Word study
Defense
7 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: defense, defenses. 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 “defense” 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)
- גַב gabbacktranslated this way 2 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s H1354Noun · Translated: rims 3, defenses 2, mounds 2Full study and all 11 verses →
Job 13:12 Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay.
- מָצוֹר mâtsôrsiege-enclosure, siege, entrenchmenttranslated this way 1 time of its 25 uses · Strong’s H4692Noun · Translated: siege 17, fortified 2Full study and all 25 verses →
2 Chronicles 11:5 Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and he built up cities for defense in Judah.
- אֵל êlgodtranslated this way 1 time of its 235 uses · Strong’s H410Noun · Translated: God 208, Mighty 5, power 3, God's 3Full study and all 225 verses →
Job 13:8 Would you show Him partiality or argue in His defense?
- מִשְׁפָּט mishpâṭjudgmenttranslated this way 1 time of its 406 uses · Strong’s H4941Noun · Translated: justice 111, ordinances 73, judgments 40, judgment 40Full study and all 394 verses →
- אֵל êlmotion totranslated this way 1 time of its 4,199 uses · Strong’s H413Preposition · Translated: to 1,941, to me 285, to you 149, to him 137Full study and all 3,455 verses →
- מָסָךְ mâsâkcovering, screentranslated this way 1 time of its 25 uses · Strong’s H4539Noun · Translated: curtain 17, covering 3, curtains 2, shield 1Full study and all 25 verses →
Isaiah 22:8 He has uncovered the defenses of Judah. On that day you looked to the weapons in the House of the Forest.
- שֶׁלַח shelachmissile, weapon, sprouttranslated this way 1 time of its 8 uses · Strong’s H7973Noun · Translated: weapons 2, sword 2, weapon 1, carried his weapon 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Joel 2:8 They do not jostle one another; each proceeds in his path. They burst through the defenses, never breaking ranks.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἀπολογία apologíaa verbal defensetranslated this way 6 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s G627Noun · Translated: defense 5, defend 1, eagerness to clear 1, give a defense 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Acts 22:1 “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense before you.”
1 Corinthians 9:3 This is my defense to those who scrutinize me:
- ἀπολογέομαι apologéomaiI give a defense, defend myselftranslated this way 5 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s G626Verb · Translated: defend 3Full study and all 10 verses →
Acts 24:10 When the governor motioned for Paul to speak, he began his response: “Knowing that you have been a judge over this nation for many years, I gladly make my defense.
2 Corinthians 12:19 Have you been thinking all along that we were making a defense to you? We speak before God in Christ, and all of this, beloved, is to build you up.
- ἀμύνομαι amýnomaiI defendtranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G292Verb · Translated: went to his defense 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Acts 7:24 And when he saw one of them being mistreated, Moses went to his defense and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian who was oppressing him.
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 defense: 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.