Word study
Best
7 Hebrew words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “best”. 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 “best” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- טוֹב ṭôbpleasant, agreeable, goodtranslated this way 9 times of its 538 uses · Strong’s H2896Adjective · Translated: good 249, better 72, prosperity 19, good things 12Full study and all 499 verses →
1 Samuel 1:23 “Do what you think is best,” her husband Elkanah replied, “and stay here until you have weaned him. Only may the LORD confirm His word.” So Hannah stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him.
1 Kings 20:3 saying, “This is what Ben-hadad says: ‘Your silver and gold are mine, and your best wives and children are mine!’”
- רֵאשִׁית rêshîthbeginning, chieftranslated this way 7 times of its 49 uses · Strong’s H7225Noun · Translated: firstfruits 12, beginning 11, best 7, first 6Full study and all 47 verses →
Exodus 23:19 Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
Deuteronomy 33:21 He chose the best land for himself, because a ruler’s portion was reserved for him there. He came with the leaders of the people; he administered the LORD’s justice and His ordinances for Israel.”
- מֵיטָב mêṭâbthe besttranslated this way 5 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s H4315Noun · Translated: best 5Full study and all 5 verses →
Genesis 47:6 the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and brothers in the best part of the land. They may dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know of any talented men among them, put them in charge of my own livestock.”
Exodus 22:5 If a man grazes his livestock in a field or vineyard and allows them to stray so that they graze in someone else’s field, he must make restitution from the best of his own field or vineyard.
- חֶלֶב chelebfattranslated this way 4 times of its 88 uses · Strong’s H2459Noun · Translated: fat 63, fat portions 5, finest 3, best part 2Full study and all 69 verses →
Genesis 4:4 while Abel brought the best portions of the firstborn of his flock. And the LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering,
Numbers 18:29 You must present the offering due the LORD from all the best of every gift, the holiest part of it.’
- טוּב ṭûbgood things, goods, goodnesstranslated this way 4 times of its 32 uses · Strong’s H2898Noun · Translated: goodness 11, best 4, good things 3, prosperity 3Full study and all 31 verses →
Genesis 45:18 Then bring your father and your families and return to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat from the fat of the land.’
Isaiah 1:19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best of the land.
- בָּחַר bâcharchoosetranslated this way 3 times of its 171 uses · Strong’s H977Verb · Translated: chosen 73, choose 44, chose 21, chooses 6Full study and all 163 verses →
Exodus 14:7 He took 600 of the best chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them.
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.
- מִבְחָר mibchârchoicest, besttranslated this way 2 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s H4005Noun · Translated: choicest 4, finest 3, choice 2, best 1Full study and all 12 verses →
Jeremiah 48:15 Moab has been destroyed and its towns have been invaded; the best of its young men have gone down in the slaughter, declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts.
Daniel 11:15 Then the king of the North will come, build up a siege ramp, and capture a fortified city. The forces of the South will not stand; even their best troops will not be able to resist.
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.