יָצוּעַ (ya.tsu.a)
ya.tsu.a
bed; floor
H:N-MQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 7 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:N-M
Word Overview
The noun yaṣûaʿ refers to a couch or bed, but its usage extends beyond simple furniture. In poetic texts like Job and Psalms, it describes a place of rest or intimacy. However, the word carries a specific architectural nuance as well, referring to a flat surface or an upper story, particularly in descriptions of temple structures.
This dual meaning highlights how ancient Hebrew vocabulary often linked domestic comfort with sacred space. While most occurrences appear in poetic literature where it signifies a bed, its application to temple architecture suggests a connection between the private sphere and the holy place. Translators typically render it as "bed" or "couch," capturing the sense of a raised, flat surface designed for reclining.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word yaṣûaʿ usually brings to mind a simple bed or couch, a place where we lay down our heads at night. Yet in Scripture, it carries deeper weight. In Genesis and Chronicles, it marks the sacred intimacy of family lineage, showing how personal relationships matter deeply to God’s plan. When Reuben defiled his father’s couch, it was not just a physical act but a rupture in trust that altered the course of Israel’s history.
Conversely, this same word describes the structured floors of Solomon’s temple. Here, the idea shifts from private rest to public worship. The flat, raised surfaces built around the sanctuary remind us that God’s dwelling place is ordered and intentional. Whether in the quiet of a bedroom or the grandeur of a temple, yaṣûaʿ points to spaces where life happens and where we encounter the divine.
For your faith, this word invites you to see your own rest as part of God’s larger story. Your daily peace is not separate from His holy purposes. Just as the temple floors supported sacred rituals, your moments of rest can support a life of worship. May you find comfort in knowing that both your private joys and your public duties are held within God’s careful design.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 7 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- the/ extension2×
- beds/ my2×
- couch/ my1×
- an extension1×
- [the] beds of1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- יְצוּעָֽ/י\׃2×
- יָצִ֙יעַ֙1×
- יְצוּעֵ֣י1×
- יְצוּעִ֥/י1×
- הַ/יָּצִ֨יעַ1×
- הַ/יָּצִ֙יעַ֙1×
Key Verses
-
Genesis 49:4
Boiling over like water, you shall not excel, because you went up to your father’s bed, then defiled it. He went up to my couch.
This verse uses the word to highlight how a breach of familial integrity affected Reuben's standing, linking physical intimacy with spiritual consequence.
-
I Kings 6:5
Against the wall of the house, he built floors all around, against the walls of the house all around, both of the temple and of the inner sanctuary; and he made side rooms all around.
Here the term shifts to architectural floors, showing how the same root describes both domestic rest and the structured levels of God's temple.
-
Job 17:13
If I look for Sheol as my house, if I have spread my couch in the darkness,
Job uses this word metaphorically for his grave, expressing a deep desire for rest even in the face of death and darkness.