Word study
Defend
4 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: defend, defended, defends, defending. 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 “defend” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- רִיב rîbstrive, contendtranslated this way 5 times of its 64 uses · Strong’s H7378Verb · Translated: contend 13, quarreled 4, plead 4, rebuked 4Full study and all 58 verses →
Deuteronomy 33:7 And concerning Judah he said: “O LORD, hear the cry of Judah and bring him to his people. With his own hands he defends his cause, but may You be a help against his foes.”
Psalm 74:22 Rise up, O God; defend Your cause! Remember how the fool mocks You all day long.
- גָּנַן gânancover, surround, defendtranslated this way 5 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H1598Verb · Translated: defend 5, shield 2, protect 1Full study and all 7 verses →
2 Kings 19:34 I will defend this city and save it for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.’”
Isaiah 37:35 ‘I will defend this city and save it for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.’”
- שָׁפַט shâphaṭjudge, governtranslated this way 4 times of its 199 uses · Strong’s H8199Verb · Translated: judge 81, judges 35, judged 15, vindicate 7Full study and all 181 verses →
Psalm 82:3 Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; uphold the rights of the afflicted and oppressed.
Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.”
- נָצַל nâtsalstrip, plundertranslated this way 2 times of its 205 uses · Strong’s H5337Verb · Translated: deliver 75, delivered 34, rescue 30, rescued 9Full study and all 191 verses →
2 Samuel 23:12 But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field, defended it, and struck down the Philistines. So the LORD brought about a great victory.
1 Chronicles 11:14 But Eleazar and David stationed themselves in the middle of the field and defended it. They struck down the Philistines, and the LORD brought about a great victory.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἀπολογέομαι apologéomaiI give a defense, defend myselftranslated this way 4 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s G626Verb · Translated: defend 3Full study and all 10 verses →
Luke 12:11 When you are brought before synagogues, rulers, and authorities, do not worry about how to defend yourselves or what to say.
Acts 26:2 “King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today to defend myself against all the accusations of the Jews,
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.