Word study
Deserve
4 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: deserve, deserves, deserving, deserved. 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 “deserve” 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)
- גְּמוּל gemûldealing, recompence, benefittranslated this way 5 times of its 18 uses · Strong’s H1576Noun · Translated: recompense 5, deserve 3, deserves 2, retribution 2Full study and all 16 verses →
Judges 9:16 Now if you have acted faithfully and honestly in making Abimelech king, if you have done well by Jerubbaal and his family, and if you have done to him as he deserves—
Psalm 28:4 Repay them according to their deeds and for their works of evil. Repay them for what their hands have done; bring back on them what they deserve.
- מָוֶת mâvethdeathtranslated this way 4 times of its 153 uses · Strong’s H4194Noun · Translated: death 108, die 7, died 7, dies 6Full study and all 148 verses →
1 Samuel 26:16 This thing you have done is not good. As surely as the LORD lives, all of you deserve to die, since you did not protect your lord, the LORD’s anointed. Now look around. Where are the king’s spear and water jug that were by his head?”
2 Samuel 12:5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan: “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die!
- מִשְׁפָּט mishpâṭjudgmenttranslated this way 2 times of its 406 uses · Strong’s H4941Noun · Translated: justice 111, ordinances 73, judgments 40, judgment 40Full study and all 394 verses →
Deuteronomy 19:6 Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue the manslayer in a rage, overtake him if the distance is great, and strike him dead though he did not deserve to die, since he did not intend any harm.
Jeremiah 49:12 For this is what the LORD says: “If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, can you possibly remain unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for you must drink it too.
- פְּרִי perîfruittranslated this way 2 times of its 119 uses · Strong’s H6529Noun · Translated: fruit 82, produce 11, offspring 5, fruitful 3Full study and all 107 verses →
Jeremiah 17:10 I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.
Jeremiah 21:14 I will punish you as your deeds deserve, declares the LORD. I will kindle a fire in your forest that will consume everything around you.’”
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἄξιος áxiosworthy, worthy of, deservingtranslated this way 3 times of its 40 uses · Strong’s G514Adjective · Translated: worthy 32, keeping 2, deserve 2Full study and all 39 verses →
Luke 23:15 Neither has Herod, for he sent Him back to us. As you can see, He has done nothing deserving of death.
Revelation 16:6 For they have spilled the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink, as they deserve.”
- ἔνοχος énochosinvolved in, liabletranslated this way 2 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s G1777Adjective · Translated: subject 4, guilty 2, deserves 1, deserving 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Matthew 26:66 What do you think?” “He deserves to die,” they answered.
Mark 14:64 You have heard the blasphemy. What is your verdict?” And they all condemned Him as deserving of death.
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.