Word study
Cost
10 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: cost, costs. 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 “cost” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- נֶפֶשׁ nepheshsoul, living being, life, self, person, desire, appetite, emotion, and passiontranslated this way 2 times of its 666 uses · Strong’s H5315Noun · Translated: soul 178, life 119, lives 30, person 22Full study and all 622 verses →
Numbers 16:38 As for the censers of those who sinned at the cost of their own lives, hammer them into sheets to overlay the altar, for these were presented before the LORD, and so have become holy. They will serve as a sign to the Israelites.”
- חִנָּם chinnâmout of favourtranslated this way 2 times of its 31 uses · Strong’s H2600Adverb · Translated: without cause 12, nothing 3, needless 2, cost me nothing 2Full study and all 30 verses →
2 Samuel 24:24 “No,” replied the king, “I insist on paying a price, for I will not offer to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
1 Chronicles 21:24 “No,” replied King David, “I insist on paying the full price, for I will not take for the LORD what belongs to you, nor will I offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”
- נִפְקָא niphqâoutgo, expensetranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H5313Noun · Translated: costs 1, cost 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Ezra 6:4 with three layers of cut stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid from the royal treasury.
Ezra 6:8 I hereby decree what you must do for these elders of the Jews who are rebuilding this house of God: The cost is to be paid in full to these men from the royal treasury out of the taxes of the provinces west of the Euphrates, so that the work will not be hindered.
- טׇהֳרָה ṭohŏrâhpurifying, cleansingtranslated this way 1 time of its 15 uses · Strong’s H2893Noun · Translated: purification 6, cleansing 6, cost of his cleansing 1, according to the purification 1Full study and all 14 verses →
Leviticus 14:32 This is the law for someone who has a skin disease and cannot afford the cost of his cleansing.”
- בְּכוֹר bekôrfirst-borntranslated this way 1 time of its 117 uses · Strong’s H1060Noun · Translated: firstborn 102, firstborn son 4, firstborn male 3, well as the firstborn 2Full study and all 98 verses →
Joshua 6:26 At that time Joshua invoked this solemn oath: “Cursed before the LORD is the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho; at the cost of his firstborn he will lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates.”
- צָעִיר tsâîrlittle, insignificant, youngtranslated this way 1 time of its 23 uses · Strong’s H6810Adjective · Translated: younger 6, youngest 4, little 4Full study and all 23 verses →
Joshua 6:26 At that time Joshua invoked this solemn oath: “Cursed before the LORD is the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho; at the cost of his firstborn he will lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates.”
- אֲבִירָם ĂbîrâmAbiramtranslated this way 1 time of its 11 uses · Strong’s H48Noun · Translated: Abiram 10, cost of abiram 1Full study and all 9 verses →
1 Kings 16:34 In Ahab’s days, Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho. At the cost of Abiram his firstborn he laid its foundation, and at the cost of Segub his youngest he set up its gates, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through Joshua son of Nun.
- שְׂגוּב SegûbSegubtranslated this way 1 time of its 3 uses · Strong’s H7687Noun · Translated: Segub 2, cost of segub 1Full study and all 3 verses →
1 Kings 16:34 In Ahab’s days, Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho. At the cost of Abiram his firstborn he laid its foundation, and at the cost of Segub his youngest he set up its gates, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through Joshua son of Nun.
- רֹאשׁ rôshheadtranslated this way 1 time of its 570 uses · Strong’s H7218Noun · Translated: head 200, heads 113, chief 31, top 29Full study and all 530 verses →
1 Chronicles 12:19 Some from Manasseh defected to David when he went with the Philistines to fight against Saul. (They did not help the Philistines because the Philistine rulers consulted and sent David away, saying, “It will cost us our heads if he defects to his master Saul.”)
- מְחִיר mechîrprice, hiretranslated this way 1 time of its 12 uses · Strong’s H4242Noun · Translated: price 6Full study and all 12 verses →
Isaiah 55:1 “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!
Greek words (New Testament)
- δαπάνη dapánēcost, expensetranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G1160Noun · Translated: cost 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Luke 14:28 Which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has the resources to complete it?
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.