Word study

Alert

2 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “alert”. 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 “alert” 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)

  • קָשַׁב qâshabincline, attendtranslated this way 1 time of its 46 uses · Strong’s H7181Verb  ·  Translated: listen 12, pay attention 10, Attend 6, incline 2

    Isaiah 21:7 When he sees chariots with teams of horsemen, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, he must be alert, fully alert.”

    Full study and all 45 verses →
  • קֶשֶׁב qeshebattentivenesstranslated this way 1 time of its 3 uses · Strong’s H7182Noun  ·  Translated: paid attention 1, response 1, alert 1

    Isaiah 21:7 When he sees chariots with teams of horsemen, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, he must be alert, fully alert.”

    Full study and all 3 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • γρηγορεύω grēgoreúōI am awake, am vigilant, watchtranslated this way 3 times of its 22 uses · Strong’s G1127Verb  ·  Translated: keep watch 9, alert 3, Watch 3, Wake 2

    Acts 20:31 Therefore be alert and remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

    1 Corinthians 16:13 Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Be men of courage. Be strong.

    Full study and all 22 verses →
  • ἀγρυπνέω agrypnéōI am awaketranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G69Verb  ·  Translated: stay alert 2, keep watch 1, watch 1

    Mark 13:33 Be on your guard and stay alert! For you do not know when the appointed time will come.

    Ephesians 6:18 Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.

    Full study and all 4 verses →
  • οὕτω hoútōthus, so, in this mannertranslated this way 1 time of its 163 uses · Strong’s G3779Adverb  ·  Translated: so 67, way 33, this 10, like 8

    Luke 12:38 Even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night and finds them alert, those servants will be blessed.

    Full study and all 161 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.