Word study
Close
12 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: close, closed, closing. 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 “close” 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)
- סָגַר sâgarshut, closetranslated this way 12 times of its 90 uses · Strong’s H5462Verb · Translated: shut 23, closed 9, isolate 8, delivered 8Full study and all 87 verses →
Genesis 2:21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the area with flesh.
Leviticus 14:38 the priest shall go outside the doorway of the house and close it up for seven days.
- נָגַשׁ nâgashdraw near, approachtranslated this way 4 times of its 123 uses · Strong’s H5066Verb · Translated: approached 24, approach 12, come near 9, Bring 9Full study and all 110 verses →
Genesis 27:22 So Jacob came close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”
2 Samuel 11:20 if the king’s anger flares, he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Did you not realize they would shoot from atop the wall?
- שְׁאֵר sheêrfleshtranslated this way 4 times of its 16 uses · Strong’s H7607Noun · Translated: close relative 4, flesh 3, meat 2Full study and all 16 verses →
Leviticus 18:6 None of you are to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the LORD.
Leviticus 18:12 You must not have sexual relations with your father’s sister; she is your father’s close relative.
- דָּבַק dâbaqcling, cleave, keep closetranslated this way 4 times of its 54 uses · Strong’s H1692Verb · Translated: cling 12, hold fast 6, overtook 4, clung 3Full study and all 52 verses →
Ruth 2:8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Do not go and glean in another field, and do not go away from this place, but stay here close to my servant girls.
1 Samuel 14:22 When all the Israelites who had been hiding in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they also joined the battle in close pursuit.
- עָצָר âtsârrestrain, retaintranslated this way 3 times of its 44 uses · Strong’s H6113Verb · Translated: halted 6, slave 5, shut 4, confined 3Full study and all 44 verses →
Genesis 20:18 for on account of Abraham’s wife Sarah, the LORD had completely closed all the wombs in Abimelech’s household.
2 Chronicles 7:13 If I close the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send a plague among My people,
- עֻמָּה ummâhjuxtapositiontranslated this way 3 times of its 31 uses · Strong’s H5980Preposition-l · Translated: close 3, as 3, beside 3, near 2Full study and all 26 verses →
Exodus 25:27 The rings are to be close to the rim, to serve as holders for the poles used to carry the table.
Leviticus 3:9 And from the peace offering he shall bring a food offering to the LORD consisting of its fat: the entire fat tail cut off close to the backbone, the fat that covers the entrails, all the fat that is on them,
- סָתַם sâthamstop up, shut up, keep closetranslated this way 2 times of its 14 uses · Strong’s H5640Verb · Translated: stopped 4, closed 2Full study and all 14 verses →
Nehemiah 4:7 When Sanballat and Tobiah, together with the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites, heard that the repair to the walls of Jerusalem was progressing and that the gaps were being closed, they were furious,
Daniel 12:9 “Go on your way, Daniel,” he replied, “for the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end.
- שִׁית shîthput, settranslated this way 2 times of its 80 uses · Strong’s H7896Verb · Translated: set 13, make 7, put 6, placed 5Full study and all 78 verses →
Genesis 46:4 I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will surely bring you back. And Joseph’s own hands will close your eyes.”
Proverbs 27:23 Be sure to know the state of your flocks, and pay close attention to your herds;
- קָרַב qârabcome near, approachtranslated this way 2 times of its 276 uses · Strong’s H7126Verb · Translated: present 65, bring 18, approached 16, presented 14Full study and all 258 verses →
Deuteronomy 2:19 But when you get close to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the Ammonites. I have given it to the descendants of Lot as their possession.”
Ezekiel 22:4 you are guilty of the blood you have shed, and you are defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close and have come to the end of your years. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations and a mockery to all the lands.
- יָדַע yâdaknowtranslated this way 2 times of its 914 uses · Strong’s H3045Verb · Translated: know 453, known 53, knows 48, knew 38Full study and all 863 verses →
- אֵת êthwithtranslated this way 2 times of its 640 uses · Strong’s H854Preposition · Translated: with 144, with you 64, with him 62, with me 35Full study and all 585 verses →
2 Kings 11:8 You must surround the king with weapons in hand, and anyone who approaches the ranks must be put to death. You must stay close to the king wherever he goes.”
2 Chronicles 23:7 The Levites must surround the king with weapons in hand, and anyone who enters the temple must be put to death. You must stay close to the king wherever he goes.”
- אַלּוּף allûphtametranslated this way 2 times of its 31 uses · Strong’s H441Noun · Translated: chiefs 18, companion 2Full study and all 25 verses →
Proverbs 16:28 A perverse man spreads dissension, and a gossip divides close friends.
Jeremiah 13:21 What will you say when He sets over you close allies whom you yourself trained? Will not pangs of anguish grip you, as they do a woman in labor?
Greek words (New Testament)
- καμμύω kammýōI closetranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G2576Verb · Translated: closed 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Matthew 13:15 For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’
Acts 28:27 For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’
- προσέχω proséchōI pay attention to, devote myself totranslated this way 2 times of its 24 uses · Strong’s G4337Verb · Translated: Beware 7, paid close attention 2, devote 2, Watch 2Full study and all 24 verses →
Acts 8:6 The crowds all paid close attention to Philip’s message and to the signs they saw him perform.
Acts 8:11 They paid close attention to him because he had astounded them for a long time with his sorcery.
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.