Word study
Advantage
4 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “advantage”. 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 “advantage” 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)
- יָנָה yânâhsuppress (?), oppress, maltreattranslated this way 2 times of its 19 uses · Strong’s H3238Verb · Translated: oppress 5, take advantage 2, oppressor 2, oppressed 2Full study and all 19 verses →
Leviticus 25:14 If you make a sale to your neighbor or a purchase from him, you must not take advantage of each other.
Leviticus 25:17 Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God; for I am the LORD your God.
- מוֹתָר môthârgain, superioritytranslated this way 1 time of its 3 uses · Strong’s H4195Noun · Translated: profit 1, bring plenty 1, advantage 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Ecclesiastes 3:19 For the fates of both men and beasts are the same: As one dies, so dies the other — they all have the same breath. Man has no advantage over the animals, since everything is futile.
- יוֹתֵר yôthêrsuperiority, advantage, excesstranslated this way 1 time of its 9 uses · Strong’s H3148Noun · Translated: rest 1, more 1, gained 1, advantage 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Ecclesiastes 6:8 What advantage, then, has the wise man over the fool? What gain comes to the poor man who knows how to conduct himself before others?
- יִתְרוֹן yithrônadvantage, profittranslated this way 1 time of its 10 uses · Strong’s H3504Noun · Translated: gain 3, exceeds 2Full study and all 9 verses →
Ecclesiastes 7:12 For wisdom, like money, is a shelter, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.
Greek words (New Testament)
- περισσός perissósabundant, greater, vehemently, advantagetranslated this way 1 time of its 21 uses · Strong’s G4053Adjective · Translated: more 5, greater 4Full study and all 20 verses →
Romans 3:1 What, then, is the advantage of being a Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?
- λαμβάνω lambánōI receive, taketranslated this way 1 time of its 241 uses · Strong’s G2983Verb · Translated: receive 43, received 37, took 36, take 25Full study and all 227 verses →
- ἀλυσιτελής alysitelḗsprofitless, unprofitabletranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G255Adjective · Translated: advantage 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch over your souls as those who must give an account. To this end, allow them to lead with joy and not with grief, for that would be of no advantage to you.
- ὠφέλεια ōphéleiausefulness, profit, advantagetranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s G5622Noun · Translated: value 1, advantage 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Jude 1:16 These men are discontented grumblers, following after their own lusts; their mouths spew arrogance; they flatter others for their own advantage.
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.