Word study

Debate

5 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: debating, debate, debated. 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 “debate” or one of its forms.

Compare the Greek words side by side

Greek words (New Testament)

  • διαλογίζομαι dialogízomaiI reason, debate, considertranslated this way 2 times of its 16 uses · Strong’s G1260Verb  ·  Translated: thinking 5, discussed 2, debating 2, deliberated 2

    Matthew 16:8 Aware of their conversation, Jesus said, “You of little faith, why are you debating among yourselves about having no bread?

    Mark 8:17 Aware of their conversation, Jesus asked them, “Why are you debating about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Do you have such hard hearts?

    Full study and all 15 verses →
  • συζητέω syzētéōI seek together, discuss, disputetranslated this way 2 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s G4802Verb  ·  Translated: began to ask 1, argue 1, discussing 1, arguing 1

    Mark 12:28 Now one of the scribes had come up and heard their debate. Noticing how well Jesus had answered them, he asked Him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”

    Acts 9:29 He talked and debated with the Grecian Jews, but they tried to kill him.

    Full study and all 10 verses →
  • διαλέγομαι dialégomaiI converse, address, preach, lecturetranslated this way 1 time of its 12 uses · Strong’s G1256Verb  ·  Translated: reasoned 4, arguing 2, talked 2

    Acts 24:12 Yet my accusers did not find me debating with anyone in the temple or riling up a crowd in the synagogues or in the city.

    Full study and all 12 verses →
  • ζήτησις zḗtēsisa question, debate, controversytranslated this way 1 time of its 8 uses · Strong’s G2214Noun  ·  Translated: speculation 2, controversies 2, dispute 1, debate 1

    Acts 15:2 And after engaging these men in sharp debate, Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers , to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.

    Full study and all 8 verses →
  • συμβάλλω symbállōI ponder, encounter, confer or dispute withtranslated this way 1 time of its 5 uses · Strong’s G4820Verb  ·  Translated: pondered 1, conferred 1, began to debate 1, help 1

    Acts 17:18 Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others said, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was proclaiming the good news of Jesus and the resurrection.

    Full study and all 5 verses →
How to study a word well
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
  4. 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.
  5. See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
  6. Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
  7. 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. Short definition: Dodson Greek Lexicon (2010, public domain). Full entry: G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922, public domain). Strong’s Greek Dictionary (1890) in the edition by Ulrik Sandborg-Petersen (CC0). 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.