Word study

Agree

4 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: agreed, agree, agrees, agreeing. 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 “agree” 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)

  • שָׁמַע shâmaheartranslated this way 4 times of its 1,132 uses · Strong’s H8085Verb  ·  Translated: heard 311, hear 253, listen 218, obey 60

    Genesis 23:16 Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the standard of the merchants.

    Genesis 34:17 But if you will not agree to be circumcised, then we will take our sister and go.”

    Full study and all 1,063 verses →
  • יָאַל yâalshew willingness, be pleased, determine, undertaketranslated this way 3 times of its 18 uses · Strong’s H2974Verb  ·  Translated: determined 4, please 3, ventured 2, agreed 2

    Exodus 2:21 Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage.

    Judges 17:11 and agreed to stay with him, and the young man became like a son to Micah.

    Full study and all 18 verses →
  • אָמַר âmarutter, saytranslated this way 2 times of its 4,555 uses · Strong’s H559Verb  ·  Translated: said 1,531, says 576, say 352, replied 341Full study and all 3,827 verses →
  • אוּת ûthconsent, agreetranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H225Verb  ·  Translated: consent 2, agree 1, agreed 1

    Genesis 34:22 But only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us and be one people: if all our men are circumcised as they are.

    2 Kings 12:8 So the priests agreed that they would not receive money from the people and that they would not repair the temple themselves.

    Full study and all 4 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • συμφωνέω symphōnéōI agree withtranslated this way 5 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s G4856Verb  ·  Translated: agree 4, agreed 1, match 1

    Matthew 18:19 Again, I tell you truly that if two of you on the earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven.

    Acts 5:9 “How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord?” Peter replied. “Look, the feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

    Full study and all 6 verses →
  • συντίθεμαι syntíthemaiI make an agreement, agreetranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G4934Verb  ·  Translated: agreed 2, already determined 1, concurred 1

    Luke 22:5 They were delighted and agreed to give him money.

    Acts 23:20 He answered, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul to the Sanhedrin tomorrow on the pretext of acquiring more information about him.

    Full study and all 4 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.