Properly, selected , i.e. a youth (often collective)
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The Hebrew noun bachur commonly identifies a young man, often emphasizing youth, vigor, social group, or eligibility for a task. It can describe Saul’s impressive appearance, young men called to prophetic hope, youths whose strength fades, and young adults caught in war or judgment.
Reader summary
Full entry for בָּחוּר (H970) · Open the biblical lexicon
The Hebrew noun bachur commonly identifies a young man, often emphasizing youth, vigor, social group, or eligibility for a task. It can describe Saul’s impressive appearance, young men called to prophetic hope, youths whose strength fades, and young adults caught in war or judgment.
The BSB source-word alignment has 44 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include young men (8), the young men (6), their young men (5), her young men (3), My young men (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Deuteronomy 32:25. Its strongest book concentrations include Jeremiah (11), Ezekiel (5), Isaiah (5), Lamentations (5).
The Hebrew noun bachur commonly identifies a young man, often emphasizing youth, vigor, social group, or eligibility for a task. It can describe Saul’s impressive appearance, young men called to prophetic hope, youths whose strength fades, and young adults caught in war or judgment. The noun marks an age and social category; it does not establish virtue, courage, guilt, maturity, or divine favor.
Some texts celebrate youthful strength, while others grieve the destruction of young people or warn them to remember accountability. Responsible teaching resists stereotypes that treat young men as naturally reckless, disposable, sexually dangerous, spiritually shallow, or suited for violence. It also refuses to turn physical vigor into a measure of worth. Churches should give young people meaningful belonging, wise formation, protection from exploitation, and room for lament, growth, disability, and varied temperament while reading violent settings as tragedy or judgment rather than a recruitment ideal.
Bachur identifies young men across court, community, wisdom, prophetic promise, warfare, and lament. Context determines whether youth is admired, instructed, endangered, judged, or mourned, and the term never makes age identical with character.
And he had a son named Saul, choice and handsome, without equal among the Israelites—a head taller than any of the people.
Saul is introduced as a choice and handsome young man, highlighting appearance before the narrative tests his kingship and obedience.
Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment.
The Teacher invites a young man to rejoice while remembering that desire and conduct remain accountable before God.
And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
Joel’s promise includes young men seeing visions alongside sons, daughters, old men, and servants within broad Spirit-given participation.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall.
Even youths grow weary and young men stumble, contrasting human vigor with renewed strength received from the Lord.
Young men toil at millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood.
Lamentations portrays young men forced into crushing labor, naming exploitation and communal humiliation rather than heroic toughness.
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. properly, selected , i.e. a youth (often collective)
properly, selected, i.e. a youth (often collective) BDB: young man Usage: (choice) young (man), chosen, × hole.
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.
בָּחוּר is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Bachur brings young men into view without making youth a moral verdict. Saul’s introduction draws attention to exceptional appearance, but the narrative will evaluate his kingship by trust and obedience rather than height or attractiveness. Ecclesiastes allows youthful joy and exploration while placing life before God’s judgment, joining freedom with responsibility rather than suspicion.
Joel includes young men within an intergenerational outpouring of the Spirit, alongside daughters, sons, elders, and servants. Isaiah 40 punctures myths of invulnerability: even vigorous youths become tired and stumble, while hope in the Lord renews strength. Lamentations shows young men subjected to forced labor, reminding readers that youth can be exploited rather than merely blamed.
Teaching should therefore offer formation without contempt, accountability without collective suspicion, and participation without using young bodies as disposable resources. It should honor people with disabilities or limited strength, take bullying and violence seriously, resist militarized or dominance-centered masculinity, and create communities where young men can ask for help, grieve, learn, serve, and mature among all generations.
Isa.40.30
Bachur is a Hebrew masculine noun for a young man or youth and can function collectively for young men as a group. Descriptors and narrative setting, not the noun itself, supply judgments about strength, beauty, conduct, or danger.
The New Testament calls younger believers to exemplary character without despising their youth, distributes gifts across the body, and measures leadership by tested faithfulness rather than physical dominance. Jesus welcomes the overlooked and refuses status systems built on worldly power.