Word study
Decision
7 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: decision, decisions. 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 “decision” 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)
- מִשְׁפָּט mishpâṭjudgmenttranslated this way 3 times of its 406 uses · Strong’s H4941Noun · Translated: justice 111, ordinances 73, judgments 40, judgment 40Full study and all 394 verses →
2 Samuel 15:2 He would get up early and stand beside the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone had a grievance to bring before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out and ask, “What city are you from?” And if he replied, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel,”
- חֲרוּץ chărûtssharp, diligenttranslated this way 2 times of its 19 uses · Strong’s H2742Noun · Translated: gold 5, diligent 5, decision 2Full study and all 18 verses →
Joel 3:14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the Day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
- 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 →
Deuteronomy 17:11 according to the terms of law they give and the verdict they proclaim. Do not turn aside to the right or to the left from the decision they declare to you.
- רְעוּת reûthdesiretranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s H7470Noun · Translated: decision 1, according 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Ezra 5:17 Now, therefore, if it pleases the king, let a search be made of the royal archives in Babylon to see if King Cyrus did indeed issue a decree to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us his decision in this matter.
- פְּלִילָה pelîlâhoffice of judge or umpiretranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H6415Noun · Translated: decision 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Isaiah 16:3 “Give us counsel; render a decision. Shelter us at noonday with shade as dark as night. Hide the refugees; do not betray the one who flees.
- פִּתְגָּם pithgâmcommand, word, affairtranslated this way 1 time of its 6 uses · Strong’s H6600Noun · Translated: reply 1, report 1, answer 1, directive 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Daniel 4:17 This decision is the decree of the watchers, the verdict declared by the holy ones, so that the living will know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes, setting over it the lowliest of men.’
- גָּזַר gâzarcut, dividetranslated this way 1 time of its 13 uses · Strong’s H1504Verb · Translated: cut 6Full study and all 13 verses →
Job 22:28 Your decisions will be carried out, and light will shine on your ways.
Greek words (New Testament)
- βουλή boulḗcounsel, deliberate wisdomtranslated this way 1 time of its 12 uses · Strong’s G1012Noun · Translated: purpose 4, will 2Full study and all 12 verses →
Luke 23:51 who had not consented to their decision or action. He was from the Judean town of Arimathea and was waiting for the kingdom of God.
- κρίνω krínōI judge, decide, think goodtranslated this way 1 time of its 114 uses · Strong’s G2919Verb · Translated: judge 43, judged 12, judges 7, decided 5Full study and all 98 verses →
Acts 21:25 As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they must abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality.”
- διάγνωσις diágnōsisjudicial examination, decisiontranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G1233Noun · Translated: decision 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Acts 25:21 But when Paul appealed to be held over for the decision of the Emperor, I ordered that he be held until I could send him to Caesar.”
- δόγμα dógmaa decree, edict, ordinancetranslated this way 1 time of its 5 uses · Strong’s G1378Noun · Translated: decrees 3, decree 1, decisions 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Acts 16:4 As they went from town to town, they delivered the decisions handed down by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey.
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 decision: 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.