Word study
Birth
7 Hebrew and 7 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: birth, births. 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 “birth” 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)
- יָלַד yâladbear, bring forth, begettranslated this way 83 times of its 484 uses · Strong’s H3205Verb · Translated: father 111, born 57, bore 52, gave birth 44Full study and all 395 verses →
Genesis 4:1 And Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man,” she said.
Exodus 1:16 “When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them on the birthstools. If the child is a son, kill him; but if it is a daughter, let her live.”
- מוֹלֶדֶת môledethnativity, lineage, native countrytranslated this way 5 times of its 21 uses · Strong’s H4138Noun · Translated: kindred 5, birth 5, native 4, born 2Full study and all 21 verses →
Ruth 2:11 Boaz replied, “I have been made fully aware of all you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and how you came to a people you did not know before.
Jeremiah 46:16 They continue to stumble; indeed, they have fallen over one another. They say, ‘Get up! Let us return to our people and to the land of our birth, away from the sword of the oppressor.’
- בֶּטֶן beṭenbelly, body, wombtranslated this way 3 times of its 64 uses · Strong’s H990Noun · Translated: womb 36, belly 8, stomach 3, within 3Full study and all 64 verses →
Psalm 58:3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; the liars go astray from birth.
Isaiah 48:8 You have never heard; you have never understood; for a long time your ears have not been open. For I knew how deceitful you are; you have been called a rebel from birth.
- תּוֹלְדָה tôledâhdescent, family, historytranslated this way 2 times of its 39 uses · Strong’s H8435Noun · Translated: according to the records 12, account 11, genealogies 3, generations 2Full study and all 39 verses →
Genesis 25:13 These are the names of the sons of Ishmael in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
Exodus 28:10 six of their names on one stone and the remaining six on the other, in the order of their birth.
- חוּל chûlwhirl, dance, writhetranslated this way 2 times of its 58 uses · Strong’s H2342Verb · Translated: brought forth 6, tremble 5, labor 3, waited 2Full study and all 55 verses →
Deuteronomy 32:18 You ignored the Rock who brought you forth; you forgot the God who gave you birth.
Isaiah 51:2 Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave you birth. When I called him, he was but one; then I blessed him and multiplied him.
- מִשְׁבֵּר mishbêrplace of breachtranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H4866Noun · Translated: birth 2, opening of the womb 1Full study and all 3 verses →
2 Kings 19:3 to tell him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace; for children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them.
Isaiah 37:3 to tell him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace; for children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them.
- רֶחֶם rechemwombtranslated this way 2 times of its 24 uses · Strong’s H7358Noun · Translated: womb 20, wombs 2, birth 2Full study and all 23 verses →
Job 3:11 Why did I not perish at birth; why did I not die as I came from the womb?
Psalm 22:10 From birth I was cast upon You; from my mother’s womb You have been my God.
Greek words (New Testament)
- τίκτω tíktōI bear, bring forth, producetranslated this way 11 times of its 18 uses · Strong’s G5088Verb · Translated: give birth 4, gave birth 4, born 2Full study and all 17 verses →
Matthew 1:21 She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
Luke 1:31 Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus.
- γένεσις génesisbirth, lineagetranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G1078Noun · Translated: birth 2, of 1, life 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Matthew 1:18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged in marriage to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
Luke 1:14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice at his birth,
- ὠδίν ōdínthe pain of childbirth, severe agonytranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G5604Noun · Translated: birth pains 2, agony 1, labor pains 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Matthew 24:8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
Mark 13:8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, as well as famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.
- γεννάω gennáōI beget, bring forth, give birth totranslated this way 2 times of its 96 uses · Strong’s G1080Verb · Translated: father 39, born 37, become your father 3Full study and all 65 verses →
Luke 1:57 When the time came for Elizabeth to have her child, she gave birth to a son.
Hebrews 11:23 By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after his birth, because they saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were unafraid of the king’s edict.
- εὐγενής eugenḗsof noble birth, nobletranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G2104Adjective · Translated: noble birth 2, more noble-minded 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Luke 19:12 So He said, “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to lay claim to his kingship and then return.
1 Corinthians 1:26 Brothers, consider the time of your calling: Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful; not many were of noble birth.
- κοιλία koilíabelly, womb, the inner mantranslated this way 2 times of its 20 uses · Strong’s G2836Noun · Translated: womb 7, stomach 6, belly 3, birth 2Full study and all 19 verses →
Acts 3:2 And a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those entering the temple courts.
Acts 14:8 In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked.
- ἀποκυέω apokyéōI bring forth, give birth totranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G616Verb · Translated: gives birth 1, give us birth 1Full study and all 2 verses →
James 1:15 Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
James 1:18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of His creation.
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.
What the Bible says about birth: passages by topic →
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.