Word study
Clear
6 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: clear, cleared, clears. 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 “clear” 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)
- יָצָא yâtsâgo or come outtranslated this way 2 times of its 1,035 uses · Strong’s H3318Verb · Translated: brought 108, went 103, go 82, came 78Full study and all 975 verses →
Leviticus 26:10 You will still be eating the old supply of grain when you need to clear it out to make room for the new.
- בָּרָא bârâshape, createtranslated this way 2 times of its 54 uses · Strong’s H1254Verb · Translated: created 30, create 9, Creator 3, creation 2Full study and all 47 verses →
Joshua 17:15 Joshua answered them, “If you have so many people that the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, go to the forest and clear for yourself an area in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim.”
Joshua 17:18 because the hill country will be yours as well. It is a forest; clear it, and its farthest limits will be yours. Although the Canaanites have iron chariots and although they are strong, you can drive them out.”
- תָּמִים tâmîmcomplete, soundtranslated this way 2 times of its 91 uses · Strong’s H8549Adjective · Translated: unblemished 39, blameless 16, without blemish 11, perfect 6Full study and all 85 verses →
2 Samuel 22:33 God is my strong fortress, and He makes my way clear.
Psalm 18:32 It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way clear.
- פָּלַס pâlasweigh, make leveltranslated this way 2 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s H6424Verb · Translated: mete 1, cleared 1, Make a level 1, consider 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Psalm 78:50 He cleared a path for His anger; He did not spare them from death but delivered their lives to the plague.
Isaiah 26:7 The path of the righteous is level; You clear a straight path for the upright.
- סָקַל sâqalstone, put to death by stoningtranslated this way 2 times of its 20 uses · Strong’s H5619Verb · Translated: stoned 6, stone 6, surely be stoned 2, threw stones 2Full study and all 20 verses →
Isaiah 5:2 He dug it up and cleared the stones and planted the finest vines. He built a watchtower in the middle and dug out a winepress as well. He waited for the vineyard to yield good grapes, but the fruit it produced was sour!
Isaiah 62:10 Go out, go out through the gates; prepare the way for the people! Build it up, build up the highway; clear away the stones; raise a banner for the nations!
- פָּנָה pânâhturntranslated this way 2 times of its 128 uses · Strong’s H6437Verb · Translated: turned 27, turn 21, facing 11, turn back 4Full study and all 122 verses →
Leviticus 14:36 The priest must order that the house be cleared before he enters it to examine the mildew, so that nothing in the house will become unclean. After this, the priest shall go in to inspect the house.
Psalm 80:9 You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land.
Greek words (New Testament)
- φανερόω phaneróōI make clear, visible, or manifesttranslated this way 6 times of its 49 uses · Strong’s G5319Verb · Translated: revealed 17, appeared 6, appears 4, made 3Full study and all 43 verses →
2 Corinthians 3:3 It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they did not belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But their departure made it clear that none of them belonged to us.
- ἀγαθός agathósgoodtranslated this way 3 times of its 99 uses · Strong’s G18Adjective · Translated: good 79, good things 7, clear 3, anything good 2Full study and all 88 verses →
1 Timothy 1:5 The goal of our instruction is the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith.
1 Peter 3:16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who slander you may be put to shame by your good behavior in Christ.
- διακαθαρίζω diakatharízōI cleanse thoroughlytranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G1245Verb · Translated: clear 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Matthew 3:12 His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Luke 3:17 His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
- φανερός phanerósapparent, clear, visible, manifest, clearlytranslated this way 2 times of its 18 uses · Strong’s G5318Adjective · Translated: known 3, light 2, clear 2, evident 2Full study and all 16 verses →
Acts 4:16 “What shall we do with these men?” they asked. “It is clear to everyone living in Jerusalem that a remarkable miracle has occurred through them, and we cannot deny it.
Philippians 1:13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.
- καθαρός katharósclean, pure, unstainedtranslated this way 2 times of its 27 uses · Strong’s G2513Adjective · Translated: pure 14, clean 9, innocent 2, clear 2Full study and all 23 verses →
1 Timothy 3:9 They must hold to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.
2 Timothy 1:3 I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience as did my forefathers, as I constantly remember you night and day in my prayers.
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.