Word study
Club
5 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: clubs, club. 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 “club” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- שֵׁבֶט shêbeṭrod, staff, club, sceptretranslated this way 2 times of its 168 uses · Strong’s H7626Noun · Translated: tribes 70, tribe 42, rod 22, scepter 14Full study and all 159 verses →
2 Samuel 23:21 He also struck down an Egyptian, a huge man. Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club, snatched the spear from his hand, and killed the Egyptian with his own spear.
1 Chronicles 11:23 He also struck down an Egyptian, a huge man five cubits tall. Although the Egyptian had a spear like a weaver’s beam in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club, snatched the spear from his hand, and killed the Egyptian with his own spear.
- תּוֹתָח tôthâchclub, macetranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H8455Noun · Translated: club 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Job 41:29 A club is regarded as straw, and he laughs at the sound of the lance.
- מֵפִיץ mêphîtsscatterer, dispersertranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H4650Noun · Translated: club 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Proverbs 25:18 Like a club or sword or sharp arrow is a man who bears false witness against his neighbor.
- מַפֵּץ mappêtswar-clubtranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H4661Noun · Translated: war club 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Jeremiah 51:20 “You are My war club, My weapon for battle. With you I shatter nations; with you I bring kingdoms to ruin.
- מַקֵּל maqqêlrod, stafftranslated this way 1 time of its 18 uses · Strong’s H4731Noun · Translated: staff 7, branches 5Full study and all 16 verses →
Ezekiel 39:9 Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out, kindle fires, and burn up the weapons— the bucklers and shields, the bows and arrows, the clubs and spears. For seven years they will use them for fuel.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ξύλον xýlona staff, cross, anything made of woodtranslated this way 5 times of its 20 uses · Strong’s G3586Noun · Translated: tree 10, clubs 5, wood 3, stocks 1Full study and all 18 verses →
Matthew 26:47 While Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived, accompanied by a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and elders of the people.
Mark 14:43 While Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived, accompanied by a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, scribes, and elders.
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.