Word study
Bestow
11 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: bestowed, bestow, bestows, bestowing. 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 “bestow” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- נָחַל nâchalget or take as a possessiontranslated this way 2 times of its 58 uses · Strong’s H5157Verb · Translated: inheritance 11, inherit 7, receive an inheritance 3, possess 2Full study and all 56 verses →
1 Samuel 2:8 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them among princes and bestows on them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s, and upon them He has set the world.
Proverbs 8:21 bestowing wealth on those who love me and making their treasuries full.
- שָׁוָה shâvâhbe even, smoothtranslated this way 2 times of its 22 uses · Strong’s H7737Verb · Translated: makes 2, set 2, compares 2Full study and all 22 verses →
Psalm 21:5 Great is his glory in Your salvation; You bestow on him splendor and majesty.
Psalm 89:19 You once spoke in a vision; to Your godly ones You said, “I have bestowed help on a warrior; I have exalted one chosen from the people.
- נָתַן nâthangive, put, settranslated this way 1 time of its 1,957 uses · Strong’s H5414Verb · Translated: give 326, gave 206, given 187, put 135Full study and all 1,785 verses →
- עַל alheighttranslated this way 1 time of its 4,859 uses · Strong’s H5921Preposition · Translated: on 777, over 297, in 218, against 216Full study and all 3,996 verses →
- עָשָׂה âsâhdo, maketranslated this way 1 time of its 2,478 uses · Strong’s H6213Verb · Translated: done 292, made 265, make 143, did 112Full study and all 2,206 verses →
- פָּעַל pâaldo, maketranslated this way 1 time of its 57 uses · Strong’s H6466Verb · Translated: workers 12, evildoers 8, done 6, do 3Full study and all 56 verses →
Psalm 31:19 How great is Your goodness which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have bestowed before the sons of men on those who take refuge in You!
- צָוָה tsâvâhlay charge (upon), give charge (to), charge, command, ordertranslated this way 1 time of its 491 uses · Strong’s H6680Verb · Translated: commanded 271, command 41, gave 16, instructed 13Full study and all 473 verses →
- פָּאַר pâarbeautify, glorifytranslated this way 1 time of its 14 uses · Strong’s H6286Verb · Translated: glorified 3, honor 2, adorn 2Full study and all 14 verses →
Isaiah 55:5 Surely you will summon a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you will run to you. For the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, has bestowed glory on you.”
- שׂוּם sûmput, place, settranslated this way 1 time of its 560 uses · Strong’s H7760Verb · Translated: put 84, set 71, make 45, made 39Full study and all 533 verses →
- יְהַב yehabgivetranslated this way 1 time of its 26 uses · Strong’s H3052Verb · Translated: given 11, paid 3, gave 3Full study and all 26 verses →
Daniel 5:19 Because of the greatness that He bestowed on him, the people of every nation and language trembled in fear before him. He killed whom he wished and kept alive whom he wished; he exalted whom he wished and humbled whom he wished.
- נָקַב nâqabpiercetranslated this way 1 time of its 19 uses · Strong’s H5344Verb · Translated: designated 6, pierce 4, pierced 2Full study and all 18 verses →
Isaiah 62:2 Nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow.
Greek words (New Testament)
- διατίθεμαι diatíthemaiI appoint, maketranslated this way 2 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s G1303Verb · Translated: made 3, make 2, bestow 1, bestowed 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Luke 22:29 And I bestow on you a kingdom, just as My Father has bestowed one on 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.