What does יָטַב (yāṭab) mean in the Bible?
יָטַב is a verb meaning to be good or pleasing, to go well, to do good, or to treat someone well. The local Hebrew artifact currently indexes about 112 Old Testament occurrences.
Hebrew · H3190
יָטַב
To be (causative) make well , literally (sound, beautiful) or figuratively (happy, successful, right)
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יָטַב H3190
Pronunciation yāṭab
What does יָטַב (yāṭab) mean in the Bible?
יָטַב is a verb meaning to be good or pleasing, to go well, to do good, or to treat someone well. The local Hebrew artifact currently indexes about 112 Old Testament occurrences.
Reader summary
Full entry for יָטַב (H3190) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H3190?
The BSB source-word alignment has 117 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include . . . (6), pleased (4), is good (3), it may be well (3), it may go well (3).
Where does יָטַב (yāṭab) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 4:7. Its strongest book concentrations include Deuteronomy (19), Jeremiah (18), Genesis (11), Psalms (7).
Are there verse guides for יָטַב (yāṭab)?
This entry includes 5 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
What This Word Actually Means
יָטַב is a verb meaning to be good or pleasing, to go well, to do good, or to treat someone well. The local Hebrew artifact currently indexes about 112 Old Testament occurrences. In Deuteronomy it often appears in purpose clauses expressing that obedience may lead to well-being in the land. Those covenant promises belong to Israel’s life under the Mosaic covenant and must not be converted into a universal rule that faithful conduct guarantees favorable circumstances.
Deuteronomy 6:18 joins doing what is right and good in the Lord’s sight with entering and possessing the promised land. Deuteronomy 4:40 speaks of well-being for Israel and its children in connection with keeping the commands and long life in the land. These texts describe corporate, covenantal blessing; they do not say each child automatically inherits favorable outcomes from a faithful parent.
Genesis 4:7 asks Cain whether, if he does well, there will be lifting up or acceptance, then warns that sin crouches at the door. The difficult expression should be handled with its translation options and should not be made into a general promise that good behavior opens a door of acceptance before God. Psalm 119:68 uses the Hiphil for the Lord doing good, and Deuteronomy 8:16 says the wilderness testing aimed to do Israel good in the end.
For teaching, יָטַב can connect conduct pleasing to God, concrete acts of doing good, covenant well-being, and trust in God’s good purposes. Wisdom, Job, the Psalms, and the New Testament also prevent a mechanical equation between obedience and immediate prosperity.
Lexical sourcelocal_artifactPassage contextBook contexttextual_variantCanonical parallelPastoral application
How the Bible Uses It
יָטַב (yatav) is indexed in the local Hebrew artifact at about 112 OT occurrences. It covers: what is pleasing in YHWH's sight (Deut 6:18, 1Kgs 11:38), the covenant going-well that results from faithfulness (Deut 4:40, 6:18), doing good to others (Ps 119:68, YHWH doing good), the moral threshold (Gen 4:7, Cain's warning), and YHWH's providential purpose in testing (Deut 8:16, to do good to you in the end).
The Hiphil (heitiv, to do good, to treat well) is used of YHWH doing good to his people and of humans doing good to others.
- Deut.6.18
Do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, so that it may be well with you and that you may enter and possess the good land that the Lord your God swore to give your fathers,
The covenant yatav-promise: 'do what is right and good (tov veyashar) in YHWH's sight, that it may go well (yitav) with you.' Deuteronomy 6:18 follows the Shema (6:4-5) and is the positive covenant obligation expressed in the language of the good: do the yatav/tov thing in YHWH's sight, and the yatav condition will follow. The land-possession depends on the covenant doing: covenant faithfulness opens the door to covenant inheritance.
- Ps.119.68
You are good, and You do what is good; teach me Your statutes.
YHWH as the supreme yatav: 'you are good (tov) and do good (meitiv).' The divine identity is yatav and the divine activity is yatav: YHWH is good by nature and good in action. The psalmist's request for teaching in the statutes flows from this: the God who is yatav gives statutes that are yatav — learning his ways is learning the shape of the divine goodness.
Psalm 119:68 is the foundation of a theology of the commandments: they are not arbitrary impositions but expressions of the character of the God who is tov and does meitiv.
- Gen.4.7
If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires you, but you must master it.”
The yatav moral threshold: 'if you do well (hetev), will you not be accepted?' YHWH's word to Cain before the murder of Abel sets the yatav-threshold: the path of acceptance lies through doing well; the alternative is the crouching sin. The yatav is not here defined as emotional wellness or life circumstances but as the moral orientation of the will: doing well before YHWH.
Cain's failure to hetev leads to the first murder; the trajectory from non-yatav to violence is the earliest illustration of the power of the refusal to do good.
- Deut.4.40
Keep His statutes and commandments, which I am giving you today, so that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may live long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.
The generational yatav: 'that it may go well (yitav) with you and your children after you.' The covenant yatav is not exhausted in the present generation but flows forward: the child who inherits a covenant-faithful household inherits the conditions for the yatav. Deuteronomy's generational horizon (with your children after you) is the OT's covenantal investment strategy: faithfulness now shapes the conditions for flourishing in the next generation.
- Deut.8.16
He fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers had not known, in order to humble you and test you, so that in the end He might cause you to prosper.
Providential yatav through testing: 'to do you good (leheitiv lakh) in the end.' YHWH's purpose in the wilderness humbling and testing was ultimate yatav: not to harm but to form. The manna and the wilderness and the testing are all means to the yatav at the end. This is Deuteronomy's theodicy of the wilderness: what looked like abandonment was formation; what felt like deprivation was preparation for the good that YHWH was planning for Israel in the land.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It . . . 6× Genesis 32:12, Numbers 10:32, Deuteronomy 27:8, 2 Kings 11:18
pleased 4× Genesis 41:37, 1 Kings 3:10, Esther 2:4, Esther 5:14
is good 3× 1 Samuel 2:32, Proverbs 17:22, Ecclesiastes 7:3
it may be well 3× Deuteronomy 6:18, Deuteronomy 22:7, Ruth 3:1
it may go well 3× Deuteronomy 5:16, Deuteronomy 12:25, Jeremiah 7:23
thoroughly 3× Deuteronomy 13:14, Deuteronomy 17:4, Deuteronomy 19:18
well 3× Genesis 12:16, Deuteronomy 18:17, 1 Samuel 16:17
and correct 2× Jeremiah 18:11, Jeremiah 35:15
and I will make you prosper 2× Genesis 32:9, Ezekiel 36:11
any right 2× Jonah 4:4, Jonah 4:9
Correct 2× Jeremiah 7:3, Jeremiah 26:13
skillfully 2× Psalms 33:3, Jeremiah 2:33
to do good 2× Jeremiah 13:23, Zechariah 8:15
were pleased 2× Genesis 45:16, Esther 1:21
[and] well-doing 1× Psalms 36:3
adorned 1× 2 Kings 9:30
and 1× 2 Samuel 3:36
and be cheerful 1× 1 Kings 21:7
and it will be well 1× 2 Kings 25:24
and it will go well 1× Jeremiah 40:9
And this was pleasing 1× 1 Samuel 18:5
And this will please 1× Psalms 69:31
and was in good spirits 1× Ruth 3:7
and we will treat you well 1× Numbers 10:29
and You do what is good 1× Psalms 119:68
are impressive 1× Proverbs 30:29
are skilled 1× Micah 7:3
Are you better 1× Nahum 3:8
be glad 1× Ecclesiastes 11:9
be merry 1× Judges 19:6
bring good 1× Micah 2:7
commends 1× Proverbs 15:2
correctly 1× Jeremiah 1:12
do any good 1× Jeremiah 10:5
Do good 1× Psalms 125:4
do something good 1× Isaiah 41:23
doing good to them 1× Jeremiah 32:40
doing them good 1× Jeremiah 32:41
either good 1× Zephaniah 1:12
good to me 1× Deuteronomy 1:23
has dealt well 1× 1 Samuel 25:31
has found favor 1× Nehemiah 2:5
He has been good 1× Joshua 24:20
He might cause you to prosper 1× Deuteronomy 8:16
he was satisfied 1× Leviticus 10:20
He will cause you to prosper 1× Deuteronomy 30:5
how to do good 1× Jeremiah 4:22
I do 1× Jonah 4:9
I will be treated well 1× Genesis 12:13
I will surely make you prosper 1× Genesis 32:12
intends 1× 1 Samuel 20:13
it goes well 1× Genesis 40:14
it may always go well 1× Deuteronomy 12:28
it may go well with us 1× Jeremiah 42:6
it might be well 1× Deuteronomy 5:29
kindness 1× Job 24:21
Make sweet 1× Isaiah 23:16
makes a cheerful 1× Proverbs 15:13
may be merry 1× Judges 19:9
may prosper 1× Deuteronomy 4:40
more famous 1× 1 Kings 1:47
pleased him 1× Esther 2:9
pleases 1× Esther 2:4
seemed good 1× Genesis 34:18
seems best 1× 2 Samuel 18:4
So it pleased 1× Nehemiah 2:6
that are stately 1× Proverbs 30:29
that it may go well 1× Jeremiah 38:20
the better he made 1× Hosea 10:1
They have done well 1× Deuteronomy 5:28
they were satisfied 1× Joshua 22:30
to do anything good 1× Leviticus 5:4
to do right 1× Isaiah 1:17
to make you prosper 1× Deuteronomy 28:63
to prosper 1× Psalms 51:18
was glad 1× Judges 18:20
was good 1× Exodus 1:20
we will share 1× Numbers 10:32
were enjoying 1× Judges 19:22
were satisfied 1× Joshua 22:33
when he tends 1× Exodus 30:7
who skillfully 1× Ezekiel 33:32
will be good 1× Judges 17:13
would it have been acceptable 1× Leviticus 10:19
you do what is right 1× Genesis 4:7
You have shown 1× Ruth 3:10
you may prosper 1× Deuteronomy 6:3
you prosper 1× Psalms 49:18
you really correct 1× Jeremiah 7:5
you refuse to do what is right 1× Genesis 4:7
you wish 1× 1 Samuel 24:4
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 4:7 תֵּיטִיב֙ to you do what is right Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - second person masculine singular Genesis 4:7 תֵיטִ֔יב to you refuse to do what is right Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - second person masculine singular Genesis 12:13 יִֽיטַב־ to I will be treated well Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular Genesis 12:16 הֵיטִ֖יב to well Verb - Hifil - Perfect - third person masculine singular Genesis 32:9 וְאֵיטִ֥יבָה to and I will make you prosper Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative - first person common singular Genesis 32:12 הֵיטֵ֥ב to I will surely make you prosper Verb - Hifil - Infinitive absolute Genesis 32:12 אֵיטִ֖יב to . . . Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - first person common singular Genesis 34:18 וַיִּֽיטְב֥וּ to seemed good Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural Genesis 40:14 יִ֣יטַב to it goes well Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular Genesis 41:37 וַיִּיטַ֥ב to pleased Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Genesis 4:7
Aligned rows 117
Books represented 27
Genesis 11 Exodus 2 Leviticus 3 Numbers 3 Deuteronomy 19 Joshua 3 Judges 5 Ruth 3 1 Samuel 6 2 Samuel 2 1 Kings 3 2 Kings 3 Nehemiah 2 Esther 5 Job 1 Psalms 7 Proverbs 5 Ecclesiastes 2 Isaiah 3 Jeremiah 18 Ezekiel 2 Hosea 1 Jonah 3 Micah 2 Nahum 1 Zephaniah 1 Zechariah 1
Source forms
וַיִּיטַב֙ 4x way·yî·ṭaḇ Genesis 45:16, Judges 18:20, 1 Samuel 18:5, Esther 1:21
יִ֣יטַב 4x yî·ṭaḇ Genesis 40:14, Deuteronomy 5:16, Deuteronomy 6:18, Deuteronomy 22:7
יִיטַ֥ב 4x yî·ṭaḇ Deuteronomy 5:29, 2 Samuel 18:4, Nehemiah 2:5, Jeremiah 7:23
הֵיטֵ֔ב 3x hê·ṭêḇ Deuteronomy 9:21, Deuteronomy 17:4, 2 Kings 11:18
הֵיטִ֖יבוּ 3x hê·ṭî·ḇū Deuteronomy 5:28, Deuteronomy 18:17, Hosea 10:1
וַיִּיטַ֥ב 3x way·yî·ṭaḇ Genesis 41:37, Deuteronomy 1:23, 1 Kings 3:10
וַיִּיטַ֖ב 3x way·yî·ṭaḇ Leviticus 10:20, Joshua 22:30, 2 Samuel 3:36
יִֽיטַב־ 3x yî·ṭaḇ- Genesis 12:13, Ruth 3:1, Jeremiah 42:6
Parsing patterns
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular 18x Genesis 12:13, Genesis 40:14, Leviticus 10:19, Deuteronomy 4:40
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular 15x Genesis 41:37, Genesis 45:16, Leviticus 10:20, Deuteronomy 1:23
Verb - Hifil - Infinitive absolute 13x Genesis 32:12, Deuteronomy 9:21, Deuteronomy 13:14, Deuteronomy 17:4
Preposition-l | Verb - Hifil - Infinitive construct 8x Leviticus 5:4, Deuteronomy 28:63, Psalms 36:3, Jeremiah 13:23
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine singular 8x Numbers 10:32, Judges 17:13, 1 Samuel 2:32, 1 Samuel 20:13
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive imperfect - third person masculine singular 6x Judges 19:6, Judges 19:9, 1 Kings 21:7, 2 Kings 25:24
Verb - Hifil - Imperative - masculine plural 3x Psalms 33:3, Jeremiah 7:3, Jeremiah 26:13
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - second person masculine singular 3x Genesis 4:7, Psalms 49:18
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- When Deuteronomy pairs 'do what is good' with the promise of blessing, it is establishing a covenantal framework, not a simple cause-and-effect prosperity formula. The promised good is experienced within covenant relationship with God.
- The prophetic call to 'do good' (Isa 1:17) is highly specific — it means seeking justice, correcting oppression, and defending the vulnerable. Apply it with that specificity.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not use yatav texts to support a prosperity-gospel formula that equates moral goodness with material success — the covenant framework is more complex, as texts like Job and Psalms 73 make clear.
- Do not claim that God's seeing creation as 'good' means the world is morally perfect or incapable of evil — it affirms the original created order's excellence, not a subsequent sinless state.
Key Verse and Form Guides
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Deuteronomy 8:16 Preposition-l | Verb - Hifil - Infinitive construct | second person masculine singular
לְהֵיטִֽבְךָ֖ lə·hê·ṭiḇ·ḵā to be (causative) make well , literally (sound, beautiful) or figuratively (happy, successful, right) The form clarifies that Deuteronomy 8:16 gives a purpose/result for the wilderness dealings: good for the addressed people in the end. Read verse guide Deuteronomy 30:5 Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular | second person masculine singular
וְהֵיטִֽבְךָ֥ wə·hê·ṭiḇ·ḵā to be (causative) make well , literally (sound, beautiful) or figuratively (happy, successful, right) The form makes the promise personal and directed: the LORD is the acting subject, and the restored people are the recipients of his good action. Read verse guide Jonah 4:4 Verb - Hifil - Infinitive absolute
הַהֵיטֵ֖ב ha·hê·ṭêḇ to be (causative) make well , literally (sound, beautiful) or figuratively (happy, successful, right) The form helps make the LORD's question pointed: Jonah must face whether his anger is rightly ordered. Read verse guide Jonah 4:9 Verb - Hifil - Infinitive absolute
הַהֵיטֵ֥ב ha·hê·ṭêḇ to be (causative) make well , literally (sound, beautiful) or figuratively (happy, successful, right) The form keeps the repeated question sharp as Jonah's anger is exposed through the plant episode. Read verse guide Psalms 51:18 Verb - Hifil - Imperative - masculine singular | third person feminine singular
הֵיטִ֣יבָה hê·ṭî·ḇāh to be (causative) make well , literally (sound, beautiful) or figuratively (happy, successful, right) The form helps readers hear Psalm 51 moving from personal restoration toward communal restoration. Read verse guide Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Moves from physical wholeness to moral/relational goodness; denotes both state and deliberate action toward flourishing.
Source Gloss
to be (causative) make well , literally (sound, beautiful) or figuratively (happy, successful, right)
Grammatical Forms
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.
Form groups 2 Aligned forms 62
Qal basic active stem — the word in its most common, direct sense 18×
Imperfect 1Sam 24:5 · 2Sam 18:4 · Deut 4:40 · Deut 5:16 · Deut 5:29 · Deut 6:3 · Deut 6:18 · Deut 12:25 · Deut 12:28 · Deut 22:7 · Eccl 7:3 · Gen 12:13 · Gen 40:14 · Jer 7:23 · Jer 42:6 · Neh 2:5 18×
Hiphil causative active — the subject causes someone else to perform the action 44×
Imperfect 1Sam 2:32 · 1Sam 20:13 · Job 24:21 · Judg 17:13 · Num 10:32 · Prov 15:13 · Prov 17:22 · Zeph 1:12 · Gen 4:7 · Ps 49:19 · Isa 41:23 · Jer 7:5 · Gen 32:13 · Jer 2:33 · Mic 2:7 · Prov 15:2 17×
Infinitive absolute 2Kgs 11:18 · Deut 9:21 · Deut 13:15 · Deut 17:4 · Deut 19:18 · Deut 27:8 · Gen 32:13 · Isa 1:17 · Jer 7:5 · Jer 10:5 · Jonah 4:9 11×
Perfect Deut 5:28 · Deut 18:17 · Hos 10:1 · Gen 12:16 · Josh 24:20 · Jer 1:12 · Ruth 3:10 7×
Participle active 1Sam 16:17 · Judg 19:22 · Prov 30:29 4×
Sequential imperfect Jer 7:3 · Jer 26:13 · Ps 33:3 · Isa 23:16 4×
Jussive 1Kgs 1:47 1×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
God dealing well or favorably with the midwives, rewarding their righteous conduct
things that move or conduct themselves well, with grace and dignity in their bearing
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 112 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
יָטַב is a primitive root - no further derivation.
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
יָטַב gives Scripture a dynamic way to speak of what is good, pleasing, beneficial, or well done. Deuteronomy links Israel’s obedience with well-being in the promised land, Psalm 119 confesses that the Lord is good and does good, and other texts use the verb for people treating one another well. The contexts share a word family without establishing a universal prosperity formula.
Generational promises in Deuteronomy concern covenant life in the land and the communal consequences of faithfulness. They can support teaching about how parental faithfulness blesses families, but not a guarantee that children inherit predictable outcomes. Likewise, Deuteronomy 8:16 interprets Israel’s wilderness testing; it does not authorize teachers to declare that every individual suffering has the same discernible purpose or timetable.
Genesis 4:7 warns Cain before murder, but its “lifting up/acceptance” wording is debated. The text calls Cain to master the sin crouching at the door; it should not be turned into a timeless formula by which doing well earns divine acceptance. Christian exhortations to do good rest on grace and explicit apostolic teaching.
Anchor passage
Deut.6.18
Doctrinal connections
- Deut 6:18 — do right and good in YHWH's sight, that it may go well with you; the covenant yatav-promise
- Ps 119:68 — you are good and do good; YHWH as the divine yatav-source
- Gen 4:7 — if you do well, will you not be accepted? the yatav moral threshold
- Deut 4:40 — that it may go well with you and your children; generational yatav
- Deut 8:16 — to do you good in the end; providential yatav through testing
- H1732 David — David as the paradigm of covenant faithfulness that produces yatav
יָטַב belongs to the טוֹב word family. Qal forms can concern being good, pleasing, or going well, while Hiphil forms commonly mean to do good, treat well, or make something good. Deuteronomy’s “that it may go well with you” is a recurring covenant-purpose expression whose force includes land, longevity, and communal blessing. Grammar alone does not make the result automatic in every circumstance or transfer the Mosaic formula unchanged to the church.
From Old to New Testament
Romans 8:28 teaches that God works all things for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. It is a meaningful canonical parallel to trust in God’s good purpose, but it is not simply the New Testament form of Deuteronomy 8:16. Galatians 6:9-10 and 1 Peter 3:11 explicitly call Christians to do good, while James 1:17 identifies good gifts as coming from the Father.
These passages develop Christian goodness and perseverance in their own covenant setting rather than reproducing an H3190 consequence formula.
Passage contextCanonical parallelBook contextPastoral applicationtextual_variant
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain