# H3173 - yachid

<!-- type: lexicon | created: 2026-04-29 | updated: 2026-04-29 -->

**Strong's:** [H3173](https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3173/) · BLB lookup
**Pronunciation:** yaw-kheed'
**Part of speech:** adjective (frequently substantival)
**Frequency:** 12 occurrences in the Hebrew Bible
**LXX equivalents:** ἀγαπητός (*agapētos*, "beloved", the LXX's striking translation in [Genesis 22](/codex/genesis-22/) and elsewhere), μονογενής (*monogenēs*, "only-begotten / unique", [Judges 11:34](/codex/judges-11-34/); [Psalm 22:21](/codex/psalms-22-21/); 25:16; 35:17)

## Semantic range (Brown-Driver-Briggs)

1. **Only, sole**, uniqueness in number; the only-one-of-its-kind. Used predominantly of an only child ([Genesis 22:2](/codex/genesis-22-2/), [12](/codex/genesis-22-12/), [16](/codex/genesis-22-16/); [Judges 11:34](/codex/judges-11-34/); [Jeremiah 6:26](/codex/jeremiah-6-26/); [Amos 8:10](/codex/amos-8-10/); [Zechariah 12:10](/codex/zechariah-12-10/)).
2. **Solitary, alone**, derived sense of aloneness / isolation ([Psalm 25:16](/codex/psalms-25-16/); 68:6).
3. **Beloved** (derived from "only" by extension, the only one is the cherished one), the LXX's *agapētos* rendering captures this affective sense.
4. **Life / one's only soul** (in poetic body / soul parallelism), [Psalm 22:21](/codex/psalms-22-21/); 35:17 (*yəḥidāti*, "my only one" / "my unique soul / life"), paralleled with *naphshi* ("my soul").

## Theological force

*Yachid* is the Hebrew lexeme for **uniqueness as solitary numerical singularity**. It is the natural Hebrew word for "absolute one, only-one." This makes it the deliberately-chosen counterfactual against which the [Deuteronomy 6.4](/codex/deuteronomy-6-4/) Shema is read by Christian Trinitarians.

### Function 1, Moses did NOT use *yachid*; he used *echad*

The Shema declares *YHWH ʾeloheinu YHWH ʾechad*, "the LORD our God, the LORD is *echad*", using [H0259 - echad](/codex/h0259-echad/) ("one"), not *yachid* ("only one / solitary"). The lexical contrast:

- **[H0259 - echad](/codex/h0259-echad/)**, "one", the cardinal number; can name compound unities ([Genesis 2:24](/codex/genesis-2-24/), "one flesh" of two persons; [Numbers 13:23](/codex/numbers-13-23/), "one cluster" of grapes; [Ezra 3:1](/codex/ezra-3-1/), "one man" naming a unified people)
- **H3173 *yachid***, "only / solitary", bare numerical singularity admitting no internal complexity; the natural Hebrew word for "uniquely alone"

If Moses had wanted to assert Tritarian-impossible bare singularity, *yachid* was the available lexeme. He chose *echad*. The Christian Trinitarian reading argues, not that the Shema *teaches* Trinity, but that the Shema *does not preclude* internal differentiation in the divine being, and the lexical choice of *echad* over *yachid* is part of the evidence.

This is precisely why **Maimonides's Thirteen Principles** (12th c.) deliberately substitutes *yachid* for *echad* in the second principle: *Ani maʾamin… she-ha-borēʾ… yachid v-ein yachidut k'mōthō b-shum panim*, "I believe… that the Creator is *yachid*, and there is no *yachidut* (uniqueness) like His in any way." The substitution is itself evidence: a major medieval Jewish authority found the original *echad* of the Shema *insufficiently* exclusivist for his purposes and reached for the unambiguous bare-singularity word *yachid*. The Christian reading takes Maimonides's substitution as an admission against interest: if *echad* were itself bare-singular, Maimonides would have had no need to substitute. See [H0259 - echad](/codex/h0259-echad/) for the full argument.

### Function 2, *Yachid* and the offered son: [Genesis 22](/codex/genesis-22/) (the *Akedah*)

*Yachid* is the dominant lexeme of [Genesis 22:2](/codex/genesis-22-2/), [12](/codex/genesis-22-12/), [16](/codex/genesis-22-16/), the binding-of-Isaac narrative. Three times God commands and commends Abraham regarding his *yachid* son:

- **[Genesis 22:2](/codex/genesis-22-2/)**, *qach-na ʾet-binka ʾet-yəḥidkā ʾasher-ʾahavtā ʾet-Yitzchaq*, "take now your son, your *yachid* whom you love, Isaac"
- **[Genesis 22:12](/codex/genesis-22-12/)**, *velo chasakta ʾet-binka ʾet-yəḥidkā mimmenni*, "you have not withheld your son, your *yachid*, from Me"
- **[Genesis 22:16](/codex/genesis-22-16/)**, *ʾasher ʿasita ʾet-haddabar hazze velo chasakta ʾet-binka ʾet-yəḥidkā*, "because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your *yachid*"

The LXX renders *yachid* in all three verses as **ἀγαπητός** (*agapētos*, "beloved"), a striking choice that activates the affective sense ("the only-one is the cherished one") and ties the *yachid* to the rich Greek vocabulary of beloved-only-son.

The NT picks up this LXX-rendering decisively in the **baptism and transfiguration declarations** of Jesus: *houtos estin ho hyios mou ho agapētos*, "this is My Son, the *Beloved*" ([Matthew 3:17](/codex/matthew-3-17/); 17:5; [Mark 1:11](/codex/mark-1-11/); 9:7; [Luke 3:22](/codex/luke-3-22/); 9:35 with *eklelegmenos*; [2 Peter 1:17](/codex/2-peter-1-17/)). The *agapētos* echoes the LXX of [Genesis 22](/codex/genesis-22/), deliberately framing Jesus as the antitype of Isaac, the *yachid* son whom the Father gives up. The Akedah typology runs through the NT ([Hebrews 11:17-19](/codex/hebrews-11-17-19/); [James 2:21-23](/codex/james-2-21-23/); [Romans 8:32](/codex/romans-8-32/), "He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all" echoing [Gen 22:12](/codex/genesis-22-12/), [16](/codex/genesis-22-16/)).

[G3439 - monogenes](/codex/g3439-monogenes/) (*monogenēs*, "only-begotten / unique") in [John 1:14](/codex/john-1-14/), [18](/codex/john-1-18/); 3:16, 18; [1 John 4:9](/codex/1-john-4-9/) inherits the same LXX-tradition: *monogenēs* renders *yachid* in [Judges 11:34](/codex/judges-11-34/) (Jephthah's daughter) and the lament-psalms; John's "*ho monogenēs hyios*" of the Father deliberately deploys the LXX-equivalent of *yachid* to name Jesus as the unique / beloved / only Son. The intertext binds [Genesis 22](/codex/genesis-22/)'s offered *yachid* to [John 3:16](/codex/john-3-16/)'s "God so loved the world that He gave His *monogenē hyion*."

### Function 3, The pierced *yachid*: [Zechariah 12:10](/codex/zechariah-12-10/)

[Zechariah 12.10](/codex/zechariah-12-10/) uses *yachid* in a christologically dense text: *vehibbiṭu ʾēlay ʾēt ʾasher-daqarū və-saphədū ʿalāyw kə-misped ʿal-hayyāḥid*, "they will look upon Me whom they pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for the *yachid*." The mourning-analogy explicitly invokes the depth of grief reserved for an only-son. [John 19:37](/codex/john-19-37/) quotes [Zechariah 12:10](/codex/zechariah-12-10/) of the crucified Jesus, with the *yachid* mourning-analogy still hovering implicitly. [Revelation 1:7](/codex/revelation-1-7/) reprises the same Zechariah text, *opsetai auton pas ophthalmos kai hoitines auton exekentēsan, kai kopsontai ep' auton pasai hai phylai tēs gēs*, in the eschatological return.

### Function 4, Affective / poetic uses

- **[Judges 11:34](/codex/judges-11-34/)**, Jephthah's daughter is his *yachid*, only child, paid as the rash-vow's price (LXX *monogenēs*)
- **[Jeremiah 6:26](/codex/jeremiah-6-26/)**, "make for yourself mourning of a *yachid*", most-bitter lament
- **[Amos 8:10](/codex/amos-8-10/)**, "I will make it like a mourning for a *yachid*", eschatological judgment-lament
- **[Psalm 22:20-21](/codex/psalms-22-20-21/)**, *naphshi… yəḥidāti*, "my soul… my *yachid*", body-soul parallelism, the speaker's *only* / *unique* life imperilled (LXX *monogenēs*)
- **[Psalm 25:16](/codex/psalms-25-16/)**, *ki-yachid… ʾāni*, "for I am *yachid* and afflicted", solitary-aloneness sense
- **[Psalm 35:17](/codex/psalms-35-17/)**, *yəḥidāti mi-kəphirim*, "my *yachid* from the lions"
- **[Psalm 68:6](/codex/psalms-68-6/)**, *moshiv yechidim baytah*, "[God] sets the *solitary* (plural) in families"
- **[Proverbs 4:3](/codex/proverbs-4-3/)**, Solomon describes himself as having been *yachid* before his mother

## Notable verses

### The Akedah cluster ([Genesis 22](/codex/genesis-22/))

- **[Genesis 22:2](/codex/genesis-22-2/), [12](/codex/genesis-22-12/), [16](/codex/genesis-22-16/)**, Isaac as *yachid*; thrice-repeated for typological emphasis
- **[Hebrews 11:17](/codex/hebrews-11-17/)**, Abraham offered up "his *monogenē*" (LXX-echo)
- **[Romans 8:32](/codex/romans-8-32/)**, "He who did not spare His own Son" ([Gen 22:12](/codex/genesis-22-12/) echo)

### Christological monogenes (Johannine)

- **[John 1:14](/codex/john-1-14/)**, *monogenous para patros*, only-Son from the Father
- **[John 1:18](/codex/john-1-18/)**, *monogenēs theos* (or *monogenēs hyios*, textual variant)
- **[John 3:16](/codex/john-3-16/)**, *ton hyion ton monogenē*
- **[John 3:18](/codex/john-3-18/)**, *tou monogenous hyiou*
- **[1 John 4:9](/codex/1-john-4-9/)**, God sent *ton hyion autou ton monogenē*

### The pierced *yachid*

- **[Zechariah 12.10](/codex/zechariah-12-10/)**, the mourning *kə-misped ʿal-hayyāḥid*
- **[John 19:37](/codex/john-19-37/)**, citation of [Zech 12:10](/codex/zechariah-12-10/)
- **[Revelation 1:7](/codex/revelation-1-7/)**, eschatological reprise

### Solitary / lament

- **[Judges 11:34](/codex/judges-11-34/)**, Jephthah's daughter
- **[Jeremiah 6:26](/codex/jeremiah-6-26/); [Amos 8:10](/codex/amos-8-10/)**, mourning-of-a-*yachid*
- **[Psalms 22:20-21](/codex/psalms-22-20-21/); 25:16; 35:17; 68:6**, affective uses

## Patristic / scholarly note

The patristic interpretation of [Genesis 22](/codex/genesis-22/) as a *type* of the Father's offering of the Son is universal in the early church. Melito of Sardis (*Peri Pascha*, c. AD 165), Irenaeus (*Against Heresies* IV.5.4), Tertullian (*Against the Jews* 10), Origen (*Homilies on Genesis* 8), Augustine (*City of God* 16.32) all treat Isaac as the *figura* of Christ and Abraham's not-withholding (*velo chasakta*) as the prototype of [Romans 8:32](/codex/romans-8-32/). The lexical bridge is the *yachid* / *agapētos* / *monogenēs* equivalence, a single conceptual line running from Hebrew *yachid* through LXX *agapētos* / *monogenēs* into the NT's Christological declarations.

The Hebrew-Christian dialogue over the Shema ([Deut 6:4](/codex/deuteronomy-6-4/)) and *yachid* / *echad* has been intense since the Middle Ages. The standard Jewish anti-Trinitarian argument (Maimonides; Rashi; modern apologetics e.g. Tovia Singer) cites the Shema's *echad* as proof of bare-singular monotheism. The standard Christian reply ([Justin Martyr](/codex/justin-martyr/), *Dialogue with Trypho* 56; Athanasius; medieval apologetics; modern: Michael Brown, *Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus* vol. 2; Daniel Boyarin, *The Jewish Gospels*; Michael Heiser, *The Unseen Realm*) points to the lexical contrast with *yachid* and to the existence of pre-Christian Jewish Two-Powers traditions as licensing internal-differentiation readings of *echad*. Maimonides's substitution of *yachid* for *echad* in the Thirteen Principles is the focal exhibit. Christians do not claim [Deuteronomy 6:4](/codex/deuteronomy-6-4/) *teaches* Trinity, only that the lexical choice is consistent with what later revelation will disclose. See [H0259 - echad](/codex/h0259-echad/) for the full argument; [Trinity](/codex/trinity/) for the doctrinal exposition; [Two Powers in Heaven](/codex/two-powers-in-heaven/) for the Second Temple background.

## Verses in this codex

_See Obsidian's backlinks pane for every verse page linking here._ Top-cited references using *yachid*: [Genesis 22:2](/codex/genesis-22-2/) (when present), [Zechariah 12.10](/codex/zechariah-12-10/), [Deuteronomy 6.4](/codex/deuteronomy-6-4/) (where the lexical contrast to *echad* matters).

## See also

- [H0259 - echad](/codex/h0259-echad/), *echad* (one), the Shema's actual word, lexically contrasted with *yachid*
- [G3439 - monogenes](/codex/g3439-monogenes/), *monogenēs* (only-begotten), LXX rendering of *yachid* ([Judges 11](/codex/judges-11/); Psalms)
- G0027 - agapētos, *agapētos* (beloved), LXX rendering in [Genesis 22](/codex/genesis-22/)
- [Akedah](/codex/genesis-22/), the binding-of-Isaac narrative as Christological type
- [Trinity](/codex/trinity/), the doctrine *echad* (not *yachid*) is consistent with
- [Genesis 22](/codex/genesis-22/), [Zechariah 12.10](/codex/zechariah-12-10/), [Deuteronomy 6.4](/codex/deuteronomy-6-4/), locus classicus