Word study
Confidence
4 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “confidence”. 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 “confidence” 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)
- מִבְטָח mibṭâchconfidencetranslated this way 4 times of its 15 uses · Strong’s H4009Noun · Translated: trust 4, confidence 4, security 2Full study and all 15 verses →
Psalm 71:5 For You are my hope, O Lord GOD, my confidence from my youth.
Proverbs 14:26 He who fears the LORD is secure in confidence, and his children shall have a place of refuge.
- כֶּסֶל keselloinstranslated this way 3 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s H3689Noun · Translated: loins 6, confidence 3, waistline 1, trust 1Full study and all 13 verses →
Job 8:14 His confidence is fragile; his security is in a spider’s web.
Psalm 78:7 that they should put their confidence in God, not forgetting His works, but keeping His commandments.
- בָּטַח bâṭachtrusttranslated this way 2 times of its 120 uses · Strong’s H982Verb · Translated: trust 51, trusts 15, trusted 11, trusting 6Full study and all 117 verses →
Judges 9:26 Meanwhile, Gaal son of Ebed came with his brothers and crossed into Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem put their confidence in him.
2 Chronicles 32:10 “This is what Sennacherib king of Assyria says: What is the basis of your confidence, that you remain in Jerusalem under siege?
- בִּטָּחוֹן biṭṭâchôntrusttranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H986Noun · Translated: confidence 2, hope 1Full study and all 3 verses →
2 Kings 18:19 The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours?
Isaiah 36:4 The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours?
Greek words (New Testament)
- παῤῥησία parrhēsíafreedom, confidencetranslated this way 10 times of its 30 uses · Strong’s G3954Noun · Translated: confidence 10, publicly 4, plainly 4, boldness 3Full study and all 30 verses →
Acts 2:29 Brothers, I can tell you with confidence that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
2 Corinthians 7:4 Great is my confidence in you; great is my pride in you; I am filled with encouragement; in all our troubles my joy overflows.
- πείθω peíthōI persuade, urgetranslated this way 4 times of its 50 uses · Strong’s G3982Verb · Translated: convinced 10, confident 6, persuaded 4, trusted 2Full study and all 50 verses →
2 Corinthians 2:3 I wrote as I did so that on my arrival I would not be grieved by those who ought to make me rejoice. I had confidence in all of you, that you would share my joy.
Philippians 3:3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh —
- πεποίθησις pepoíthēsisconfidence, trusttranslated this way 3 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s G4006Noun · Translated: confidence 3, Confident 1, by 1, bold 1Full study and all 6 verses →
2 Corinthians 3:4 Such confidence before God is ours through Christ.
Ephesians 3:12 In Him and through faith in Him we may enter God’s presence with boldness and confidence.
- θαῤῥέω tharrhéōI am courageous, of good cheertranslated this way 2 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s G2292Verb · Translated: always confident 1, confident 1, complete confidence 1, bold 1Full study and all 6 verses →
2 Corinthians 7:16 I rejoice that I can have complete confidence in you.
Hebrews 13:6 So we say with confidence: “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
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 confidence: 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.