Strong’s H4687 · Hebrew

מִצְוָה
mitsvâh
mits-vaw'

Definition

a command, whether human or divine (collectively, the Law)

Etymology

from H6680 (צָוָה);

Where the KJV renders it

  • (which was) commanded(-ment)
  • law
  • ordinance
  • precept

Every distinct English word the King James Version uses to translate this Hebrew term. The variety shows what readers in English receive across many different surface words — the same underlying word, scattered across the English Bible under different names.

What the first audience heard

A deep-dive treatment of this word is in the works. The featured chapter above carries the long form of what this word meant to its first audience.