213. uts
Lexical Summary
uts: To counsel, advise, plan

Original Word: אוּץ
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: uwts
Pronunciation: oots
Phonetic Spelling: (oots)
KJV: (make) haste(-n, -y), labor, be narrow
NASB: hasty, hasten, hurried, hurries, makes haste, narrow, pressed
Word Origin: [a primitive root]

1. to press
2. (by implication) to be close, hurry, withdraw

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
make hasten labor, be narrow

A primitive root; to press; (by implication) to be close, hurry, withdraw -- (make) haste(-n, -y), labor, be narrow.

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
a prim. root
Definition
to press, be pressed, make haste
NASB Translation
hasten (1), hasty (2), hurried (1), hurries (1), makes haste (1), narrow (1), pressed (1), try (1), urged (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
[אוּץ] verb press, be pressed, make haste

Qal Perfect אָץ Joshua 10:13; Joshua 17:15; אַ֫צְתִּי Jeremiah 17:16 Participle אָץ Proverbs 19:2 3t. Proverbs; אָצִים Exodus 5:13; —

1 press, hasten (transitive but object not expressed) Exodus 5:13 (E).

2 (intransitive) be pressed, confined, narrow Joshua 17:15 כִי אָץ לְךָ הַראֶֿפְרַיִם.

3 hasten, make haste, followed by ל + Infinitive Joshua 10:13 לֹא אָץ לָבוֺא (J, of sun); Proverbs 28:20 לְהַעֲשִׂיר ׳א; followed by מִן Jeremiah 17:16 מֵרֹעֶה ׳לֹא א; followed by ב (of particular in which one hastens) Proverbs 19:2 (בְּרגְלַיִם); Proverbs 29:20 (בִּדְבָרִים); compare also Proverbs 21:5 וְכָלאָֿץ אַח לְמַחְסוֺר.

Hiph`il Imperfect וַיָּאִיצוּ Genesis 19:15; תָּאִיצוּ Isaiah 22:4hasten (transitive) followed by ב Genesis 19:15 (J); followed by ל + Infinitive ׳אַלתָּֿא לְנַחֲמֵנִי Isaiah 22:4. (May be Qal Imperfect, & verbי׳ע.)

Topical Lexicon
Overview

אוּץ portrays both literal speed and figurative impulsiveness. When someone אוּץ in Scripture, action is driven forward—sometimes in obedience to divine warning, at other times in reckless self-interest. The verb therefore acts as a literary signal for urgency, compulsion, or impatience, and the surrounding context usually clarifies whether that urgency is wise or foolish.

Narrative occurrences

Genesis 19:15 presents the most vivid life-and-death instance. “At dawn the angels hurried Lot, saying, ‘Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away…’ ”. The haste is gracious: God hastens the righteous out of judgment.
Exodus 5:13 shows Pharaoh’s taskmasters “pressing” Israel to labor harder. Human tyranny weaponizes haste, contrasting sharply with the redemptive urgency of Genesis 19.
Joshua 10:13 records that “the sun… hastened not to set for about a whole day.” Here אוּץ is negated; creation itself slows its normal pace so that Israel may finish the divine battle. God can either accelerate or restrain time according to covenant purposes.
Joshua 17:15 recounts Joshua’s charge to the tribes of Joseph to “go up to the forest and clear ground for yourselves.” They are told to act quickly rather than complain, emphasizing responsibility over entitlement.

Wisdom literature

Proverbs concentrates almost half of the occurrences, using אוּץ to warn against precipitous choices:

Proverbs 19:2: “He who hurries his footsteps misses the mark.”

Proverbs 21:5: “Everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty.”

Proverbs 28:20: “He who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.”

Proverbs 29:20: “Do you see a man who speaks in haste? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”

In each case haste is condemned when it bypasses knowledge, diligence, faithfulness, or careful speech. The underlying theology affirms that God’s created order rewards steady obedience but exposes impulsive self-promotion.

Prophetic usage

Isaiah 22:4 and Jeremiah 17:16 employ אוּץ negatively but with subtle distinctions: Isaiah weeps over Zion’s impending judgment and refuses to be “hurried” into superficial consolation; Jeremiah protests that he has not “hurried away” from shepherding duty despite looming disaster. Both prophets reject escapist haste and instead embrace patient faithfulness amid crisis.

Themes and theological trajectory

1. Redemptive urgency versus oppressive haste: The verb can serve either salvation (Genesis 19) or slavery (Exodus 5), depending on who initiates it.
2. Dominion over time: Joshua 10 highlights God’s sovereignty to suspend or speed events, teaching that time itself submits to covenantal purposes.
3. Moral discernment: Wisdom literature transforms אוּץ into a diagnostic term. Hasty decisions reveal misplaced trust—whether in quick profit, impulsive words, or zeal divorced from knowledge.
4. Prophetic steadfastness: True servants do not flee their calling. Jeremiah’s refusal to אוּץ away models pastoral endurance in the face of opposition.

Ministry implications

• Urgency is commendable when it aligns with divine revelation (e.g., fleeing judgment or seizing missionary opportunities) but destructive when motivated by fear, greed, or impatience.
• Leaders must distinguish between God-given immediacy and flesh-driven impulsiveness; the former rescues, the latter enslaves.
• Congregational teaching on stewardship of time should draw on Proverbs’ repeated linkage between haste and poverty—material, relational, and spiritual.
• Pastoral counseling can apply Jeremiah 17:16 by encouraging perseverance rather than flight when ministry becomes difficult.
• In evangelism, Lot’s rescue illustrates compassionate haste: missionaries “urge” hearers toward salvation without manipulation, trusting God to command the timetable.

Summary

אוּץ is a concise Hebrew reminder that speed is morally ambivalent. The same verb that rushes Lot to safety can rush a fool to ruin. Scripture therefore invites believers to calibrate their pace to God’s timing—swift in obedience, slow in presumption, and unyielding in faithfulness.

Forms and Transliterations
אַ֣צְתִּי ׀ אָ֝֗ץ אָ֣ץ אָ֥ץ אָצִ֣ים אץ אצים אצתי וְאָ֖ץ וְאָ֥ץ וַיָּאִ֥יצוּ ואץ ויאיצו תָּאִ֣יצוּ תאיצו ’ā·ṣîm ’āṣ ’aṣ·tî ’āṣîm ’aṣtî atz aTzim Atzti tā’îṣū tā·’î·ṣū taItzu vaiyaItzu veAtz way·yā·’î·ṣū wayyā’îṣū wə’āṣ wə·’āṣ
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Interlinear GreekInterlinear HebrewStrong's NumbersEnglishman's Greek ConcordanceEnglishman's Hebrew ConcordanceParallel Texts
Englishman's Concordance
Genesis 19:15
HEB: הַשַּׁ֣חַר עָלָ֔ה וַיָּאִ֥יצוּ הַמַּלְאָכִ֖ים בְּל֣וֹט
NAS: dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying,
KJV: then the angels hastened Lot,
INT: morning dawned urged the angels Lot

Exodus 5:13
HEB: וְהַנֹּגְשִׂ֖ים אָצִ֣ים לֵאמֹ֑ר כַּלּ֤וּ
NAS: The taskmasters pressed them, saying,
KJV: And the taskmasters hasted [them], saying,
INT: the taskmasters pressed saying Complete

Joshua 10:13
HEB: הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וְלֹא־ אָ֥ץ לָב֖וֹא כְּי֥וֹם
NAS: of the sky and did not hasten to go
KJV: of heaven, and hasted not to go down
INT: of the sky and did not hasten to go day

Joshua 17:15
HEB: וְהָֽרְפָאִ֑ים כִּֽי־ אָ֥ץ לְךָ֖ הַר־
NAS: of Ephraim is too narrow for you.
KJV: Ephraim be too narrow for thee.
INT: the Rephaim since narrow the hill of Ephraim

Proverbs 19:2
HEB: לֹא־ ט֑וֹב וְאָ֖ץ בְּרַגְלַ֣יִם חוֹטֵֽא׃
NAS: knowledge, And he who hurries his footsteps
KJV: [it is] not good; and he that hasteth with [his] feet
INT: to be without good hurries his footsteps errs

Proverbs 21:5
HEB: לְמוֹתָ֑ר וְכָל־ אָ֝֗ץ אַךְ־ לְמַחְסֽוֹר׃
NAS: But everyone who is hasty [comes] surely
KJV: [tend] only to plenteousness; but of every one [that is] hasty only to want.
INT: to advantage everyone is hasty surely to poverty

Proverbs 28:20
HEB: רַב־ בְּרָכ֑וֹת וְאָ֥ץ לְ֝הַעֲשִׁ֗יר לֹ֣א
NAS: with blessings, But he who makes haste to be rich
KJV: with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich
INT: will abound blessings makes to be rich will not

Proverbs 29:20
HEB: חָזִ֗יתָ אִ֭ישׁ אָ֣ץ בִּדְבָרָ֑יו תִּקְוָ֖ה
NAS: a man who is hasty in his words?
KJV: thou a man [that is] hasty in his words?
INT: see A man is hasty act hope

Isaiah 22:4
HEB: בַּבֶּ֑כִי אַל־ תָּאִ֣יצוּ לְנַֽחֲמֵ֔נִי עַל־
NAS: bitterly, Do not try to comfort
KJV: bitterly, labour not to comfort
INT: weep not try to comfort concerning

Jeremiah 17:16
HEB: וַאֲנִ֞י לֹא־ אַ֣צְתִּי ׀ מֵרֹעֶ֣ה אַחֲרֶ֗יךָ
NAS: But as for me, I have not hurried away from [being] a shepherd
KJV: As for me, I have not hastened from [being] a pastor
INT: You Nor hurried from a shepherd after

10 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 213
10 Occurrences


’āṣ — 4 Occ.
’ā·ṣîm — 1 Occ.
’aṣ·tî — 1 Occ.
tā·’î·ṣū — 1 Occ.
way·yā·’î·ṣū — 1 Occ.
wə·’āṣ — 2 Occ.

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