Word study
Closer
5 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “closer”. 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 “closer” 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)
- נָגַשׁ nâgashdraw near, approachtranslated this way 1 time of its 123 uses · Strong’s H5066Verb · Translated: approached 24, approach 12, come near 9, Bring 9Full study and all 110 verses →
Genesis 27:21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so I can touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau, or not?”
- הֲלֹם hălômof place, hithertranslated this way 1 time of its 12 uses · Strong’s H1988Adverb · Translated: here 5, far 2Full study and all 12 verses →
Exodus 3:5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”
- קָרֵב qârêbapproachingtranslated this way 1 time of its 11 uses · Strong’s H7131Adjective · Translated: comes near 2Full study and all 11 verses →
1 Samuel 17:41 Now the Philistine came closer and closer to David, with his shield-bearer before him.
- אֵל êlmotion totranslated this way 1 time of its 4,199 uses · Strong’s H413Preposition · Translated: to 1,941, to me 285, to you 149, to him 137Full study and all 3,455 verses →
- דָּבֵק dâbêqclinging, cleavingtranslated this way 1 time of its 3 uses · Strong’s H1695Adjective · Translated: held fast 1, touched 1, stays closer 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Proverbs 18:24 A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother.
Greek words (New Testament)
- παρίστημι parístēmiI bring, present, come up to and stand bytranslated this way 1 time of its 41 uses · Strong’s G3936Verb · Translated: present 9, standing nearby 6, stand 3, presented 3Full study and all 39 verses →
1 Corinthians 8:8 But food does not bring us closer to God: We are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.
- προσέχω proséchōI pay attention to, devote myself totranslated this way 1 time of its 24 uses · Strong’s G4337Verb · Translated: Beware 7, paid close attention 2, devote 2, Watch 2Full study and all 24 verses →
Hebrews 2:1 We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
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.