Word study
Benefit
5 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: benefit, benefits. 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 “benefit” 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)
- יָעַל yâalprofit, avail, benefittranslated this way 5 times of its 23 uses · Strong’s H3276Verb · Translated: profit 5, benefit 4, worthless 2, idols 2Full study and all 21 verses →
Job 35:3 For you ask, ‘What does it profit me, and what benefit do I gain apart from sin?’
Isaiah 30:5 everyone will be put to shame because of a people useless to them. They bring neither help nor benefit, but only shame and disgrace.”
- בֵּן bênsontranslated this way 1 time of its 4,587 uses · Strong’s H1121Noun · Translated: son 1,843, sons 892, Israelites 422, descendants 358Full study and all 3,473 verses →
- סָכַן sâkanbe of use of service, benefittranslated this way 1 time of its 10 uses · Strong’s H5532Verb · Translated: before 1, care 1, cared 1, use 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Job 22:2 “Can a man be of use to God? Can even a wise man benefit Him?
- גָּמַל gâmaldeal fully or adequately with, deal out totranslated this way 1 time of its 35 uses · Strong’s H1580Verb · Translated: weaned 8, rewarded 5, done 3, repay 2Full study and all 31 verses →
Proverbs 11:17 A kind man benefits himself, but a cruel man brings trouble on himself.
- יוֹתֵר yôthêrsuperiority, advantage, excesstranslated this way 1 time of its 9 uses · Strong’s H3148Noun · Translated: rest 1, more 1, gained 1, advantage 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Ecclesiastes 7:11 Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good, and it benefits those who see the sun.
Greek words (New Testament)
- διά diáthrough, on account oftranslated this way 4 times of its 607 uses · Strong’s G1223Preposition · Translated: through 201, by 83, because of 56, for 37Full study and all 553 verses →
John 11:42 I knew that You always hear Me, but I say this for the benefit of the people standing here, so they may believe that You sent Me.”
John 12:30 In response, Jesus said, “This voice was not for My benefit, but yours.
- συμφέρω symphérōI collect, am profitable totranslated this way 1 time of its 17 uses · Strong’s G4851Verb · Translated: better 6, good 3, helpful 2, beneficial 2Full study and all 17 verses →
John 16:7 But I tell you the truth, it is for your benefit that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
- ὠφελέω ōpheléōI help, benefit, do goodtranslated this way 1 time of its 15 uses · Strong’s G5623Verb · Translated: value 4, profit 3, received 2Full study and all 15 verses →
1 Corinthians 14:6 Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching?
- ὀνίνημι onínēmiI help, profit, have joy oftranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G3685Verb · Translated: benefit 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Philemon 1:20 Yes, brother, let me have some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.
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.