Word study
Choice
14 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “choice”. 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 “choice” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- טוֹב ṭôbpleasant, agreeable, goodtranslated this way 2 times of its 538 uses · Strong’s H2896Adjective · Translated: good 249, better 72, prosperity 19, good things 12Full study and all 499 verses →
Genesis 18:7 Meanwhile, Abraham ran to the herd, selected a tender and choice calf, and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it.
Genesis 27:9 Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so that I can make them into a tasty dish for your father— the kind he loves.
- מִבְחָר mibchârchoicest, besttranslated this way 2 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s H4005Noun · Translated: choicest 4, finest 3, choice 2, best 1Full study and all 12 verses →
Deuteronomy 12:11 then the LORD your God will choose a dwelling for His Name. And there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice offerings you vow to the LORD.
Ezekiel 24:4 Put in the pieces of meat, every good piece— thigh and shoulder — fill it with choice bones.
- בָּרַר bârarpurify, selecttranslated this way 2 times of its 18 uses · Strong’s H1305Verb · Translated: pure 3, show yourself pure 2, choice 2, chosen 2Full study and all 16 verses →
1 Chronicles 7:40 All these were the descendants of Asher — heads of their families, choice and mighty men of valor, and chiefs among the leaders. The number of men fit for battle, recorded in their genealogies, was 26,000.
Nehemiah 5:18 Each day one ox, six choice sheep, and some fowl were prepared for me, and once every ten days an abundance of all kinds of wine was provided. But I did not demand the food allotted to the governor, because the burden on the people was so heavy.
- בָּחַר bâcharchoosetranslated this way 2 times of its 171 uses · Strong’s H977Verb · Translated: chosen 73, choose 44, chose 21, chooses 6Full study and all 163 verses →
Proverbs 8:19 My fruit is better than gold, pure gold, and my harvest surpasses choice silver.
Proverbs 10:20 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked has little worth.
- לָהַם lâhamswallow greedilytranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H3859Verb · Translated: like choice morsels 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Proverbs 18:8 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels that go down into the inmost being.
Proverbs 26:22 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels that go down into the inmost being.
- לֹא lônottranslated this way 1 time of its 4,657 uses · Strong’s H3808Adverb · Translated: no 309, not 269, never 218, will not 156Full study and all 3,775 verses →
Genesis 24:50 Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the LORD; we have no choice in the matter.
- מֶגֶד megedexcellencetranslated this way 1 time of its 8 uses · Strong’s H4022Noun · Translated: choicest 2Full study and all 7 verses →
Deuteronomy 33:16 with the choice gifts of the land and everything in it, and with the favor of Him who dwelt in the burning bush. May these rest on the head of Joseph and crown the brow of the prince of his brothers.
- בָּחוּר bâchûryoung mantranslated this way 1 time of its 44 uses · Strong’s H970Noun · Translated: young men 33, young man 4Full study and all 43 verses →
1 Samuel 9:2 And he had a son named Saul, choice and handsome, without equal among the Israelites — a head taller than any of the people.
- שֶׁמֶן shemenfat, oiltranslated this way 1 time of its 191 uses · Strong’s H8081Noun · Translated: oil 144, olive oil 22, olive 4, perfume 3Full study and all 175 verses →
Isaiah 25:6 On this mountain the LORD of Hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all the peoples, a feast of aged wine, of choice meat, of finely aged wine.
- כֹּל kôlthe whole, alltranslated this way 1 time of its 5,107 uses · Strong’s H3605Noun · Translated: all 1,589, and all 471, whole 223, every 196Full study and all 4,112 verses →
- מִבְרָח mibrâch(flight) fugitivetranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H4015Noun · Translated: choice 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Ezekiel 17:21 All his choice troops will fall by the sword, and those who survive will be scattered to every wind. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken.’
- רֵאשִׁית rêshîthbeginning, chieftranslated this way 1 time of its 49 uses · Strong’s H7225Noun · Translated: firstfruits 12, beginning 11, best 7, first 6Full study and all 47 verses →
Ezekiel 20:40 For on My holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the Lord GOD, there the whole house of Israel, all of them, will serve Me in the land. There I will accept them and will require your offerings and choice gifts, along with all your holy sacrifices.
- פַּתְבַּג pathbagportiontranslated this way 1 time of its 6 uses · Strong’s H6598Noun · Translated: food 4, choice food 1, provisions 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Daniel 1:16 So the steward continued to withhold their choice food and the wine they were to drink, and he gave them vegetables instead.
- בָּרִיא bârîfattranslated this way 1 time of its 12 uses · Strong’s H1277Adjective · Translated: well-fed 5, plump 2Full study and all 12 verses →
Zechariah 11:16 For behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will neither care for the lost, nor seek the young, nor heal the broken, nor sustain the healthy, but he will devour the flesh of the choice sheep and tear off their hooves.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἐκλέγομαι eklégomaiI choose, electtranslated this way 1 time of its 22 uses · Strong’s G1586Verb · Translated: chosen 9, chose 9, choose 2, made a choice 1Full study and all 20 verses →
Acts 15:7 After much discussion, Peter got up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you that the Gentiles would hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe.
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.
What the Bible says about choice: passages by topic →
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.