Word study
Ally
14 Hebrew words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: allies, allied, ally. 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 “ally” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- חָבַר châbarunitetranslated this way 3 times of its 28 uses · Strong’s H2266Verb · Translated: joined 6, join 4, attached 2, fastened 2Full study and all 24 verses →
Genesis 14:3 The latter five came as allies to the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).
2 Chronicles 20:37 Then Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the LORD has destroyed your works.” So the ships were wrecked and were unable to sail to Tarshish.
- עָזַר âzarhelp, succourtranslated this way 3 times of its 81 uses · Strong’s H5826Verb · Translated: help 34, helped 14, helps 7, helper 7Full study and all 77 verses →
1 Kings 20:16 They marched out at noon while Ben-hadad and the 32 kings allied with him were in their tents getting drunk.
Jeremiah 47:4 For the day has come to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every remaining ally. Indeed, the LORD is about to destroy the Philistines, the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.
- עֶזְרָה ezrâhhelp, succour, assistancetranslated this way 2 times of its 26 uses · Strong’s H5833Noun · Translated: help 17, helper 3, aid 3, allies 2Full study and all 25 verses →
Isaiah 31:2 Yet He too is wise and brings disaster; He does not call back His words. He will rise up against the house of the wicked and against the allies of evildoers.
Nahum 3:9 Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength; Put and Libya were her allies.
- אֵת êthwithtranslated this way 2 times of its 640 uses · Strong’s H854Preposition · Translated: with 144, with you 64, with him 62, with me 35Full study and all 585 verses →
Genesis 14:5 In the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh-kiriathaim,
Genesis 14:17 After Abram returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).
- עִם imwithtranslated this way 1 time of its 940 uses · Strong’s H5973Preposition · Translated: with 246, with you 84, with him 61, against 39Full study and all 838 verses →
- רֹאשׁ rôshheadtranslated this way 1 time of its 570 uses · Strong’s H7218Noun · Translated: head 200, heads 113, chief 31, top 29Full study and all 530 verses →
- סָמַךְ sâmaklean, lay, rest, supporttranslated this way 1 time of its 48 uses · Strong’s H5564Verb · Translated: lay 17, laid 6, Sustain 3, sustained 2Full study and all 47 verses →
Ezekiel 30:6 For this is what the LORD says: The allies of Egypt will fall, and her proud strength will collapse. From Migdol to Syene they will fall by the sword within her, declares the Lord GOD.
- זְרוֹעַ zerôaarm, shoulder, strengthtranslated this way 1 time of its 90 uses · Strong’s H2220Noun · Translated: arm 49, arms 18, strength 7, power 3Full study and all 84 verses →
Ezekiel 31:17 They too descended with it to Sheol, to those slain by the sword. As its allies they had lived in its shade among the nations.
- תָּנָה tânâhhiretranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s H8566Verb · Translated: hired 1, hire allies 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Hosea 8:10 Though they hire allies among the nations, I will now round them up, and they will begin to diminish under the oppression of the king of princes.
- אַחְאָב AchâbAhabtranslated this way 1 time of its 90 uses · Strong’s H256Noun · Translated: Ahab 78, Ahab's 3Full study and all 80 verses →
2 Chronicles 18:1 Now Jehoshaphat had an abundance of riches and honor, and he allied himself with Ahab by marriage.
- בְּרִית berîthcovenanttranslated this way 1 time of its 283 uses · Strong’s H1285Noun · Translated: covenant 261, treaty 17, alliance 1, like the covenant 1Full study and all 264 verses →
- שָׁלֵם shâlêmcomplete, safe, at peacetranslated this way 1 time of its 25 uses · Strong’s H8003Adjective · Translated: fully devoted 5, whole 3, accurate 2, uncut 2Full study and all 25 verses →
Nahum 1:12 This is what the LORD says: “Though they are allied and numerous, yet they will be cut down and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, O Judah, I will afflict you no longer.
- שָׁלַם shâlambe complete, soundtranslated this way 1 time of its 109 uses · Strong’s H7999Verb · Translated: repay 20, fulfill 14, make restitution 7, made peace 6Full study and all 106 verses →
Psalm 7:4 if I have rewarded my ally with evil, if I have plundered my foe without cause,
- אָהַב âhablovetranslated this way 1 time of its 210 uses · Strong’s H157Verb · Translated: love 87, loved 36, loves 30, lovers 16Full study and all 197 verses →
Isaiah 48:14 Come together, all of you, and listen: Which of the idols has foretold these things? The LORD’s chosen ally will carry out His desire against Babylon, and His arm will be against the Chaldeans.
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.