Word study
Beautiful
7 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “beautiful”. 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 “beautiful” 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)
- יָפֶה yâphehfair, beautifultranslated this way 27 times of its 42 uses · Strong’s H3303Adjective · Translated: beautiful 25, handsome 4, sleek 3, lovely 2Full study and all 38 verses →
Genesis 12:11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know that you are a beautiful woman,
Deuteronomy 21:11 if you see a beautiful woman among them, and you desire her and want to take her as your wife,
- טוֹב ṭôbpleasant, agreeable, goodtranslated this way 10 times of its 538 uses · Strong’s H2896Adjective · Translated: good 249, better 72, prosperity 19, good things 12Full study and all 499 verses →
Genesis 6:2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took as wives whomever they chose.
Exodus 2:2 and she conceived and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him for three months.
- צְבִי tsebîbeauty, honourtranslated this way 8 times of its 33 uses · Strong’s H6643Noun · Translated: gazelle 8, glory 6, beautiful 6, gazelles 4Full study and all 32 verses →
Isaiah 4:2 On that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of Israel’s survivors.
Jeremiah 3:19 Then I said, ‘How I long to make you My sons and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of all the nations!’ I thought you would call Me ‘Father’ and never turn away from following Me.
- יָפָה yâphâhbe fair, beautifultranslated this way 3 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H3302Verb · Translated: beautiful 3, adorn 2, most handsome 1, delightful 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Song of Solomon 7:1 How beautiful are your sandaled feet, O daughter of the prince! The curves of your thighs are like jewels, the handiwork of a master.
Ezekiel 16:13 So you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was made of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. You became very beautiful and rose to be queen.
- תִּפְאָרָה tiphârâhbeauty, glorytranslated this way 3 times of its 49 uses · Strong’s H8597Noun · Translated: glory 14, splendor 10, glorious 8, beauty 3Full study and all 49 verses →
Isaiah 64:11 Our holy and beautiful temple, where our fathers praised You, has been burned with fire, and all that was dear to us lies in ruins.
Ezekiel 16:12 I put a ring in your nose, earrings on your ears, and a beautiful crown upon your head.
- נָאָה nââhbe comely, befittingtranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H4998Verb · Translated: beautiful 2, adorns 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Song of Solomon 1:10 Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels.
Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
- שַׁפִּיר shappîrfair, beautifultranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H8209Adjective · Translated: beautiful 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Daniel 4:12 Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit was abundant, and upon it was food for all. Under it the beasts of the field found shelter, in its branches the birds of the air nested, and from it every creature was fed.
Daniel 4:21 whose foliage was beautiful and whose fruit was abundant, providing food for all, under which the beasts of the field lived, and in whose branches the birds of the air nested—
Greek words (New Testament)
- ὡραῖος hōraîosfair, beautifultranslated this way 4 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G5611Adjective · Translated: beautiful 4Full study and all 4 verses →
Matthew 23:27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity.
Acts 3:2 And a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those entering the temple courts.
- καλός kalósbeautiful, good, worthytranslated this way 3 times of its 99 uses · Strong’s G2570Adjective · Translated: good 64, better 9, right 5, noble 4Full study and all 89 verses →
Matthew 26:10 Aware of this, Jesus asked, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful deed to Me.
Mark 14:6 But Jesus said, “Leave her alone; why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful deed to Me.
- ἀστεῖος asteîoselegant, pretty, fair, fine, beautifultranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G791Adjective · Translated: beautiful 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Acts 7:20 At that time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in the sight of God. For three months he was nurtured in his father’s house.
Hebrews 11:23 By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after his birth, because they saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were unafraid of the king’s edict.
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.