Word study
Danger
7 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: danger, dangers. 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 “danger” 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)
- רַע rabad, eviltranslated this way 2 times of its 651 uses · Strong’s H7451Adjective · Translated: evil 263, disaster 72, harm 38, wicked 31Full study and all 615 verses →
Proverbs 22:3 The prudent see danger and take cover, but the simple keep going and suffer the consequences.
Proverbs 27:12 The prudent see danger and take cover, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.
- צַר tsarnarrow, tighttranslated this way 1 time of its 110 uses · Strong’s H6862Noun · Translated: enemies 22, foes 22, distress 18, enemy 10Full study and all 106 verses →
1 Samuel 13:6 Seeing that they were in danger because their troops were hard-pressed, the men of Israel hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in cellars and cisterns.
- דָּבָר dâbârspeech, wordtranslated this way 1 time of its 1,244 uses · Strong’s H1697Noun · Translated: word 342, words 299, acts 51, Chronicles 42Full study and all 1,120 verses →
- הַוָּה havvâhdesiretranslated this way 1 time of its 15 uses · Strong’s H1942Noun · Translated: destruction 6Full study and all 15 verses →
Psalm 57:1 For the choirmaster. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David, when he fled from Saul into the cave. Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy, for in You my soul takes refuge. In the shadow of Your wings I will take shelter until the danger has passed.
- פַּחַד pachaddreadtranslated this way 1 time of its 49 uses · Strong’s H6343Noun · Translated: fear 15, terror 12, dread 10, panic 3Full study and all 48 verses →
Proverbs 3:25 Do not fear sudden danger or the ruin that overtakes the wicked,
- חָשַׁב châshabthink, accounttranslated this way 1 time of its 118 uses · Strong’s H2803Verb · Translated: considered 10, regarded 7, devise 7, devised 6Full study and all 117 verses →
Jonah 1:4 Then the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship was in danger of breaking apart.
- חַתְחַת chathchathterrortranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H2849Noun · Translated: dangers 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Ecclesiastes 12:5 when men fear the heights and dangers of the road, when the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper loses its spring, and the caper berry shrivels — for then man goes to his eternal home and mourners walk the streets.
Greek words (New Testament)
- κίνδυνος kíndynosdanger, peril, risktranslated this way 5 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G2794Noun · Translated: danger 5Full study and all 2 verses →
Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
2 Corinthians 11:26 In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers,
- κινδυνεύω kindyneúōI am in dangertranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G2793Verb · Translated: great danger 1, danger 1, jeopardy 1, endanger 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Luke 8:23 As they sailed, He fell asleep, and a windstorm came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.
Acts 19:27 There is danger not only that our business will fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited and her majesty deposed — she who is worshiped by all the province of Asia and the whole world.”
- θάνατος thánatosdeathtranslated this way 1 time of its 114 uses · Strong’s G2288Noun · Translated: death 104, death sentence 2, died 2, mortal 2Full study and all 103 verses →
2 Corinthians 11:23 Are they servants of Christ? (I am speaking as if I were out of my mind.) I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death.
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.