Perfection in the OT

There are three main words in the Old Testament which are often translated with some form of  “perfect.”  Strongs # 08549 is first used to describe Noah (Gen. 6:9).

The word is  often translated as “without blemish/spot,”   “perfect,” “upright/ly,"  “blameless.” It appears 85 times in the OT according to a computer survey done with the Online Bible.

The word is usually used with reference to the condition of sacrificial animals. Noah, Abraham and David are either commanded to be perfect or described as such using this word in the following passages:

Ge 6:9 These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless <08549> in his time; Noah walked with God.

Ge 17:1 Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless <08549>;.

2 Sam 22:23 "For all His ordinances were before me, And as for His statutes, I did not depart from them.

24 "I was also blameless <08549> toward Him, And I kept myself from my iniquity.

25 "Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to my cleanness before His eyes.

26 "With the kind You show Yourself kind, With the blameless <08549> You show Yourself blameless <08552>.

<8552> is a root word from which <08549> is derived. <8552> is used a few times in the sense of <08549>.

Jacob and Job are described by Strong’s # 08535. Like the word <08549> which is used with reference to Abraham, Noah, and David, # 08535 is derived from the root word <08532>. The basic idea of this word has to do with something being finished, used up, or completed.

Ge 25:27 And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain <08535> man, dwelling in tents. Note that Jacob is described as perfect because he lived in tents.

Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect <08535> and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

This word is used in parallelism with the Hebrew word for justify in the following verse:

Job 9:20 If I justify <06663> myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect <08535>, it shall also prove me perverse.

The books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles use an entirely different word for “perfect.” Numerous individuals are described with that word, including, David, Asa, Hezekiah.

1Ki 15:14 But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa’s heart was perfect <08003> with the LORD all his days.

2Ki 20:3 I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect <08003> heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.

Although David prayed that Solomon would have a perfect heart, he failed to maintain one throughout his life:

1Ch 28:9 And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect <08003> heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

1Ki 11:4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect <08003> with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.