Word study

Approval

1 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “approval”. 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 “approval” or one of its forms.

Compare the Greek words side by side

Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)

Greek words (New Testament)

  • συνευδοκέω syneudokéōI consent, agree, am of one mind withtranslated this way 2 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s G4909Verb  ·  Translated: willing 2, consenting 1, giving approval 1, giving my approval 1

    Acts 8:1 And Saul was there, giving approval to Stephen’s death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.

    Acts 22:20 And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’

    Full study and all 6 verses →
  • μαρτυρέω martyréōI witness, testifytranslated this way 2 times of its 75 uses · Strong’s G3140Verb  ·  Translated: testify 26, testified 15, testifies 9, commended 4

    Acts 15:8 And God, who knows the heart, showed His approval by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as He did to us.

    Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous when God gave approval to his gifts. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.

    Full study and all 72 verses →
  • σφραγίζω sphragízōI set a seal upontranslated this way 1 time of its 13 uses · Strong’s G4972Verb  ·  Translated: sealed 5, Seal 2

    John 6:27 Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.”

    Full study and all 13 verses →
  • ἔπαινος épainoscommendation, praisetranslated this way 1 time of its 11 uses · Strong’s G1868Noun  ·  Translated: praise 8, approval 1, praised 1, praiseworthy 1

    Romans 13:3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Then do what is right, and you will have his approval.

    Full study and all 11 verses →
  • πείθω peíthōI persuade, urgetranslated this way 1 time of its 50 uses · Strong’s G3982Verb  ·  Translated: convinced 10, confident 6, persuaded 4, trusted 2

    Galatians 1:10 Am I now seeking the approval of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

    Full study and all 50 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.