Word study
Chain
8 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: chains, chain, chained. 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 “chain” 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)
- עֲבֹת ăbôth(twisted) cord, rope; cordage; interwoven foliage (?)translated this way 5 times of its 22 uses · Strong’s H5688Noun · Translated: ropes 8, chains 5, cords 3, clouds 3Full study and all 22 verses →
Exodus 28:24 Then fasten the two gold chains to the two gold rings at the corners of the breastpiece,
Exodus 28:25 and fasten the other ends of the two chains to the two filigree settings, attaching them to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front.
- מוֹסֵר môsêrchastisement, halter, restrainttranslated this way 5 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s H4147Noun · Translated: chains 4, bonds 2, shackles 2, harness 1Full study and all 11 verses →
Psalm 2:3 “Let us break Their chains and cast away Their cords.”
Isaiah 52:2 Shake off your dust! Rise up and sit on your throne, O Jerusalem. Remove the chains from your neck, O captive Daughter of Zion.
- שַׁרְשְׁרָה sharsherâhchaintranslated this way 4 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s H8333Noun · Translated: chains 4, chainwork 2Full study and all 4 verses →
Exodus 28:14 and two chains of pure gold, made of braided cord work; and attach these chains to the settings.
2 Chronicles 3:5 He paneled the main room with cypress, which he overlaid with fine gold and decorated with palm trees and chains.
- זִיקָה zîqâhleaps, flash, arrowtranslated this way 4 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s H2131Noun · Translated: chains 4, firebrands 3Full study and all 6 verses →
Job 36:8 And if men are bound with chains, caught in cords of affliction,
Psalm 149:8 to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with shackles of iron,
- הַמְנִיךְ hamnîknecklacetranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H2002Noun · Translated: chain 3Full study and all 3 verses →
Daniel 5:7 The king called out for the enchanters, astrologers, and diviners to be brought in, and he said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this inscription and tells me its interpretation will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
Daniel 5:16 But I have heard about you, that you are able to give interpretations and solve difficult problems. Therefore, if you can read this inscription and give me its interpretation, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
- רָבִיד râbîdchaintranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H7242Noun · Translated: chain 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Genesis 41:42 Then Pharaoh removed the signet ring from his finger, put it on Joseph’s finger, clothed him in garments of fine linen, and placed a gold chain around his neck.
Ezekiel 16:11 I adorned you with jewelry, and I put bracelets on your wrists and a chain around your neck.
- נְחֹשֶׁת nechôshethcopper, bronzetranslated this way 2 times of its 139 uses · Strong’s H5178Noun · Translated: bronze 123, bronze shackles 5, copper 4Full study and all 119 verses →
Jeremiah 39:7 Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him with bronze chains to take him to Babylon.
Lamentations 3:7 He has walled me in so I cannot escape; He has weighed me down with chains.
- אֲזִקִּים ăziqqîmmanaclestranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H246Noun · Translated: chains 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Jeremiah 40:1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan captain of the guard had released him at Ramah, having found him bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon.
Jeremiah 40:4 But now, behold, I am freeing you today from the chains that were on your wrists. If it pleases you to come with me to Babylon, then come, and I will take care of you. But if it seems wrong to you to come with me to Babylon, go no farther. Look, the whole land is before you. Wherever it seems good and right to you, go there.”
Greek words (New Testament)
- δεσμόν desmóna bond, chaintranslated this way 14 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s G1199Noun · Translated: chains 13, imprisonment 2, bondage 1, chained 1Full study and all 17 verses →
Luke 8:29 For Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was bound with chains and shackles, he had broken the chains and been driven by the demon into solitary places.
Acts 16:26 Suddenly a strong earthquake shook the foundations of the prison. At once all the doors flew open and everyone’s chains came loose.
- ἅλυσις hálysisa light chaintranslated this way 11 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s G254Noun · Translated: chains 9, chain 2Full study and all 10 verses →
Mark 5:3 This man had been living in the tombs and could no longer be restrained, even with chains.
Luke 8:29 For Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was bound with chains and shackles, he had broken the chains and been driven by the demon into solitary places.
- δέω déōI bindtranslated this way 2 times of its 43 uses · Strong’s G1210Verb · Translated: bound 18, tied 4, bind 3, tie 2Full study and all 40 verses →
Colossians 4:3 as you pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.
2 Timothy 2:9 for which I suffer to the extent of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God cannot be chained!
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.