Word study
Bottom
5 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “bottom”. 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 “bottom” 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)
- מַטָּה maṭṭâhdownwardstranslated this way 5 times of its 18 uses · Strong’s H4295Adverb · Translated: bottom 5, below 3, lower 2, down 2Full study and all 17 verses →
Exodus 26:24 coupled together from bottom to top and fitted into a single ring. These will serve as the two corners.
Exodus 28:27 Make two additional gold rings and attach them to the bottom of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, on its front, near its seam just above its woven waistband.
- תַּחְתּוֹן tachtônlower, lowesttranslated this way 1 time of its 13 uses · Strong’s H8481Adjective · Translated: lower 11, bottom 1, lowest story 1Full study and all 13 verses →
1 Kings 6:6 The bottom floor was five cubits wide, the middle floor six cubits, and the third floor seven cubits. He also placed offset ledges around the outside of the temple, so that nothing would be inserted into its walls.
- תִּיכוֹן tîkônmiddletranslated this way 1 time of its 10 uses · Strong’s H8484Adjective · Translated: middle 3, central 2, middle floors 2, middle floor 1Full study and all 9 verses →
1 Kings 6:8 The entrance to the bottom floor was on the south side of the temple. A stairway led up to the middle level, and from there to the third floor.
- אַרְעִית arîthbottomtranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H773Noun · Translated: bottom 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Daniel 6:24 At the command of the king, the men who had falsely accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the den of lions— they and their children and wives. And before they had reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.
- קַרְקַע qarqafloortranslated this way 1 time of its 8 uses · Strong’s H7172Noun · Translated: floor 6, ceiling 1, bottom 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Amos 9:3 Though they hide themselves atop Carmel, there I will track them and seize them; and though they hide from Me at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them.
Greek words (New Testament)
- κάτω kátōdown, below, lower, under, lesstranslated this way 2 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s G2736Adverb · Translated: down 3, below 3, bottom 2, under 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Matthew 27:51 At that moment the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, and the rocks were split.
Mark 15:38 And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
- ἄνωθεν ánōthenfrom above, from the beginning, againtranslated this way 1 time of its 13 uses · Strong’s G509Adverb · Translated: from above 5, top 2, again 2Full study and all 13 verses →
John 19:23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided His garments into four parts, one for each soldier, with the tunic remaining. It was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
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.