Word study
Arm
12 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: arm, arms, armed. 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 “arm” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- זְרוֹעַ zerôaarm, shoulder, strengthtranslated this way 71 times of its 90 uses · Strong’s H2220Noun · Translated: arm 49, arms 18, strength 7, power 3Full study and all 84 verses →
Genesis 49:24 Yet he steadied his bow, and his strong arms were tempered by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, in the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
Exodus 6:6 Therefore tell the Israelites: ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.
- חָלַץ châlatsdraw off or out, withdrawtranslated this way 17 times of its 42 uses · Strong’s H2502Verb · Translated: armed 5, rescued 4, delivered 4, arm 4Full study and all 42 verses →
Numbers 31:3 So Moses told the people, “Arm some of your men for war, that they may go against the Midianites and execute the LORD’s vengeance on them.
Deuteronomy 3:18 At that time I commanded you: “The LORD your God has given you this land to possess. All your men of valor are to cross over, armed for battle, ahead of your brothers, the Israelites.
- חֵיק chêqbosomtranslated this way 6 times of its 34 uses · Strong’s H2436Noun · Translated: arms 6, bosom 4, laps 4, lap 3Full study and all 31 verses →
Genesis 16:5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be upon you! I delivered my servant into your arms, and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me.”
2 Samuel 12:3 but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food and drank from his cup; it slept in his arms and was like a daughter to him.
- יָד yâdhandtranslated this way 6 times of its 1,403 uses · Strong’s H3027Noun · Translated: hand 664, hands 349, through 64, power 22Full study and all 1,290 verses →
- חָגַר châgargird, gird on, gird oneselftranslated this way 4 times of its 42 uses · Strong’s H2296Verb · Translated: put 8, around 3, strapped 3, armed 3Full study and all 40 verses →
Judges 18:11 So six hundred Danites departed from Zorah and Eshtaol, armed with weapons of war.
2 Kings 3:21 Now all the Moabites had heard that the kings had come up to fight against them. So all who could bear arms, young and old, were summoned and stationed at the border.
- אָזַר âzargird, encompass, equiptranslated this way 4 times of its 15 uses · Strong’s H247Verb · Translated: armed 3, brace 2, prepare for battle 2Full study and all 14 verses →
2 Samuel 22:40 You have armed me with strength for battle; You have subdued my foes beneath me.
Psalm 18:32 It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way clear.
- חָמֻשׁ châmushstaunch, soldierstranslated this way 3 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H2571Verb · Translated: armed for battle 2, arrayed for battle 1, armed men 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Joshua 1:14 Your wives, your young children, and your livestock may remain in the land that Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan. But all your mighty men of valor must be armed for battle to cross over ahead of your brothers and help them,
Judges 7:11 and listen to what they are saying. Then your hands will be strengthened to attack the camp.” So he went with Purah his servant to the outposts where armed men were guarding the camp.
- שָׁלַף shâlaphdraw out, offtranslated this way 3 times of its 20 uses · Strong’s H8025Verb · Translated: drawn 5, Draw 4, armed 3, drew 2Full study and all 20 verses →
Judges 20:2 The leaders of all the people and all the tribes of Israel presented themselves in the assembly of God’s people: 400,000 men on foot, armed with swords.
Judges 20:25 That same day the Benjamites came out against them from Gibeah and cut down another 18,000 Israelites, all of them armed with swords.
- נָפַל nâphalfall, lietranslated this way 2 times of its 432 uses · Strong’s H5307Verb · Translated: fall 104, fell 77, fallen 54, falls 21Full study and all 403 verses →
Genesis 33:4 Esau, however, ran to him and embraced him, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him. And they both wept.
Genesis 45:14 Then Joseph threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept as they embraced.
- אֶזְרוֹעַ ezrôaarmtranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H248Noun · Translated: arm 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Job 31:22 then may my arm fall from my shoulder and be torn from its socket.
Jeremiah 32:21 You brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror.
- יָמִין yâmînright handtranslated this way 2 times of its 132 uses · Strong’s H3225Noun · Translated: right hand 59, right 47, south 9, south side 4Full study and all 128 verses →
Song of Solomon 2:6 His left hand is under my head, and his right arm embraces me.
Song of Solomon 8:3 His left hand is under my head, and his right arm embraces me.
- צַד tsadsidetranslated this way 2 times of its 31 uses · Strong’s H6654Noun · Translated: side 13, sides 6, beside 4, opposite sides 2Full study and all 27 verses →
Isaiah 60:4 Lift up your eyes and look around: They all gather and come to you; your sons will come from afar, and your daughters will be carried on the arm.
Isaiah 66:12 For this is what the LORD says: “I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flowing stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm, and bounced upon her knees.
Greek words (New Testament)
- βραχίων brachíōnthe arm, strengthtranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G1023Noun · Translated: arm 3Full study and all 3 verses →
Luke 1:51 He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
John 12:38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
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.
What the Bible says about arm: passages by topic →
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.