Word study
Band
5 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: band, bands, banded. 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 “band” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- חָשֻׁק châshuqfillettranslated this way 8 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H2838Noun · Translated: bands 6, posts and their bands 1, well as the bands 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Exodus 27:10 with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases, and silver hooks and bands on the posts.
Exodus 27:11 Likewise there are to be curtains on the north side, a hundred cubits long, with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases, and with silver hooks and bands on the posts.
- חָשַׁק châshaqbe attached to, lovetranslated this way 3 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s H2836Verb · Translated: set his affection 2Full study and all 10 verses →
Exodus 27:17 All the posts around the courtyard shall have silver bands, silver hooks, and bronze bases.
Exodus 38:17 The bases for the posts were bronze, the hooks and bands were silver, and the plating for the tops of the posts was silver. So all the posts of the courtyard were banded with silver.
- גְּדוּד gedûdband, trooptranslated this way 3 times of its 28 uses · Strong’s H1416Noun · Translated: raiders 10, troops 8, army 2, band 2Full study and all 28 verses →
1 Kings 11:24 and had gathered men to himself. When David killed the Zobaites, Rezon captained a band of raiders and went to Damascus, where they settled and gained control.
2 Kings 5:2 At this time the Arameans had gone out in bands and had taken a young girl from the land of Israel, and she was serving Naaman’s wife.
- עֵדָה êdâhcongregationtranslated this way 2 times of its 145 uses · Strong’s H5712Noun · Translated: congregation 112, assembly 15, followers 8, company 2Full study and all 137 verses →
Psalm 22:16 For dogs surround me; a band of evil men encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet.
Psalm 86:14 The arrogant rise against me, O God; a band of ruthless men seeks my life; they have no regard for You.
- אֱסוּר ĕsûrband, bondtranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H613Noun · Translated: band 2, imprisonment 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Daniel 4:15 But leave the stump with its roots in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze around it, in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven and graze with the beasts on the grass of the earth.
Daniel 4:23 And you, O king, saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying: ‘Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump with its roots in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze around it, in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and graze with the beasts of the field till seven times pass him by.’
Greek words (New Testament)
- σπεῖρα speîraa cohorttranslated this way 2 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s G4686Noun · Translated: Regiment 3, company 2, band of soldiers 2Full study and all 7 verses →
John 18:3 So Judas brought a band of soldiers and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees. They arrived at the garden carrying lanterns, torches, and weapons.
John 18:12 Then the band of soldiers, with its commander and the officers of the Jews, arrested Jesus and bound Him.
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.