To tread ; by implication, to walk ; also to string a bow (by treading on it in bending)
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The Hebrew verb darak describes treading or stepping, walking across land, guiding someone in a way, trampling, threshing, treading a winepress, and bending a bow by pressing it into position. The physical action can support images of possession, victory, judgment, danger, or instruction, but stem and object matter.
Reader summary
Full entry for דָּרַךְ (H1869) · Open the biblical lexicon
The Hebrew verb darak describes treading or stepping, walking across land, guiding someone in a way, trampling, threshing, treading a winepress, and bending a bow by pressing it into position. The physical action can support images of possession, victory, judgment, danger, or instruction, but stem and object matter.
The BSB source-word alignment has 62 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include bend (2), He has bent (2), . . . (1), and aim (1), and bent (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Numbers 24:17. Its strongest book concentrations include Isaiah (11), Psalms (10), Jeremiah (9), Deuteronomy (4).
The Hebrew verb darak describes treading or stepping, walking across land, guiding someone in a way, trampling, threshing, treading a winepress, and bending a bow by pressing it into position. The physical action can support images of possession, victory, judgment, danger, or instruction, but stem and object matter. Joshua and Deuteronomy speak of land trodden by Israel, Psalms asks God for guidance and names dangerous creatures underfoot, and Isaiah uses winepress treading in judgment imagery.
Martial uses of bending a bow or treading enemies are not directions for private violence. Promises tied to Israel's entry into the land should not be used to seize property or erase present-day legal and human obligations. Guidance language invites humble dependence on God, yet it does not authorize a teacher to control another person's steps. Responsible teaching distinguishes walking, guiding, agricultural pressing, military preparation, and poetic triumph while protecting bodily safety and refusing domination.
Darak begins with the pressure of a foot and extends to walking land, directing a traveler, trampling, pressing produce, and bending a bow. Stem, object, and covenant setting determine whether the action is guidance, labor, warfare, or judgment.
Except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land on which he has set foot, because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly.”
Caleb is promised the land on which he has walked because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly.
I have given you every place where the sole of your foot will tread, just as I promised to Moses.
Joshua receives the land-entry promise concerning places the soles of Israel's feet will tread.
Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; all day long I wait for You.
The psalmist asks the Lord to guide him in truth and teach him while he waits for salvation.
You will tread on the lion and cobra; you will trample the young lion and serpent.
The psalm portrays treading upon lion and cobra within its poetic assurance of the Lord's protection.
“I have trodden the winepress alone, and no one from the nations was with Me. I trampled them in My anger and trod them down in My fury; their blood spattered My garments, and all My clothes were stained.
The divine warrior describes treading the winepress alone as judgment imagery in the prophetic poem.
Do not let the archer bend his bow or put on his armor. Do not spare her young men; devote all her army to destruction!
The oracle against Babylon uses the bow-bending sense within a command concerning battle and judgment.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Physical force applied downward — treading, walking, threshing — extends to guiding and leading others forward
Physical force applied downward — treading, walking, threshing — extends to guiding and leading others forward
to tread; by implication, to walk; also to string a bow (by treading on it in bending) BDB: tread Usage: archer, bend, come, draw, go (over), guide, lead (forth), thresh, tread (down), walk.
How the stem changes the meaning of this verb across the biblical text.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 63 lexical occurrence verses.
דָּרַךְ is a primitive root - no further derivation.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Darak makes pressure and direction visible. In Deuteronomy and Joshua, feet tread land within the Lord's covenant promise and Israel's historical entry under Joshua. Those texts cannot be lifted into a modern technique of walking around property to obtain it, nor do they bypass ownership, law, neighbor love, or justice. Psalm 25 uses the causative sense for God's guidance in truth.
The prayer models dependence and teachability, but it gives no human guide infallible control over another person's future. Psalm 91 employs danger imagery to celebrate refuge in God; it does not command believers to handle animals, enter hazardous settings, or reject ordinary precautions. Isaiah 63's winepress image portrays divine judgment through severe prophetic poetry.
Jeremiah's bow language belongs to an oracle of battle, not private permission to threaten opponents. Faithful teaching allows the distinct images to remain distinct. It can commend steadfast walking, prayerful guidance, responsible labor, and trust under danger while refusing territorial entitlement, weaponized symbolism, and bodily risk. When the verb describes trampling, readers should notice who exercises force and whether the passage reports, promises, laments, or judges it.
No contemporary leader may claim divine guidance as a reason to override consent, safety, legal rights, or careful discernment.
Ps.25.5
Darak is a Hebrew verb whose concrete Qal sense is to tread or step. Objects can yield senses such as walking land, trampling, treading a winepress, or bending a bow, while the Hiphil can mean causing someone to tread, hence guiding.
New Testament language about walking, guidance, trampling, armor, and judgment uses other Greek words. Canonical themes can be compared across the Testaments, but direct lexical continuity should not be assumed and each action must remain tied to its object and setting.