Tov: An Explosive Word | And Sons Magazine

Tov is an almost ludicrously small but infinitely expansive Hebrew word. Today’s native English speakers may be vaguely familiar with tov only because of hearing the Jewish/Yiddish saying “Mazel Tov” (“Good Luck” in English), but it’s arguably one of the richest words out there. The explosive power in tov can be felt right from the beginning.

Tov first arrives on the scene in the creation story—the first story detailed in scripture. It’s the word God uses to describe what God sees after completing various acts of creation. God’s use of tov in Day 3 of creation does a spectacular job of unveiling for us what tov is.

“Then God said, ‘Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.’ And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good [tov].” (Genesis 1:11–12 NRSV)

In these two verses there is a beautiful progression of movement: God calls forth the seeds he has embedded in creation, creation brings forth those seeds with the seeds of future life in them, and God sees the process as tov.

Metaphorically speaking, if we are trees and we drop seeds but none of them grow...no tov. If we drop seeds and some of them grow and become trees of their own but none of them have seeds of their own...no tov. The reason why the plants and trees must have seeds inside of them is so that in due time those plants and trees will drop their seeds into the earth and further the cycle of creating life.

So what would God call good? Anything that produces life and contains the potential for more life within it. Think of a seed becoming an orchard. Or, more practically speaking, think of a conversation or story that stirred you to bring forth life from inside of you and offer it in a way that had the potential to call forth life in another.

Put simply, tov occurs when our friend with the ginormous red beard calls out the courage in kids by training them to jib on rails, and those kids then in turn offer encouragement to their peers as they help them perfect their boarding tricks. Tov also occurs when that same friend inspires others to praise God as they witness him painting during worship times at fellowship gatherings.

Tov occurs yet again when our friend Becky speaks to countless crowds of churchgoers who experience visceral transformation as she teaches on the beauty, wildness, and power of sex when it’s embraced in a mutually honoring way and in the context of a covenant.