Word study
Council
2 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: council, councils. 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 “council” 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)
- סוֹד sôdcouncil, counseltranslated this way 7 times of its 20 uses · Strong’s H5475Noun · Translated: council 7Full study and all 20 verses →
Genesis 49:6 May I never enter their council; may I never join their assembly. For they kill men in their anger, and hamstring oxen on a whim.
Job 15:8 Do you listen in on the council of God or limit wisdom to yourself?
- מוֹשָׁב môshâbseat, assembly, dwelling-place, dwelling, dwellerstranslated this way 1 time of its 42 uses · Strong’s H4186Noun · Translated: live 9, dwellings 4, seat 4, settlements 4Full study and all 42 verses →
Psalm 107:32 Let them exalt Him in the assembly of the people and praise Him in the council of the elders.
Greek words (New Testament)
- βουλευτής bouleutḗsa member of a city council, of the Sanhedrintranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G1010Noun · Translated: Council member 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Mark 15:43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent Council member who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God, boldly went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus.
Luke 23:50 Now there was a Council member named Joseph, a good and righteous man,
- πρεσβυτέριον presbytérionan assembly of elderstranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G4244Noun · Translated: council of the elders 1, Council 1, elders 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Luke 22:66 At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and scribes, met together. They led Jesus into their Sanhedrin and said,
Acts 22:5 as the high priest and the whole Council can testify about me. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and I was on my way to apprehend these people and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished.
- συνέδριον synédriona council, the Sanhedrintranslated this way 2 times of its 22 uses · Strong’s G4892Noun · Translated: Sanhedrin 20, councils 2Full study and all 22 verses →
Matthew 10:17 But beware of men, for they will hand you over to their councils and flog you in their synagogues.
Mark 13:9 So be on your guard. You will be delivered over to the councils and beaten in the synagogues. On My account you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them.
- πλῆθος plēthosa multitudetranslated this way 1 time of its 31 uses · Strong’s G4128Noun · Translated: number 5, crowd 4, multitude 4, congregation 2Full study and all 31 verses →
Luke 23:1 Then the whole council rose and led Jesus away to Pilate.
- συμβούλιον symboúliona council, advicetranslated this way 1 time of its 3 uses · Strong’s G4824Noun · Translated: conspired 1, plan 1, council 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Acts 25:12 Then Festus conferred with his council and replied, “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”
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 council: 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.