Word study
Blast
9 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: blast, blasts. 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 “blast” 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)
- קוֹל qôlsound, voicetranslated this way 3 times of its 425 uses · Strong’s H6963Noun · Translated: voice 197, sound 63, voices 22, thunder 11Full study and all 378 verses →
Exodus 19:16 On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning. A thick cloud was upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the ram’s horn went out, so that all the people in the camp trembled.
Joshua 6:20 So when the rams’ horns sounded, the people shouted. When they heard the blast of the horn, the people gave a great shout, and the wall collapsed. Then all the people charged straight into the city and captured it.
- תְּרוּעָה terûâhshout or blast of war, alarm, or joytranslated this way 3 times of its 31 uses · Strong’s H8643Noun · Translated: shouting 4, short blasts 2, shout 2, shout of joy 2Full study and all 29 verses →
Numbers 10:5 When you sound short blasts, the camps that lie on the east side are to set out.
Numbers 10:6 When you sound the short blasts a second time, the camps that lie on the south side are to set out. The blasts are to signal them to set out.
- רוּחַ rûachbreath, wind, spirittranslated this way 2 times of its 368 uses · Strong’s H7307Noun · Translated: spirit 189, wind 83, breath 31, winds 8Full study and all 343 verses →
Exodus 15:8 At the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up; like a wall the currents stood firm; the depths congealed in the heart of the sea.
- מָשַׁךְ mâshakdraw, dragtranslated this way 2 times of its 34 uses · Strong’s H4900Verb · Translated: draw 3, drew 2, tall 2, Extend 2Full study and all 34 verses →
Exodus 19:13 No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot with arrows — whether man or beast, he must not live.’ Only when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast may they approach the mountain.”
Joshua 6:5 And when there is a long blast of the ram’s horn and you hear its sound, have all the people give a mighty shout. Then the wall of the city will collapse and all your people will charge straight into the city.”
- נְשָׁמָה neshâmâhbreathtranslated this way 2 times of its 24 uses · Strong’s H5397Noun · Translated: breath 14, breathed 4, blast 2, spirit 2Full study and all 24 verses →
2 Samuel 22:16 The channels of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed at the rebuke of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils.
Psalm 18:15 The channels of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed, at Your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
- קָרָה qârâhid.translated this way 1 time of its 5 uses · Strong’s H7135Noun · Translated: cold 4, icy blast 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Psalm 147:17 He casts forth His hail like pebbles. Who can withstand His icy blast?
- נָפַח nâphachbreathe, blowtranslated this way 1 time of its 10 uses · Strong’s H5301Verb · Translated: boiling 2, breathe 2Full study and all 10 verses →
Ezekiel 22:20 Just as one gathers silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into the furnace to melt with a fiery blast, so I will gather you in My anger and wrath, leave you there, and melt you.
- תָּקַע tâqathrust, clap, give a blow, blasttranslated this way 1 time of its 65 uses · Strong’s H8628Verb · Translated: blew 15, blow 11, sound 7, sounded 4Full study and all 60 verses →
Numbers 10:7 To convene the assembly, you are to sound long blasts, not short ones.
- רוּעַ rûaraise a shouttranslated this way 1 time of its 44 uses · Strong’s H7321Verb · Translated: shout 10, Make a joyful noise 5, shout in triumph 4, shouted 3Full study and all 40 verses →
Numbers 10:9 When you enter into battle in your land against an adversary who attacks you, sound short blasts on the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the LORD your God and saved from your enemies.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἦχος ēchosa sound, rumortranslated this way 1 time of its 4 uses · Strong’s G2279Noun · Translated: news 1, roaring 1, sound 1, blast 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Hebrews 12:19 to a trumpet blast or to a voice that made its hearers beg that no further word be spoken.
- φωνή phōnḗa sound, noise, voicetranslated this way 1 time of its 136 uses · Strong’s G5456Noun · Translated: voice 83, loud voice 13, sound 8, voices 8Full study and all 125 verses →
Revelation 8:13 And as I observed, I heard an eagle flying overhead, calling in a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the remaining three angels!”
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.