Word study
Able
7 Hebrew and 6 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “able”. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “able” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- יָכֹל yâkôlbe able, have power, prevail, enduretranslated this way 17 times of its 116 uses · Strong’s H3201Verb · Translated: able 17, could 11, prevail 10, can 9Full study and all 113 verses →
Genesis 15:5 And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”
Exodus 18:23 If you follow this advice and God so directs you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people can go home in peace.”
- יְכֵל yekêlbe abletranslated this way 5 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s H3202Verb · Translated: able 5, can 4, you can 1, but they could 1Full study and all 10 verses →
Daniel 2:47 The king said to Daniel, “Your God is truly the God of gods and Lord of kings, the Revealer of Mysteries, since you were able to reveal this mystery.”
Daniel 3:17 If the God whom we serve exists, then He is able to deliver us from the blazing fiery furnace and from your hand, O king.
- יָצַב yâtsabset or station oneself, take one's standtranslated this way 3 times of its 47 uses · Strong’s H3320Verb · Translated: stand 10, stood 7, present 7, able to stand 3Full study and all 44 verses →
Deuteronomy 7:24 He will hand their kings over to you, and you will wipe out their names from under heaven. No one will be able to stand against you; you will annihilate them.
Job 41:10 No one is so fierce as to rouse Leviathan. Then who is able to stand against Me?
- יָד yâdhandtranslated this way 3 times of its 1,403 uses · Strong’s H3027Noun · Translated: hand 664, hands 349, through 64, power 22Full study and all 1,290 verses →
- עָצָר âtsârrestrain, retaintranslated this way 2 times of its 44 uses · Strong’s H6113Verb · Translated: halted 6, slave 5, shut 4, confined 3Full study and all 44 verses →
1 Chronicles 29:14 But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from You, and from Your own hand we have given to You.
2 Chronicles 2:6 But who is able to build a house for Him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain Him? Who then am I, that I should build a house for Him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before Him?
- כֹּחַ kôachstrength, powertranslated this way 2 times of its 118 uses · Strong’s H3581Noun · Translated: strength 54, power 35, produce 2, powerless 2Full study and all 114 verses →
Ezra 10:13 But there are many people here, and it is the rainy season. We are not able to stay out in the open. Nor is this the work of one or two days, for we have transgressed greatly in this matter.
Daniel 11:15 Then the king of the North will come, build up a siege ramp, and capture a fortified city. The forces of the South will not stand; even their best troops will not be able to resist.
- כְּהַל kehalbe abletranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H3546Verb · Translated: able 2, but they could 2Full study and all 4 verses →
Daniel 2:26 The king responded to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to tell me what I saw in the dream, as well as its interpretation?”
Daniel 4:18 This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Now, Belteshazzar, tell me the interpretation, because none of the wise men of my kingdom can interpret it for me. But you are able, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.”
Greek words (New Testament)
- δύναμαι dýnamaiI am powerful, am abletranslated this way 21 times of its 205 uses · Strong’s G1410Verb · Translated: can 52, cannot 50, able 21, could 16Full study and all 196 verses →
Matthew 9:28 After Jesus had entered the house, the blind men came to Him. “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” He asked. “Yes, Lord,” they answered.
Luke 21:15 For I will give you speech and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.
- ἰσχύω ischýōI am strong, abletranslated this way 5 times of its 28 uses · Strong’s G2480Verb · Translated: able 5, unable 5, could 3, healthy 2Full study and all 28 verses →
Matthew 26:40 Then Jesus returned to the disciples and found them sleeping. “Were you not able to keep watch with Me for one hour?” He asked Peter.
Mark 14:37 Then Jesus returned and found them sleeping. “Simon, are you asleep?” He asked. “Were you not able to keep watch for one hour?
- δυνατός dynatóspowerful, able, possibletranslated this way 4 times of its 31 uses · Strong’s G1415Adjective · Translated: possible 12, able 4, powerful 3, strong 3Full study and all 31 verses →
Romans 4:21 being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised.
2 Timothy 1:12 For this reason, even though I suffer as I do, I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.
- δοκιμάζω dokimázōI put to the test, prove, examinetranslated this way 2 times of its 22 uses · Strong’s G1381Verb · Translated: test 4, interpret 2Full study and all 20 verses →
Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
Philippians 1:10 so that you may be able to test and prove what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
- δυνατέω dynatéōI am powerful, abletranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G1414Verb · Translated: able 2, powerful 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Romans 14:4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
- διδακτικός didaktikósable to teach, apt to teachtranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G1317Adjective · Translated: able to teach 2Full study and all 2 verses →
1 Timothy 3:2 An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
2 Timothy 2:24 And a servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome, but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, and forbearing.
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.