Word study
Accept
5 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: accept, accepted, accepting, accepts. 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 “accept” 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)
- לָקַח lâqachtaketranslated this way 32 times of its 938 uses · Strong’s H3947Verb · Translated: take 247, took 245, taken 40, get 26Full study and all 890 verses →
Genesis 14:23 that I will not accept even a thread, or a strap of a sandal, or anything that belongs to you, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’
Exodus 22:11 an oath before the LORD shall be made between the parties to determine whether or not the man has taken his neighbor’s property. The owner must accept the oath and require no restitution.
- רָצָה râtsâhbe pleased with, accept favourablytranslated this way 16 times of its 57 uses · Strong’s H7521Verb · Translated: accept 12, delight 6, pleased 5, accepted 4Full study and all 55 verses →
Leviticus 1:4 He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, so it can be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.
Deuteronomy 33:11 Bless his substance, O LORD, and accept the work of his hands. Smash the loins of those who rise against him, and of his foes so they can rise no more.”
- רָצוֹן râtsôngoodwill, favour, acceptance, willtranslated this way 4 times of its 54 uses · Strong’s H7522Noun · Translated: favor 15, delight 5, acceptable 3, acceptance 3Full study and all 54 verses →
Leviticus 22:19 must offer an unblemished male from the cattle, sheep, or goats in order for it to be accepted on your behalf.
Isaiah 56:7 I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.”
- נָשָׂא nâsâlift, take, carrytranslated this way 4 times of its 642 uses · Strong’s H5375Verb · Translated: bear 49, lift 45, lifted 41, carried 38Full study and all 601 verses →
Genesis 32:20 You are also to say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.’” For he thought, “I will appease Esau with the gift that is going before me. After that I can face him, and perhaps he will accept me.”
- קָבַל qâbalreceive, taketranslated this way 3 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s H6901Verb · Translated: accept 3, took 2Full study and all 12 verses →
Esther 4:4 When Esther’s maidens and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, the queen was overcome with distress. She sent clothes for Mordecai to wear instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them.
Job 2:10 “You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept from God only good and not adversity?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
Greek words (New Testament)
- λαμβάνω lambánōI receive, taketranslated this way 9 times of its 241 uses · Strong’s G2983Verb · Translated: receive 43, received 37, took 36, take 25Full study and all 227 verses →
John 3:11 Truly, truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, and yet you people do not accept our testimony.
2 Corinthians 11:8 I robbed other churches by accepting their support in order to serve you.
- δέχομαι déchomaiI take, receive, accept, welcometranslated this way 5 times of its 56 uses · Strong’s G1209Verb · Translated: welcomes 10, welcome 9, receives 6, receive 6Full study and all 45 verses →
Matthew 11:14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.
1 Corinthians 2:14 The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
- προσλαμβάνω proslambánōI take to myself, welcometranslated this way 4 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s G4355Verb · Translated: took him aside 3, Accept 2, accepted 2Full study and all 11 verses →
Romans 14:1 Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on his opinions.
Romans 14:3 The one who eats everything must not belittle the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted him.
- χωρέω chōréōI make room, go, receivetranslated this way 3 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s G5562Verb · Translated: accept 3Full study and all 9 verses →
Matthew 19:11 “Not everyone can accept this word,” He replied, “but only those to whom it has been given.
Matthew 19:12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way; others were made that way by men; and still others live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”
- ἀκούω akoúōI hear, listentranslated this way 2 times of its 422 uses · Strong’s G191Verb · Translated: heard 192, hear 98, listen 37, hearing 21Full study and all 394 verses →
John 6:60 On hearing it, many of His disciples said, “This is a difficult teaching. Who can accept it?”
John 8:43 Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you are unable to accept My message.
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.