Word study
Authority
4 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: authority, authorities. 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 “authority” 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)
- יָד yâdhandtranslated this way 7 times of its 1,403 uses · Strong’s H3027Noun · Translated: hand 664, hands 349, through 64, power 22Full study and all 1,290 verses →
Genesis 41:35 Under the authority of Pharaoh, let them collect all the excess food from these good years, that they may come and lay up the grain to be preserved as food in the cities.
- אִישׁ îshmantranslated this way 3 times of its 1,399 uses · Strong’s H376Noun · Translated: man 650, men 198, one 79, each 79Full study and all 1,278 verses →
Numbers 5:19 And he is to put the woman under oath and say to her, ‘If no other man has slept with you and you have not gone astray and become defiled while under your husband’s authority, may you be immune to this bitter water that brings a curse.
Numbers 5:20 But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority and have defiled yourself and lain carnally with a man other than your husband’—
- שַׁלִּיט shallîṭhaving mastery, rulingtranslated this way 2 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s H7990Adjective · Translated: rules 5, exercised authority 1, authority 1, powerful 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Ezra 4:20 And mighty kings have ruled over Jerusalem and exercised authority over the whole region west of the Euphrates; and tribute, duty, and toll were paid to them.
Ezra 7:24 And be advised that you have no authority to impose tribute, duty, or toll on any of the priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.
- מֶמְשָׁלָה memshâlâhrule, dominion, realmtranslated this way 2 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s H4475Noun · Translated: dominion 8, rule 4, authority 2, forces 1Full study and all 16 verses →
Isaiah 22:21 I will clothe him with your robe and tie your sash around him. I will put your authority in his hand, and he will be a father to the dwellers of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
Daniel 11:5 The king of the South will grow strong, but one of his commanders will grow even stronger and will rule his own kingdom with great authority.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἐξουσία exousíapower, authority, weighttranslated this way 74 times of its 100 uses · Strong’s G1849Noun · Translated: authority 65, power 10, right 9, authorities 7Full study and all 92 verses →
Matthew 7:29 because He taught as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
Mark 1:22 The people were astonished at His teaching, because He taught as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.
- ἐξουσιάζω exousiázōI exercise authoritytranslated this way 3 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G1850Verb · Translated: authority 3, mastered 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Luke 22:25 So Jesus declared, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in authority over them call themselves benefactors.
1 Corinthians 7:4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife.
- κατεξουσιάζω katexousiázōI have power overtranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G2715Verb · Translated: exercise authority 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Matthew 20:25 But Jesus called them aside and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their superiors exercise authority over them.
Mark 10:42 So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their superiors exercise authority over them.
- κυριότης kyriótēslordship, domination, dignitytranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G2963Noun · Translated: authority 2, dominion 1, dominions 1Full study and all 4 verses →
2 Peter 2:10 Such punishment is specially reserved for those who indulge the corrupt desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and self-willed, they are unafraid to slander glorious beings.
Jude 1:8 Yet in the same way these dreamers defile their bodies, reject authority, and slander glorious beings.
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.