Word study
Crush
12 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: crushed, crush, crushing, crushes. 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 “crush” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- דָּכָא dâkâcrushtranslated this way 15 times of its 18 uses · Strong’s H1792Verb · Translated: crush 8, crushed 6, crushing 1, dejected 1Full study and all 18 verses →
Job 4:19 how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who can be crushed like a moth!
Psalm 72:4 May he vindicate the afflicted among the people; may he save the children of the needy and crush the oppressor.
- מָחַץ mâchatssmite through, wound severely, shattertranslated this way 7 times of its 14 uses · Strong’s H4272Verb · Translated: crush 4, crushed 3, shattered 2Full study and all 14 verses →
Numbers 24:17 I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come forth from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will crush the skulls of Moab and strike down all the sons of Sheth.
2 Samuel 22:39 I devoured and crushed them so they could not rise; they have fallen under my feet.
- רָצַץ râtsatscrushtranslated this way 6 times of its 19 uses · Strong’s H7533Verb · Translated: oppressed 6, crushed 4, splintered 3Full study and all 18 verses →
Deuteronomy 28:33 A people you do not know will eat the produce of your land and of all your toil. All your days you will be oppressed and crushed.
Judges 9:53 But a woman dropped an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head, crushing his skull.
- כָּתַת kâthathbeat, crush by beatingtranslated this way 5 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s H3807Verb · Translated: crushed 4, beat 3, routed 2, smashed to pieces 2Full study and all 17 verses →
Leviticus 22:24 You are not to present to the LORD an animal whose testicles are bruised, crushed, torn, or cut; you are not to sacrifice them in your land.
Deuteronomy 9:21 And I took that sinful thing, the calf you had made, and burned it in the fire. Then I crushed it and ground it to powder as fine as dust, and I cast it into the stream that came down from the mountain.
- דָּקַק dâqaqcrush, pulverise, thresh; be finetranslated this way 5 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s H1854Verb · Translated: powder 3, ground 3, crushed 2, crush 2Full study and all 12 verses →
2 Samuel 22:43 I ground them as the dust of the earth; I crushed and trampled them like mud in the streets.
2 Chronicles 15:16 King Asa also removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made a detestable Asherah pole. Asa chopped down the pole, crushed it, and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
- דְּקַק deqaqbe shattered, fall to piecestranslated this way 5 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s H1855Verb · Translated: crushed 3, shattered 2, shatter 2, shatters 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Daniel 2:34 As you watched, a stone was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them.
Daniel 6:24 At the command of the king, the men who had falsely accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the den of lions— they and their children and wives. And before they had reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.
- שָׁבַר shâbarbreak, break in piecestranslated this way 4 times of its 146 uses · Strong’s H7665Verb · Translated: broken 32, shattered 23, break 21, broke 10Full study and all 142 verses →
2 Chronicles 14:13 Then Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar. The Cushites fell and could not recover, for they were crushed before the LORD and His army. So the people of Judah carried off a great amount of plunder
Jeremiah 8:21 For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am crushed. I mourn; horror has gripped me.
- דָּכָה dâkâhid.translated this way 4 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s H1794Verb · Translated: crushed 4, contrite 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Psalm 10:10 They are crushed and beaten down; the helpless fall prey to his strength.
Psalm 38:8 I am numb and badly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart.
- שׁוּף shûphbruisetranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H7779Verb · Translated: crush 2, strike 1, hide 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Job 9:17 For He would crush me with a tempest and multiply my wounds without cause.
- הָמַם hâmammake a noise, move noisily, confuse, discomfittranslated this way 2 times of its 14 uses · Strong’s H2000Verb · Translated: routed 3Full study and all 14 verses →
Esther 9:24 For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the Pur (that is, the lot) to crush and destroy them.
Jeremiah 51:34 “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured me; he has crushed me. He has set me aside like an empty vessel; he has swallowed me like a monster; he filled his belly with my delicacies and vomited me out.
- רְעַע reacrush, shattertranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H7490Verb · Translated: crushes 1, crush 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Daniel 2:40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; for iron shatters and crushes all things, and like iron that crushes all things, it will shatter and crush all the others.
- גֶּרֶשׂ geresa crushingtranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H1643Noun · Translated: crushed 1, crushed grain 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Leviticus 2:14 If you bring a grain offering of firstfruits to the LORD, you shall offer crushed heads of new grain roasted on the fire.
Leviticus 2:16 The priest shall then burn the memorial portion of the crushed grain and the oil, together with all its frankincense, as a food offering to the LORD.’’
Greek words (New Testament)
- λικμάω likmáōI crush to powdertranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G3039Verb · Translated: crushed 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Matthew 21:44 He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”
Luke 20:18 Everyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”
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.