Word study
Attain
3 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: attained, attain, attains. 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 “attain” 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)
- יָכֹל yâkôlbe able, have power, prevail, enduretranslated this way 1 time of its 116 uses · Strong’s H3201Verb · Translated: able 17, could 11, prevail 10, can 9Full study and all 113 verses →
Psalm 139:6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
- תָּמַךְ tâmakgrasp, support, attaintranslated this way 1 time of its 21 uses · Strong’s H8551Verb · Translated: uphold 3, held 2, lay hold 2, wields 2Full study and all 20 verses →
Proverbs 11:16 A gracious woman attains honor, but ruthless men gain only wealth.
- מָצָא mâtsâattain to, findtranslated this way 1 time of its 436 uses · Strong’s H4672Verb · Translated: found 197, find 87, finds 13, present 7Full study and all 411 verses →
Greek words (New Testament)
- φθάνω phthánōI anticipate, precede, arrivetranslated this way 2 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s G5348Verb · Translated: come 3, attained 1, first to reach 1, already attained 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Romans 9:31 but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.
Philippians 3:16 Nevertheless, we must live up to what we have already attained.
- εἴδω eídōI know, remembertranslated this way 1 time of its 317 uses · Strong’s G1492Verb · Translated: know 218, knew 20, knows 16, knowing 14Full study and all 295 verses →
John 7:15 The Jews were amazed and asked, “How did this man attain such learning without having studied?”
- καταντάω katantáōI come down, arrive at, reachtranslated this way 1 time of its 13 uses · Strong’s G2658Verb · Translated: came 4, reached 2, reach 2Full study and all 13 verses →
Philippians 3:11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
- εἰμί eimíI am, existtranslated this way 1 time of its 2,236 uses · Strong’s G1510Verb · Translated: is 523, are 214, was 183, am 83Full study and all 1,922 verses →
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.