Word study
Adorn
3 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: adorned, adorn, adorns. 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 “adorn” 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)
- עָדָה âdâhpass on, advancetranslated this way 7 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s H5710Verb · Translated: adorned 4, adorn 2, prowled 1, removes 1Full study and all 10 verses →
Job 40:10 Then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor, and clothe yourself with honor and glory.
Isaiah 61:10 I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom wears a priestly headdress, as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
- פָּאַר pâarbeautify, glorifytranslated this way 3 times of its 14 uses · Strong’s H6286Verb · Translated: glorified 3, honor 2, adorn 2Full study and all 14 verses →
Psalm 149:4 For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He adorns the afflicted with salvation.
Isaiah 60:7 All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered to you; the rams of Nebaioth will serve you and go up on My altar with acceptance; I will adorn My glorious house.
- יָפָה yâphâhbe fair, beautifultranslated this way 2 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H3302Verb · Translated: beautiful 3, adorn 2, most handsome 1, delightful 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Jeremiah 4:30 And you, O devastated one, what will you do, though you dress yourself in scarlet, though you adorn yourself with gold jewelry, though you enlarge your eyes with paint? You adorn yourself in vain; your lovers despise you; they want to take your life.
Jeremiah 10:4 They adorn it with silver and gold and fasten it with hammer and nails, so that it will not totter.
Greek words (New Testament)
- κοσμέω kosméōI put into order, adorntranslated this way 6 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s G2885Verb · Translated: adorned 4, put in order 2, adorn 2, decorate 1Full study and all 10 verses →
Luke 21:5 As some of the disciples were remarking how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and consecrated gifts, Jesus said,
1 Timothy 2:9 Likewise, I want the women to adorn themselves with respectable apparel, with modesty, and with self-control, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,
- περιβάλλω peribállōI cast around, clothetranslated this way 2 times of its 23 uses · Strong’s G4016Verb · Translated: dressed 6, clothed 5, adorned 2, clothe 2Full study and all 23 verses →
Matthew 6:29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was adorned like one of these.
Luke 12:27 Consider how the lilies grow: They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was adorned like one of these.
- χρυσόω chrysóōI gild, adorn with goldtranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G5558Verb · Translated: adorned 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Revelation 17:4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. She held in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.
Revelation 18:16 saying: “Woe, woe to the great city, clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls!
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.