Word study
Across
6 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “across”. 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 “across” 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)
- עֵבֶר êberregion across or beyond, sidetranslated this way 15 times of its 80 uses · Strong’s H5676Noun · Translated: beyond 23, across 15, side 11, other side 8Full study and all 76 verses →
Genesis 50:10 When they reached the threshing floor of Atad, which is across the Jordan, they lamented and wailed loudly, and Joseph mourned for his father seven days.
Numbers 22:1 Then the Israelites traveled on and camped in the plains of Moab near the Jordan, across from Jericho.
- 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 9:23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment and placed it across their shoulders, and walking backward, they covered their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned away so that they did not see their father’s nakedness.
Exodus 10:14 The locusts swarmed across the land and settled over the entire territory of Egypt. Never before had there been so many locusts, and never again will there be.
- עָבַר âbarpass over, through, by, pass ontranslated this way 7 times of its 542 uses · Strong’s H5674Verb · Translated: pass 62, crossed 57, cross 52, passed 35Full study and all 487 verses →
Genesis 32:10 I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant. Indeed, with only my staff I came across the Jordan, but now I have become two camps.
Numbers 32:30 But if they do not arm themselves and go across with you, then they must accept their possession among you in the land of Canaan.”
- יְרִיחוֹ YerîchôJerichotranslated this way 7 times of its 57 uses · Strong’s H3405Noun · Translated: Jericho 46, across from jericho 7, especially jericho 1, near jericho 1Full study and all 53 verses →
Numbers 26:3 So on the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho, Moses and Eleazar the priest issued the instruction,
Numbers 26:63 These were the ones numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest when they counted the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho.
- נֶגֶד negedwhat is conspicuous or in fronttranslated this way 5 times of its 142 uses · Strong’s H5048Preposition · Translated: before 24, before me 11, opposite 11, presence 9Full study and all 135 verses →
2 Kings 3:22 When they got up early in the morning, the sun was shining on the water, and it looked as red as blood to the Moabites across the way.
2 Chronicles 7:6 The priests stood at their posts, as did the Levites with the musical instruments of the LORD, which King David had made for giving thanks to the LORD and with which David had offered praise, saying, “For His loving devotion endures forever.” Across from the Levites, the priests sounded trumpets, and all the Israelites were standing.
- אֶרֶץ eretsearth, landtranslated this way 4 times of its 2,375 uses · Strong’s H776Noun · Translated: land 1,483, earth 564, ground 119, lands 41Full study and all 2,120 verses →
Genesis 9:7 But as for you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out across the earth and multiply upon it.”
Exodus 10:13 So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and throughout that day and night the LORD sent an east wind across the land. By morning the east wind had brought the locusts.
Greek words (New Testament)
- πέραν péranover, beyondtranslated this way 3 times of its 23 uses · Strong’s G4008Preposition · Translated: other side 12, beyond 7, across 3, region beyond 1Full study and all 23 verses →
John 6:17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was already dark, and Jesus had not yet gone out to them.
John 10:40 Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had first been baptizing, and He stayed there.
- ἐπί epíon, to, against, on the basis of, attranslated this way 2 times of its 784 uses · Strong’s G1909Preposition · Translated: on 288, to 87, in 83, at 48Full study and all 696 verses →
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.