Definition

properly, to hedge about (as with thorns), i.e. guard; generally, to protect, attend to, etc.

Etymology

a primitive root;

Where the KJV renders it

• beward
• be circumspect
• take heed (to self)
• keep(-er
• self)
• mark
• look narrowly
• observe
• preserve
• regard
• reserve
• save (self)
• sure
• (that lay) wait (for)
• watch(-man)

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.