Word study

Action

4 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: actions, action. 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 “action” or one of its forms.

Compare the Hebrew words side by side

Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)

  • עָשָׂה âsâhdo, maketranslated this way 5 times of its 2,478 uses · Strong’s H6213Verb  ·  Translated: done 292, made 265, make 143, did 112

    Genesis 18:21 I will go down to see if their actions fully justify the outcry that has reached Me. If not, I will find out.”

    Genesis 41:34 Let Pharaoh take action and appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance.

    Full study and all 2,206 verses →
  • מַעֲשֶׂה maăsehdeed, worktranslated this way 5 times of its 223 uses · Strong’s H4639Noun  ·  Translated: work 71, works 38, deeds 8, made 7

    1 Samuel 19:4 Then Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul and said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David; he has not sinned against you. In fact, his actions have been highly beneficial to you.

    Psalm 106:39 They defiled themselves by their actions and prostituted themselves by their deeds.

    Full study and all 211 verses →
  • עֲלִילָה ălîlâhwantonness, deedtranslated this way 3 times of its 24 uses · Strong’s H5949Noun  ·  Translated: deeds 12, actions 3, shameful conduct 2, acts 2

    1 Samuel 2:3 Do not boast so proudly, or let arrogance come from your mouth, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by Him actions are weighed.

    Ezekiel 14:22 Yet, behold, some survivors will be left in it — sons and daughters who will be brought out. They will come out to you, and when you see their conduct and actions, you will be comforted regarding the disaster I have brought upon Jerusalem — all that I have brought upon it.

    Full study and all 24 verses →
  • מַעֲלָל maălâldeed, practicetranslated this way 2 times of its 40 uses · Strong’s H4611Noun  ·  Translated: deeds 25, works 3, actions 2

    Proverbs 20:11 Even a young man is known by his actions— whether his conduct is pure and upright.

    Jeremiah 35:15 Again and again I have sent you all My servants the prophets, proclaiming: ‘Turn now, each of you, from your wicked ways, and correct your actions. Do not go after other gods to serve them. Live in the land that I have given to you and your fathers.’ But you have not inclined your ear or listened to Me.

    Full study and all 40 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • ἔργον érgonwork, labor, action, deedtranslated this way 11 times of its 163 uses · Strong’s G2041Noun  ·  Translated: works 51, deeds 44, work 32, actions 6

    Matthew 11:19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at this glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is vindicated by her actions.”

    Luke 24:19 “What things?” He asked. “The events involving Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. “This man was a prophet, powerful in speech and action before God and all the people.

    Full study and all 153 verses →
How to study a word well
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
  4. 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.
  5. See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
  6. Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
  7. 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.