Lexical Definition

‎יֵצֶר‎ yêtser (yay'-tser) intention ^H:N-M
from ‎יָצַר‎

frame, thing framed, imagination, mind, work.

• a form
• figuratively, conception (i.e. purpose)

1) form, framing, purpose, framework
1a) form
1a1) pottery
1a2) graven image
1a3) man (as formed from the dust)
1b) purpose, imagination, device (intellectual framework)

See Greek: πλάσμα · πονηρία

Brown-Driver-Briggs

I. ‎יֵ֫צָר‎ noun masculine^{Isa 26:3} form, framing, purpose; — ‎׳‎‎י‎ Gen 6:5 + 5 t.; ‎יִצְדוֺ‎ Deut 31:21; Hab 2:18 ‎יִצְרֵנוּ‎ Ps 103:14 —

1. pottery, formed by the potter Isa 29:16.

2. form of a graven image Hab 2:18.

3. form of man as made of the dust Psalm Hab 103:14.

4. of what is framed in the mind (compare ‎יָצַר‎ 1 c, 2 b), imagination, device, purpose: ‎יצר מחשׁב(ו)ת לב(בׅ‎ Gen 6:5 (J), 1Chr 29:18 ‎מחשׁבות‎ ‎׳‎‎י‎ 1Chr 28:9 ‎לב‎ ‎׳‎‎י‎ Gen 8:21 (J); ‎יֵצֶר‎ alone Deut 31:21 (J); ‎יֵצֶר סָמוּךְ‎ Isa 26:3 a stedfast purpose (or frame of mind). (In Late Hebrew ‎יֵצֶר‎ is common in sense of impulse: ‎יצר הטוב‎ and ‎יצר הרע‎ of good and bad tendency in man.)

Brown-Driver-Briggs References