalms 100:5For Yahweh is good. His loving kindness endures forever, his faithfulness to all generations.
Psalms 102:12But you, Yahweh, will remain forever; your renown endures to all generations.
Psalms 102:12But you, Yahweh, will remain forever; your renown endures to all generations.
Psalms 102:18This will be written for the generation to come. A people which will be created will praise Yah.
Psalms 102:24I said, “My God, don’t take me away in the middle of my days. Your years are throughout all generations.
Psalms 102:24I said, “My God, don’t take me away in the middle of my days. Your years are throughout all generations.
Psalms 105:8He has remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations,