Word study
Beside
13 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: beside, besides. 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 “beside” 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)
- עַל alheighttranslated this way 33 times of its 4,859 uses · Strong’s H5921Preposition · Translated: on 777, over 297, in 218, against 216Full study and all 3,996 verses →
Genesis 24:13 Here I am, standing beside the spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water.
Exodus 2:15 When Pharaoh heard about this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, where he sat down beside a well.
- אֵצֶל êtselconjunction, proximitytranslated this way 30 times of its 55 uses · Strong’s H681Preposition · Translated: beside 29, near 7, side 5, next 5Full study and all 53 verses →
Genesis 39:15 When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”
Leviticus 6:10 And the priest shall put on his linen robe and linen undergarments, and he shall remove from the altar the ashes of the burnt offering that the fire has consumed and place them beside it.
- בַּד badseparationtranslated this way 6 times of its 163 uses · Strong’s H905Noun · Translated: alone 43, poles 34, addition 26, only 12Full study and all 156 verses →
Genesis 46:26 All those belonging to Jacob who came to Egypt— his direct descendants, besides the wives of Jacob’s sons— numbered sixty-six persons.
Exodus 12:37 The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth with about 600,000 men on foot, besides women and children.
- עִם imwithtranslated this way 5 times of its 940 uses · Strong’s H5973Preposition · Translated: with 246, with you 84, with him 61, against 39Full study and all 838 verses →
Judges 9:6 Then all the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo gathered beside the oak at the pillar in Shechem and proceeded to make Abimelech their king.
1 Samuel 1:26 “Please, my lord,” said Hannah, “as surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD.
- אֵל êlmotion totranslated this way 5 times of its 4,199 uses · Strong’s H413Preposition · Translated: to 1,941, to me 285, to you 149, to him 137Full study and all 3,455 verses →
- צַד tsadsidetranslated this way 4 times of its 31 uses · Strong’s H6654Noun · Translated: side 13, sides 6, beside 4, opposite sides 2Full study and all 27 verses →
Deuteronomy 31:26 “Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, so that it may remain there as a witness against you.
Ruth 2:14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here; have some bread and dip it into the vinegar sauce.” So she sat down beside the harvesters, and he offered her roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied and had some left over.
- עוֹד ôda going round, continuancetranslated this way 3 times of its 390 uses · Strong’s H5750Adverb · Translated: longer 80, still 63, again 52, more 38Full study and all 372 verses →
Isaiah 47:8 So now hear this, O lover of luxury who sits securely, who says to herself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or know the loss of children.’
Isaiah 47:10 You were secure in your wickedness; you said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge led you astray; you told yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
- פָּנִים pânîmface, beforetranslated this way 3 times of its 1,836 uses · Strong’s H6440Noun · Translated: before 448, face 222, presence 147, before you 123Full study and all 1,671 verses →
Genesis 23:3 Then Abraham got up from beside his dead wife and said to the Hittites,
- יָד yâdhandtranslated this way 3 times of its 1,403 uses · Strong’s H3027Noun · Translated: hand 664, hands 349, through 64, power 22Full study and all 1,290 verses →
- עֻמָּה ummâhjuxtapositiontranslated this way 3 times of its 31 uses · Strong’s H5980Preposition-l · Translated: close 3, as 3, beside 3, near 2Full study and all 26 verses →
Ezekiel 3:13 It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against one another and the sound of the wheels beside them, a great rumbling sound.
Ezekiel 10:19 As I watched, the cherubim lifted their wings and rose up from the ground, with the wheels beside them as they went. And they stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the LORD, with the glory of the God of Israel above them.
- בִּלְתִּי biltînot, excepttranslated this way 2 times of its 104 uses · Strong’s H1115Preposition-l · Translated: not 12, no 8, nothing 4, without 4Full study and all 101 verses →
1 Samuel 2:2 There is no one holy like the LORD. Indeed, there is no one besides You! And there is no Rock like our God.
Hosea 13:4 Yet I am the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt; you know no God but Me, for there is no Savior besides Me.
- בִּלְעֲדֵי bilădêapart from, except, withouttranslated this way 2 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s H1107Preposition · Translated: but me 5, cannot 2, other 2, besides 2Full study and all 16 verses →
2 Samuel 22:32 For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God?
Psalm 18:31 For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God?
- זוּלָה zûlâhremovaltranslated this way 2 times of its 15 uses · Strong’s H2108Preposition · Translated: except 3, but you 3, but me 3, besides 2Full study and all 15 verses →
Isaiah 26:13 O LORD our God, other lords besides You have ruled over us, but Your name alone do we confess.
Isaiah 64:4 From ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him.
Greek words (New Testament)
- παρά paráfrom, in the presence oftranslated this way 9 times of its 160 uses · Strong’s G3844Preposition · Translated: from 58, with 25, beside 9, at 9Full study and all 150 verses →
Matthew 4:18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
Mark 1:16 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
- χωρίς chōrísapart from, withouttranslated this way 2 times of its 38 uses · Strong’s G5565Preposition · Translated: without 21, apart 7, without using 2, besides 2Full study and all 35 verses →
Matthew 14:21 About five thousand men were fed, besides women and children.
Matthew 15:38 A total of four thousand men were fed, besides women and children.
- ἐφίστημι ephístēmiI stand by, am urgent, befall one, impendtranslated this way 2 times of its 20 uses · Strong’s G2186Verb · Translated: came 4, stood 3, stood beside 2Full study and all 20 verses →
Luke 24:4 While they were puzzling over this, suddenly two men in radiant apparel stood beside them.
Acts 22:13 came and stood beside me. ‘Brother Saul,’ he said, ‘receive your sight.’ And at that moment I could see him.
- παρίστημι parístēmiI bring, present, come up to and stand bytranslated this way 2 times of its 41 uses · Strong’s G3936Verb · Translated: present 9, standing nearby 6, stand 3, presented 3Full study and all 39 verses →
Acts 1:10 They were looking intently into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.
Acts 27:23 For just last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me
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.