Word study
Cloud
6 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: cloud, clouds. 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 “cloud” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- עָנָן ânâncloud-mass, cloudtranslated this way 82 times of its 87 uses · Strong’s H6051Noun · Translated: cloud 61, clouds 13, like a cloud 2, mist 2Full study and all 80 verses →
Genesis 9:13 I have set My rainbow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.
Exodus 13:21 And the LORD went before them in a pillar of cloud to guide their way by day, and in a pillar of fire to give them light by night, so that they could travel by day or night.
- עָב âbdark cloud, cloud-mass, thickettranslated this way 28 times of its 30 uses · Strong’s H5645Noun · Translated: clouds 18, cloud 3, like a cloud 3, thick clouds 2Full study and all 30 verses →
Judges 5:4 O LORD, when You went out from Seir, when You marched from the land of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens poured out rain, and the clouds poured down water.
2 Samuel 22:12 He made darkness a canopy around Him, a gathering of water and thick clouds.
- שַׁחַק shachaqdust, cloudtranslated this way 11 times of its 19 uses · Strong’s H7834Noun · Translated: clouds 11, skies 6, sky 1, speck of dust 1Full study and all 19 verses →
Deuteronomy 33:26 “There is none like the God of Jeshurun, who rides the heavens to your aid, and the clouds in His majesty.
Job 35:5 Look to the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds high above you.
- עֲרָפֶל ărâphelcloud, heavy cloudtranslated this way 4 times of its 15 uses · Strong’s H6205Noun · Translated: thick darkness 5, dark clouds 2, thick cloud 2, darkness 2Full study and all 15 verses →
2 Samuel 22:10 He parted the heavens and came down with dark clouds beneath His feet.
1 Kings 8:12 Then Solomon declared: “The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud.
- נָשִׂיא nâsîone lifted uptranslated this way 4 times of its 126 uses · Strong’s H5387Noun · Translated: leader 44, leaders 29, prince 26, princes 9Full study and all 119 verses →
Psalm 135:7 He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He generates the lightning with the rain and brings forth the wind from His storehouses.
Proverbs 25:14 Like clouds and wind without rain is the man who boasts of gifts never given.
- עֲבֹת ăbôth(twisted) cord, rope; cordage; interwoven foliage (?)translated this way 3 times of its 22 uses · Strong’s H5688Noun · Translated: ropes 8, chains 5, cords 3, clouds 3Full study and all 22 verses →
Ezekiel 31:3 Look at Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches that shaded the forest. It towered on high; its top was among the clouds.
Ezekiel 31:10 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Since it became great in height and set its top among the clouds, and it grew proud on account of its height,
Greek words (New Testament)
- νεφέλη nephélēa cloudtranslated this way 25 times of its 25 uses · Strong’s G3507Noun · Translated: cloud 18, clouds 7Full study and all 21 verses →
Matthew 17:5 While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”
Mark 9:7 Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him!”
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 cloud: 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.