Word study
Caravan
5 Hebrew words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: caravan, caravans. 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 “caravan” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- אֹרְחָה ôrechâhtravelling company, caravantranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H736Noun · Translated: caravan 1, caravans 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Genesis 37:25 And as they sat down to eat a meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh on their way down to Egypt.
Isaiah 21:13 This is the burden against Arabia: In the thickets of Arabia you must lodge, O caravans of Dedanites.
- חַיִל chayilstrength, efficiency, wealth, armytranslated this way 2 times of its 233 uses · Strong’s H2428Noun · Translated: army 73, valor 49, wealth 26, strength 9Full study and all 219 verses →
1 Kings 10:2 She arrived in Jerusalem with a very large caravan— with camels bearing spices, gold in great abundance, and precious stones. And she came to Solomon and spoke to him all that was on her mind.
2 Chronicles 9:1 Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon, she came to test him with difficult questions. She arrived in Jerusalem with a very large caravan— with camels bearing spices, gold in abundance, and precious stones. And she came to Solomon and spoke with him about all that was on her mind.
- אֹרַח ôrachway, pathtranslated this way 2 times of its 56 uses · Strong’s H734Noun · Translated: path 17, paths 15, way 5, ways 5Full study and all 56 verses →
Job 6:18 Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go into the wasteland and perish.
Job 6:19 The caravans of Tema look for water; the travelers of Sheba hope to find it.
- שָׁכַן shâkansettle down, abide, dwelltranslated this way 1 time of its 129 uses · Strong’s H7931Verb · Translated: dwell 45, dwelling 9, settle 8, settled 7Full study and all 124 verses →
Judges 8:11 And Gideon went up by way of the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he attacked their army, taking them by surprise.
- שִׁפְעָה shiphâhabundance, quantitytranslated this way 1 time of its 6 uses · Strong’s H8229Noun · Translated: flood 2, troops 1, company 1, Caravans 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Isaiah 60:6 Caravans of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah, and all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and frankincense and proclaiming the praises of the LORD.
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.