to prosper
tsa.lech describes a way, undertaking, person, or purpose achieving a favorable outcome or failing to do so.
The verb most often marks whether a journey, campaign, work, or intended course reaches a favorable outcome; it can also describe people flourishing in their circumstances and an object or purpose proving effective for its intended end. The same clauses also express failure, including undertakings that will not succeed and items that are of no use.
Senses in use
-
Success in a journey, work, or undertaking · dominant
The term commonly concerns the outcome of a course of action: in Genesis 24:42 the active participle occurs in a request concerning the way being traveled, and the APB renders the clause "prosper the way on which I am going." In Joshua 1:8 it is attached to "your way," while in 2 Chronicles 31:21 it follows every work Hezekiah began; in Jeremiah 32:5 it is negated in connection with fighting the Chaldeans.
-
Flourishing or advancing in one's circumstances · common
In several clauses the verb describes a person's favorable condition or advancement rather than naming a single task. Genesis 39:2 and Genesis 39:23 use active participles in statements that the LORD was with Joseph, and the APB presents him as "a prosperous man" and what he did as prospering; 1 Chronicles 29:23 similarly follows Solomon's accession with "He prospered."
-
Effectiveness for an intended purpose · occasional
Some Qal clauses ask whether a thing or purpose will prove effective. Ezekiel 15:4 asks whether fire-scorched wood "Will it prosper for work?" and Jeremiah 13:7 says the ruined girdle "did not prosper for anything." Isaiah 55:11 places the verb with the word sent out to do what God delights in.
In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB variously uses "prosper," "succeed," "success," and "prosperous" in clauses containing the term. These renderings confirm the clauses' favorable or unsuccessful outcomes without assigning each English expression mechanically to the Hebrew form.