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Bible Dictionaries
Together
Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words
or A. Adverbs.
Yachad (יַחַד, Strong's #3162), “together; alike; all at once; all together.” Yachad appears about 46 times and in all periods of biblical Hebrew.
Used as an adverb, the word emphasizes a plurality in unity. In some contexts the connotation is on community in action. Goliath challenged the Israelites, saying: “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together” (1 Sam. 17:10). Sometimes the emphasis is on commonality of place: “… And it came to pass, that they which remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together” (1 Sam. 11:11). The word can be used of being in the same place at the same time: “And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the Lord: and they fell all seven together …” (2 Sam. 21:9). In other passages yachad means “at the same time”: “O that my grief were thoroughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together!” (Job 6:2).
In many poetic contexts yachad is a near synonym of kullam, “altogether.” Yachad, however, is more emphatic, meaning “all at once, all together.” In Deut. 33:5 (the first biblical occurrence) the word is used emphatically, meaning “all together,” or “all of them together”: “And he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together.” Cf.: “Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity” (Ps. 62:9). In such contexts yachad emphasizes the totality of a given group (cf. Ps. 33:15). Yachad also sometimes emphasizes that things are “alike” or that the same thing will happen to all of them: “The fool and the stupid alike must perish” (Ps. 49:10, RSV).
Yachad (יַחַד, Strong's #3162), “all alike; equally; all at once; all together.” The second adverbial form, yachdaw appears about 92 times. It, too, speaks of community in action (Deut. 25:11), in place (Gen. 13:6—the first biblical appearance of this form), and in time (Ps. 4:8). In other places it, too, is synonymous with kullam, “altogether.” In Isa. 10:8 yachdaw means “all alike,” or “equally”: “Are not my princes altogether kings?” In Exod. 19:8 this word implies “all at once” as well as “all together”: “And all the people answered together, and said.…” The sense “alike” appears in Deut. 12:22: “Even as the roebuck and the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat them: the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike.”
B. Verb.
Yachad means “to be united, meet.” This verb appears in the Bible 4 times and has cognates in Aramaic, Ugaritic, Arabic, Ethiopic, and Akkadian. One occurrence is in Gen. 49:6: “O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honor, be not thou united.…”
C. Nouns.
Yâchı̂yd (יָחִיד, Strong's #3173), “very self, only; solitary; lonely.” This word appears 12 times as a noun or as an adjective. Yâchı̂yd has cognates in Ugaritic, Aramaic, and Syriac. The word can be used meaning “self, my soul”: “Deliver my soul from the sword, my life [NASB, “only life”; KJV, “darling”] from the power of the dog” (Ps. 22:20, RSV; cf. Ps. 35:17).
Sometimes this word means “only”: “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest …” (Gen. 22:2—the first biblical occurrence of the word). In two passages this word means “solitary” or “lonely”: “Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate [RSV, “lonely”] and afflicted” (Ps. 25:16; cf. Ps. 68:6).
The noun yâchı̂yd occurs only once to mean “unitedness.” David said to the Benjaminites: “If ye be come peaceably unto me to help me, mine heart shall be knit unto you [I am ready to become one (or united) with you] …” (1 Chron. 12:17). This usage of the word as a substantive is unusual.
These files are public domain.
Vines, W. E., M. A. Entry for 'Together'. Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/vot/t/together.html. 1940.
