ma.cha.sha.vah denotes intentions or plans, including hostile schemes, considered purposes, and artistic designs.

The term most often denotes a deliberate scheme, frequently one directed harmfully against another; it also names plans and purposes in the heart or counsel, whether human or divine, and in a smaller craft-related group, designs for skilled work.

1. Hostile schemes directed against others · dominant

   In Jeremiah 11:19 the plural form occurs in the accusation that opponents had devised action against Jeremiah, followed by their stated aim to cut him off from the land of the living. In Esther 8:3 and Esther 9:25, the singular construct form identifies Haman's devised action against the Jews; in Ezekiel 38:10, a scheme arising in the heart is explicitly called evil in the APB rendering.

   Jeremiah 11:19Esther 8:3Esther 9:25Ezekiel 38:10Lamentations 3:60Proverbs 6:18
2. Deliberate plans and settled purposes · common

   The forms name plans considered alongside counsel and outcomes: Proverbs 20:18 says that plans are established by counsel, while Proverbs 16:3 links committing deeds to the LORD with their establishment. Jeremiah 29:11 uses plural forms for the LORD's stated intentions concerning the people, distinguished in the verse as welfare rather than calamity and as giving a future and hope.

   Proverbs 20:18Proverbs 16:3Proverbs 19:21Psalm 33:11Jeremiah 29:11Micah 4:12
3. Thoughts and intentions of the heart · common

   In Genesis 6:5, the construct plural is tied to the heart's every intention and described as continually evil. Isaiah 55:8 and Isaiah 55:9 set the LORD's thoughts beside human thoughts, while 1 Chronicles 28:9 says that the LORD understands the intentions of thoughts.

   Genesis 6:5Isaiah 55:8Isaiah 55:91 Chronicles 28:9Isaiah 55:7Jeremiah 4:14
4. Designs for skilled craftsmanship · occasional

   In Exodus 31:4 and Exodus 35:32, plural forms occur with work in gold, silver, and bronze, where the APB renders the clauses with designing or devising artistic designs. Exodus 35:33 uses the singular form for work involving stone-setting and wood-carving, locating the term in skilled manufacture rather than a scheme against a person.

   Exodus 31:4Exodus 35:32Exodus 35:33Exodus 35:352 Chronicles 26:15

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB variously uses “plots,” “plans,” “thoughts,” “purposes,” and “designs” in these verses. Because it is a whole-verse translation, those renderings show the surrounding clauses rather than fixed English equivalents for each occurrence.