יָרַד
ya.rad (H3381)
to go down
AI Word Study
# Yarad (יָרַד): Movement Downward in Biblical Hebrew The Hebrew word *yarad* is one of the Bible's most frequently used verbs, appearing 381 times across the text. Its core meaning is straightforward: "to go down." This physical sense of downward movement forms the foundation for how the word functions throughout biblical literature, whether describing a person descending a mountain, water flowing downward, or an object falling. The high frequency of *yarad* in Scripture reflects how essential this directional concept is to biblical narrative and description. The word's consistency in meaning—always indicating downward motion—makes it a reliable linguistic marker when tracing movement through biblical accounts. Its prevalence suggests that biblical authors regularly needed to describe such motion, whether in literal geographical contexts (journeys, ascending and descending terrain) or in other types of narratives where position and direction matter to the meaning of events. Because *yarad* maintains a consistent, literal definition across its 381 occurrences, it serves as a foundational word in biblical Hebrew's vocabulary of spatial relations. Unlike some biblical terms that develop metaphorical or theological layers of meaning over time, *yarad* appears to function primarily as a straightforward descriptor of physical downward movement, making it essential vocabulary for understanding how biblical writers conveyed basic directional information.
AI synthesis uses only provided lexicon data -- never training knowledge.
Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built.
Come, let’s go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
There was a famine in the land. Abram went down into Egypt to live as a foreigner there, for the famine was severe in the land.
The birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
I will go down now, and see whether their deeds are as bad as the reports which have come to me. If not, I will know.”
The young lady was very beautiful to look at, a virgin. No man had known her. She went down to the spring, filled her pitcher, and came up.
She said, “Drink, my lord.” She hurried, and let down her pitcher on her hand, and gave him a drink.
Before I had finished speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her pitcher on her shoulder. She went down to the spring, and drew. I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’
She hurried and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink.’ So I drank, and she also gave the camels a drink.
Yahweh appeared to him, and said, “Don’t go down into Egypt. Live in the land I will tell you about.
He dreamed and saw a stairway set upon the earth, and its top reached to heaven. Behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
They sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, “For I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” His father wept for him.
At that time, Judah went down from his brothers, and visited a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.
Joseph was brought down to Egypt. Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the hand of the Ishmaelites that had brought him down there.
He said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy for us from there, so that we may live, and not die.”
Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.
He said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left. If harm happens to him along the way in which you go, then you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.”
If you’ll send our brother with us, we’ll go down and buy you food;
but if you don’t send him, we won’t go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’ ”
They said, “The man asked directly concerning ourselves, and concerning our relatives, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ We just answered his questions. Is there any way we could know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down?’ ”
Their father, Israel, said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Take from the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry down a present for the man, a little balm, a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts, and almonds;
The men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and got up, went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.
and said, “Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food.
We have brought down other money in our hand to buy food. We don’t know who put our money in our sacks.”
Then they hurried, and each man took his sack down to the ground, and each man opened his sack.
You said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’
You said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will see my face no more.’
We said, ‘We can’t go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down: for we may not see the man’s face, unless our youngest brother is with us.’
If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.’
it will happen, when he sees that the boy is no more, that he will die. Your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant, our father, with sorrow to Sheol.
Hurry, and go up to my father, and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says, “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me. Don’t wait.
You shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. You shall hurry and bring my father down here.”
He said, “I am God, the God of your father. Don’t be afraid to go down into Egypt, for there I will make of you a great nation.
I will go down with you into Egypt. I will also surely bring you up again. Joseph’s hand will close your eyes.”
Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe at the river. Her maidens walked along by the riverside. She saw the basket among the reeds, and sent her servant to get it.
I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
Now therefore command that all of your livestock and all that you have in the field be brought into shelter. The hail will come down on every man and animal that is found in the field, and isn’t brought home, and they will die.” ’ ”
All these servants of yours will come down to me, and bow down themselves to me, saying, “Get out, with all the people who follow you;” and after that I will go out.’ ” He went out from Pharaoh in hot anger.
The deeps cover them. They went down into the depths like a stone.
and be ready for the third day; for on the third day Yahweh will come down in the sight of all the people on Mount Sinai.
Moses went down from the mountain to the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes.
All of Mount Sinai smoked, because Yahweh descended on it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.
Yahweh came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. Yahweh called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
Yahweh said to Moses, “Go down, warn the people, lest they break through to Yahweh to gaze, and many of them perish.
Yahweh said to him, “Go down! You shall bring Aaron up with you, but don’t let the priests and the people break through to come up to Yahweh, lest he break out against them.”
So Moses went down to the people, and told them.
When the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.”
Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go, get down; for your people, who you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves!
Moses turned, and went down from the mountain, with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand; tablets that were written on both their sides. They were written on one side and on the other.
Showing 1--50 of 346 occurrences