Word study
Deep
11 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “deep”. 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 “deep” 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)
- תְּהוֹם tehômdeep, sea, abysstranslated this way 18 times of its 36 uses · Strong’s H8415Noun · Translated: deep 16, depths 9, watery depths 3, ocean depths 2Full study and all 35 verses →
Genesis 1:2 Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
Deuteronomy 33:13 Concerning Joseph he said: “May his land be blessed by the LORD with the precious dew from heaven above and the deep waters that lie beneath,
- תַּרְדֵּמָה tardêmâhdeep sleeptranslated this way 7 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s H8639Noun · Translated: deep sleep 7Full study and all 7 verses →
Genesis 2:21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the area with flesh.
1 Samuel 26:12 So David took the spear and water jug by Saul’s head, and they departed. No one saw them or knew about it, nor did anyone wake up; they all remained asleep, because a deep sleep from the LORD had fallen on them.
- עָמֹק âmôqdeeptranslated this way 7 times of its 16 uses · Strong’s H6013Adjective · Translated: deeper 8, deep 5, deep things 1, mysterious 1Full study and all 16 verses →
Job 12:22 He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into light.
Proverbs 18:4 The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters; the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.
- צַלְמָוֶת tsalmâvethdeath-shadow, deep shadowtranslated this way 6 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s H6757Noun · Translated: shadow of death 5, darkness 3, gloom 2, deep shadow 2Full study and all 16 verses →
Job 10:22 to a land of utter darkness, of deep shadow and disorder, where even the light is like darkness.”
Jeremiah 13:16 Give glory to the LORD your God before He brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the dusky mountains. You wait for light, but He turns it into deep gloom and thick darkness.
- עָמַק âmaqbe deeptranslated this way 4 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s H6009Verb · Translated: deep 3, low 2, depths 1, dig deep 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Psalm 92:5 How great are Your works, O LORD, how deep are Your thoughts!
Isaiah 29:15 Woe to those who dig deep to hide their plans from the LORD. In darkness they do their works and say, “Who sees us, and who will know?”
- רַב rabmuch, many, greattranslated this way 3 times of its 445 uses · Strong’s H7227Adjective · Translated: many 171, great 65, captain 24, long 14Full study and all 426 verses →
2 Samuel 22:17 He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters.
Psalm 18:16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters.
- רֹחַב rôchabbreadth, widthtranslated this way 3 times of its 95 uses · Strong’s H7341Noun · Translated: wide 65, width 14, thick 3, deep 3Full study and all 88 verses →
Ezekiel 40:6 Then he came to the gate facing east and climbed its steps. He measured the threshold of the gate to be one rod deep.
Ezekiel 40:30 (The porticoes around the inner court were twenty-five cubits long and five cubits deep.)
- רָדַם râdambe in, or fall into, heavy sleeptranslated this way 3 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s H7290Verb · Translated: fell into a deep sleep 3, lay sleeping 1, lie stunned 1, sleeps 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Daniel 8:18 While he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep, with my face to the ground. Then he touched me, helped me to my feet,
Jonah 1:5 The sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the ship’s cargo into the sea to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down to the lowest part of the vessel, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.
- עֲרָפֶל ărâphelcloud, heavy cloudtranslated this way 2 times of its 15 uses · Strong’s H6205Noun · Translated: thick darkness 5, dark clouds 2, thick cloud 2, darkness 2Full study and all 15 verses →
Deuteronomy 4:11 You came near and stood at the base of the mountain, a mountain blazing with fire to the heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.
Deuteronomy 5:22 The LORD spoke these commandments in a loud voice to your whole assembly out of the fire, the cloud, and the deep darkness on the mountain; He added nothing more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.
- מַעֲמָק maămâqdeeptranslated this way 2 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s H4615Noun · Translated: depths 3, deep 2Full study and all 5 verses →
Psalm 69:2 I have sunk into the miry depths, where there is no footing; I have drifted into deep waters, where the flood engulfs me.
Psalm 69:14 Rescue me from the mire and do not let me sink; deliver me from my foes and out of the deep waters.
- מְצוֹלָה metsôlâhdepth, deeptranslated this way 2 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s H4688Noun · Translated: depths 7, deep 2, makes the depths 1Full study and all 10 verses →
Psalm 107:24 They saw the works of the LORD, and His wonders in the deep.
Jonah 2:3 For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the current swirled about me; all Your breakers and waves swept over me.
Greek words (New Testament)
- βάθος báthosdepth, a depth, a deeptranslated this way 3 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s G899Noun · Translated: deep 3, depth 3, shallow 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Luke 5:4 When Jesus had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”
1 Corinthians 2:10 But God has revealed it to us by the Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
- βαθύς bathýsdeep, early, profoundtranslated this way 3 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G901Adjective · Translated: deep 2, early 1, deep things 1Full study and all 4 verses →
John 4:11 “Sir,” the woman replied, “You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where then will You get this living water?
Acts 20:9 And a certain young man named Eutychus, seated in the window, was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell from the third story and was picked up dead.
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.