Word study
Behind
8 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “behind”. 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 “behind” 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)
- אַחַר acharbehindtranslated this way 59 times of its 556 uses · Strong’s H310Preposition · Translated: after 123, behind 56, and after 22, after that 19Full study and all 533 verses →
Genesis 18:10 Then the LORD said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was behind him, listening at the entrance to the tent.
Exodus 11:5 and every firstborn son in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the servant girl behind the hand mill, as well as the firstborn of all the cattle.
- בְּעַד beadseparationtranslated this way 8 times of its 87 uses · Strong’s H1157Preposition · Translated: for 18, behalf 10, behind 8, and for 6Full study and all 70 verses →
Judges 3:23 Then Ehud went out through the porch, closing and locking the doors of the upper room behind him.
2 Kings 4:4 Then go inside, shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour oil into all these jars, setting the full ones aside.”
- שָׁאַר shâarremain, be left overtranslated this way 6 times of its 126 uses · Strong’s H7604Verb · Translated: left 24, remained 19, remain 15, survive 8Full study and all 118 verses →
Exodus 10:12 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt, so that the locusts may swarm over it and devour every plant in the land — everything that the hail has left behind.”
2 Kings 25:12 But the captain of the guard left behind some of the poorest of the land to tend the vineyards and fields.
- עָזַב âzableave, forsake, loosetranslated this way 4 times of its 214 uses · Strong’s H5800Verb · Translated: forsaken 47, forsake 36, leave 23, abandoned 22Full study and all 206 verses →
Exodus 2:20 “So where is he?” their father asked. “Why did you leave the man behind? Invite him to have something to eat.”
2 Samuel 15:16 Then the king set out, and his entire household followed him. But he left behind ten concubines to take care of the palace.
- אָחוֹר âchôrthe hinder side, back parttranslated this way 4 times of its 29 uses · Strong’s H268Noun · Translated: back 11, behind 4, backward 3, hindquarters 2Full study and all 29 verses →
2 Samuel 10:9 When Joab saw the battle lines before him and behind him, he selected some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Arameans.
1 Chronicles 19:10 When Joab saw the battle lines before him and behind him, he selected some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Arameans.
- יָתַר yâtharremain overtranslated this way 3 times of its 106 uses · Strong’s H3498Verb · Translated: left 24, rest 12, remaining 11, remainder 8Full study and all 100 verses →
Exodus 10:15 They covered the face of all the land until it was black, and they consumed all the plants on the ground and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left behind. Nothing green was left on any tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.
1 Samuel 30:9 So David and his six hundred men went to the Brook of Besor, where some stayed behind
- בַּיִת bayithhousetranslated this way 3 times of its 1,913 uses · Strong’s H1004Noun · Translated: house 1,132, temple 176, palace 117, household 93Full study and all 1,624 verses →
Exodus 26:33 And hang the veil from the clasps and place the ark of the Testimony behind the veil. So the veil will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.
Leviticus 16:2 And the LORD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron not to enter freely into the Most Holy Place behind the veil in front of the mercy seat on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.
- נוּחַ nûachresttranslated this way 2 times of its 140 uses · Strong’s H5117Verb · Translated: rest 20, leave 10, placed 9, set 7Full study and all 139 verses →
Isaiah 65:15 You will leave behind your name as a curse for My chosen ones, and the Lord GOD will slay you; but to His servants He will give another name.
Ezekiel 42:14 Once the priests have entered the holy area, they must not go out into the outer court until they have left behind the garments in which they minister, for these are holy. They are to put on other clothes before they approach the places that are for the people.”
Greek words (New Testament)
- ὀπίσω opísōbehind, aftertranslated this way 6 times of its 25 uses · Strong’s G3694Preposition · Translated: after 12, behind 5, back 2Full study and all 25 verses →
Matthew 16:23 But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
Mark 8:33 But Jesus, turning and looking at His disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
- ὄπισθεν ópisthenfrom behind, aftertranslated this way 4 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s G3693Adverb · Translated: behind 4, after 1, back 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Matthew 9:20 Suddenly a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak.
Mark 5:27 When the woman heard about Jesus, she came up through the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak.
- μετά metáwith, aftertranslated this way 2 times of its 413 uses · Strong’s G3326Preposition · Translated: with 265, after 72, along 11, later 9Full study and all 387 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.