צְבִי
tse.vi
beauty
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# Analysis of צְבִי (tse.vi) — "Beauty" The Hebrew word צְבִי appears nineteen times in the biblical text and carries the fundamental meaning of "beauty." This noun denotes an aesthetic quality—something visually pleasing or attractive. The relatively modest frequency of occurrence suggests this term was not among the most commonly used words for beauty in biblical Hebrew, indicating either a specialized application or a particular register of usage within the scriptures. The word's presence across nineteen biblical passages indicates it functioned as a standard vocabulary item for describing beauty, though without access to specific contextual examples from the provided data, we cannot determine whether it was applied more commonly to persons, objects, places, or abstract qualities. The consistency of its definition across all occurrences suggests the concept remained stable throughout the biblical period, with no apparent semantic drift or specialized theological meaning unique to particular books or authors. For general readers, צְבִי represents how biblical Hebrew maintained distinct vocabulary choices for expressing aesthetic and visual qualities. The relatively low frequency compared to other Hebrew terms for beauty implies biblical authors could exercise stylistic choice when describing something as beautiful, selecting צְבִי for reasons of nuance, poetic effect, or specific contextual appropriateness that the available data does not illuminate.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
19 total occurrences across the text
In that day, Yahweh’s branch will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the beauty and glory of the survivors of Israel.
Isaiah 13:19Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be like when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
Isaiah 23:9Yahweh of Armies has planned it, to stain the pride of all glory, to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth.
Isaiah 28:1Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fertile valley of those who are overcome with wine!
Isaiah 28:4The fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fertile valley, shall be like the first-ripe fig before the summer; which someone picks and eats as soon as he sees it.
Isaiah 28:5In that day, Yahweh of Armies will become a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty to the residue of his people,
Jeremiah 3:19“But I said, ‘How I desire to put you among the children, and give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the armies of the nations!’ and I said, ‘You shall call me “My Father”, and shall not turn away from following me.’
Jeremiah 3:19“But I said, ‘How I desire to put you among the children, and give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the armies of the nations!’ and I said, ‘You shall call me “My Father”, and shall not turn away from following me.’
Ezekiel 7:20As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty; but they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things therein. Therefore I have made it to them as an unclean thing.
Ezekiel 20:6in that day I swore to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands.
Ezekiel 20:15Moreover also I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;
Ezekiel 25:9therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory of the country, Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kiriathaim,
Ezekiel 26:20then I will bring you down with those who descend into the pit, to the people of old time, and will make you dwell in the lower parts of the earth, in the places that are desolate of old, with those who go down to the pit, that you be not inhabited; and I will set glory in the land of the living.
Daniel 8:9Out of one of them came out a little horn, which grew exceedingly great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the glorious land.
Daniel 11:16But he who comes against him will do according to his own will, and no one will stand before him. He will stand in the glorious land, and destruction will be in his hand.
Daniel 11:41He will enter also into the glorious land, and many countries will be overthrown; but these will be delivered out of his hand: Edom, Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.
Daniel 11:45He will plant the tents of his palace between the sea and the glorious holy mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.
Isaiah 24:16From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs. Glory to the righteous! But I said, “I pine away! I pine away! woe is me!” The treacherous have dealt treacherously. Yes, the treacherous have dealt very treacherously.
2 Samuel 1:19“Your glory, Israel, was slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen!