Word study
Bright
6 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “bright”. 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 “bright” 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)
- נֹגַהּ nôgahhbrightnesstranslated this way 2 times of its 19 uses · Strong’s H5051Noun · Translated: brightness 8, brilliant light 3Full study and all 19 verses →
Isaiah 62:1 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep still, until her righteousness shines like a bright light, her salvation like a blazing torch.
Ezekiel 1:13 In the midst of the living creatures was the appearance of glowing coals of fire, or of torches. Fire moved back and forth between the living creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it.
- בֹּהֶרֶת bôherethbrightness, bright spottranslated this way 1 time of its 10 uses · Strong’s H934Noun · Translated: spot 7, spots 2, bright spot 1Full study and all 10 verses →
Leviticus 13:2 “When someone has a swelling or rash or bright spot on his skin that may be an infectious skin disease, he must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons who is a priest.
- בָּהִיר bâhîrbright, brillianttranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H925Adjective · Translated: bright 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Job 37:21 Now no one can gaze at the sun when it is bright in the skies after the wind has swept them clean.
- בַּר barcorntranslated this way 1 time of its 7 uses · Strong’s H1249Adjective · Translated: pure 3, radiant 1, empty 1, favorite 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Song of Solomon 6:10 Who is this who shines like the dawn, as fair as the moon, as bright as the sun, as majestic as the stars in procession?
- אוֹר ôrlighttranslated this way 1 time of its 119 uses · Strong’s H216Noun · Translated: light 86, lightning 5, dawn 3, daylight 3Full study and all 108 verses →
Isaiah 30:26 The light of the moon will be as bright as the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter— like the light of seven days— on the day that the LORD binds up the brokenness of His people and heals the wounds He has inflicted.
- זֹהַר zôharshining, brightnesstranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s H2096Noun · Translated: bright 1, like the brightness 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Ezekiel 8:2 Then I looked and saw a figure like that of a man. From His waist down His appearance was like fire, and from His waist up He was as bright as the gleam of amber.
Greek words (New Testament)
- λαμπρός lamprósshining, magnificent, brighttranslated this way 3 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s G2986Adjective · Translated: fine 3, bright 3, radiant 1, splendor 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Revelation 15:6 And out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, dressed in clean and bright linen and girded with golden sashes around their chests.
Revelation 19:8 She was given clothing of fine linen, bright and pure.” For the fine linen she wears is the righteous acts of the saints.
- φωτεινός phōteinósbright, luminous, full of lighttranslated this way 1 time of its 5 uses · Strong’s G5460Adjective · Translated: full of light 2, bright 1, light 1, radiant 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Matthew 17:5 While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”
- ἱκανός hikanóssufficient, worthy, many, muchtranslated this way 1 time of its 38 uses · Strong’s G2425Adjective · Translated: worthy 5, large 5, many 5, long 4Full study and all 38 verses →
Acts 22:6 About noon as I was approaching Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me.
- πυῤῥός pyrrhósred, fire-coloredtranslated this way 1 time of its 3 uses · Strong’s G4450Adjective · Translated: Pyrrhus 1, bright red 1, red 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Revelation 6:4 Then another horse went forth. It was bright red, and its rider was granted permission to take away peace from the earth and to make men slay one another. And he was given a great sword.
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.