Word study
Account
10 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: account, accounts, accounting, accounted. 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 “account” 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)
- תּוֹלְדָה tôledâhdescent, family, historytranslated this way 11 times of its 39 uses · Strong’s H8435Noun · Translated: according to the records 12, account 11, genealogies 3, generations 2Full study and all 39 verses →
Genesis 2:4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made them.
Numbers 3:1 This is the account of Aaron and Moses at the time the LORD spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai.
- עַל alheighttranslated this way 7 times of its 4,859 uses · Strong’s H5921Preposition · Translated: on 777, over 297, in 218, against 216Full study and all 3,996 verses →
Genesis 20:11 Abraham replied, “I thought to myself, ‘Surely there is no fear of God in this place. They will kill me on account of my wife.’
Genesis 26:7 But when the men of that place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister.” For he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” since he thought to himself, “The men of this place will kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is so beautiful.”
- עָבוּר âbûrcrossed, transit, accounttranslated this way 6 times of its 43 uses · Strong’s H5668Noun · Translated: sake 10, account 6, so that 6, because 4Full study and all 42 verses →
Genesis 12:16 He treated Abram well on her account, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.
1 Samuel 23:10 And David said, “O LORD, God of Israel, Your servant has heard that Saul intends to come to Keilah and destroy the city on my account.
- גָּלָל gâlâlaccounttranslated this way 5 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s H1558Noun · Translated: account 5, because of you 2, and because of 1, and because 1Full study and all 10 verses →
Genesis 12:13 Please say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake, and on account of you my life will be spared.”
Deuteronomy 1:37 The LORD was also angry with me on your account, and He said, “Not even you shall enter the land.
- דָּבָר dâbârspeech, wordtranslated this way 5 times of its 1,244 uses · Strong’s H1697Noun · Translated: word 342, words 299, acts 51, Chronicles 42Full study and all 1,120 verses →
Genesis 20:18 for on account of Abraham’s wife Sarah, the LORD had completely closed all the wombs in Abimelech’s household.
Numbers 16:49 But those who died from the plague numbered 14,700, in addition to those who had died on account of Korah.
- מַעַן maanpurpose, intenttranslated this way 5 times of its 254 uses · Strong’s H4616Conjunction · Translated: so that 90, sake 44, that 21, to 18Full study and all 240 verses →
Deuteronomy 3:26 But the LORD was angry with me on account of you, and He would not listen to me. “That is enough,” the LORD said to me. “Do not speak to Me again about this matter.
Job 18:4 You who tear yourself in anger— should the earth be forsaken on your account, or the rocks be moved from their place?
- חָשַׁב châshabthink, accounttranslated this way 5 times of its 118 uses · Strong’s H2803Verb · Translated: considered 10, regarded 7, devise 7, devised 6Full study and all 117 verses →
1 Kings 10:21 All King Solomon’s drinking cups were gold, and all the utensils of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver, because it was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon.
2 Kings 12:15 No accounting was required from the men who received the money to pay the workmen, because they acted with integrity.
- דָּרַשׁ dârashresort to, seektranslated this way 4 times of its 160 uses · Strong’s H1875Verb · Translated: seek 47, inquire 29, sought 14, search 6Full study and all 151 verses →
Genesis 9:5 And surely I will require the life of any man or beast by whose hand your lifeblood is shed. I will demand an accounting from anyone who takes the life of his fellow man:
2 Chronicles 24:22 Thus King Joash failed to remember the kindness that Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had extended to him. Instead, Joash killed Jehoiada’s son. As he lay dying, Zechariah said, “May the LORD see this and call you to account.”
- סָפַר sâpharcounttranslated this way 2 times of its 154 uses · Strong’s H5608Verb · Translated: scribe 41, count 19, told 15, declare 13Full study and all 150 verses →
Numbers 13:27 And they gave this account to Moses: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and indeed, it is flowing with milk and honey. Here is some of its fruit!
Psalm 56:8 You have taken account of my wanderings. Put my tears in Your bottle — are they not in Your book?
- פָּקַד pâqadattend to, visit, muster, appointtranslated this way 2 times of its 294 uses · Strong’s H6485Verb · Translated: punish 41, numbered 26, appointed 15, counted 14Full study and all 267 verses →
Exodus 32:34 Now go, lead the people to the place I described. Behold, My angel shall go before you. But on the day I settle accounts, I will punish them for their sin.”
Job 31:14 what will I do when God rises to judge? How will I answer when called to account?
Greek words (New Testament)
- λόγος lógosa word, speech, divine utterance, analogytranslated this way 12 times of its 311 uses · Strong’s G3056Noun · Translated: word 142, words 52, message 32, account 10Full study and all 298 verses →
Matthew 12:36 But I tell you that men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.
Luke 16:2 So he called him in to ask, ‘What is this I hear about you? Turn in an account of your management, for you cannot be manager any longer.’
- διά diáthrough, on account oftranslated this way 9 times of its 607 uses · Strong’s G1223Preposition · Translated: through 201, by 83, because of 56, for 37Full study and all 553 verses →
Matthew 14:3 Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,
Mark 6:17 For Herod himself had ordered that John be arrested and bound and imprisoned, on account of his brother Philip’s wife Herodias, whom Herod had married.
- ἐν enin, on, amongtranslated this way 5 times of its 2,393 uses · Strong’s G1722Preposition · Translated: in 1,515, by 152, with 144, at 124Full study and all 1,896 verses →
Matthew 11:6 Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of Me.”
Matthew 26:31 Then Jesus said to them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of Me. For it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
- ἕνεκα hénekafor the sake of, on account of, whereforetranslated this way 4 times of its 23 uses · Strong’s G1752Preposition · Translated: sake 9, because of 4, account 4, reason 3Full study and all 21 verses →
Matthew 10:18 On My account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.
Mark 13:9 So be on your guard. You will be delivered over to the councils and beaten in the synagogues. On My account you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them.
- ἐλλογέω ellogéōI charge to, put to one's accounttranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G1677Verb · Translated: taken into account 1, charge it to my account 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Romans 5:13 For sin was in the world before the law was given; but sin is not taken into account when there is no law.
Philemon 1:18 But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to my account.
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.