Word study
Calm
8 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: calm, calmed, calms. 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 “calm” 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)
- שָׁקַט shâqaṭbe quiet, undisturbedtranslated this way 3 times of its 40 uses · Strong’s H8252Verb · Translated: quiet 10, rest 8, peace 6, still 3Full study and all 40 verses →
Proverbs 15:18 A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger calms dispute.
Jeremiah 49:23 Concerning Damascus: “Hamath and Arpad are put to shame, for they have heard a bad report; they are agitated like the sea; their anxiety cannot be calmed.
- חָשָׁה châshâhbe silent, inactive, stilltranslated this way 1 time of its 15 uses · Strong’s H2814Verb · Translated: silent 4, keep silent 3, speak 2Full study and all 15 verses →
Nehemiah 8:11 And the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, since today is holy. Do not grieve.”
- קוּם qûmarise, stand up, standtranslated this way 1 time of its 594 uses · Strong’s H6965Verb · Translated: rise 68, got 61, set 44, Get 42Full study and all 570 verses →
- קַר qarcool, quiettranslated this way 1 time of its 3 uses · Strong’s H7119Adjective · Translated: maintains a calm 1, cold 1, cool 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Proverbs 17:27 A man of knowledge restrains his words, and a man of understanding maintains a calm spirit.
- נַחַת Nachathquietness, resttranslated this way 1 time of its 6 uses · Strong’s H5183Noun · Translated: resolution 1, tranquility 1, more rest 1, calm 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Ecclesiastes 9:17 The calm words of the wise are heeded over the shouts of a ruler among fools.
- שָׁמַר shâmarkeep, watch, preservetranslated this way 1 time of its 461 uses · Strong’s H8104Verb · Translated: keep 133, careful 39, kept 33, guard 25Full study and all 436 verses →
- שָׁתַק shâthaqbe quiettranslated this way 1 time of its 4 uses · Strong’s H8367Verb · Translated: silence 1, ceases 1, calm 1, quiet 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Jonah 1:11 Now the sea was growing worse and worse, so they said to Jonah, “What must we do to you to calm this sea for us?”
- עָמַד âmadtake one's stand, standtranslated this way 1 time of its 508 uses · Strong’s H5975Verb · Translated: stood 99, stand 95, standing 50, stands 12Full study and all 485 verses →
Greek words (New Testament)
- γαλήνη galḗnēa calmtranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G1055Noun · Translated: calm 3Full study and all 3 verses →
Matthew 8:26 “You of little faith,” Jesus replied, “why are you so afraid?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it was perfectly calm.
Mark 4:39 Then Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the sea. “Silence!” He commanded. “Be still!” And the wind died down, and it was perfectly calm.
- καταστέλλω katastéllōI appease, restraintranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s G2687Verb · Translated: quieted 1, calm 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Acts 19:36 Since these things are undeniable, you ought to be calm and not do anything rash.
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.