Word study
Diligently
9 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “diligently”. 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 “diligently” 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)
- מְאֹד meôdmuchness, force, abundance, exceedinglytranslated this way 2 times of its 195 uses · Strong’s H3966Adverb · Translated: greatly 28, very 12, was very 8, exceedingly 8Full study and all 186 verses →
Deuteronomy 4:9 Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren.
Psalm 119:4 You have ordained Your precepts, that we should keep them diligently.
- שָׁמַר shâmarkeep, watch, preservetranslated this way 2 times of its 461 uses · Strong’s H8104Verb · Translated: keep 133, careful 39, kept 33, guard 25Full study and all 436 verses →
Deuteronomy 6:17 You are to diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God and the testimonies and statutes He has given you.
Deuteronomy 24:8 In cases of infectious skin diseases, be careful to diligently follow everything the Levitical priests instruct you. Be careful to do as I have commanded them.
- אׇסְפַּרְנָא osparnâthoroughlytranslated this way 2 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s H629Adverb · Translated: diligently 2, full 1, diligence 1, needed 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Ezra 5:8 Let it be known to the king that we went into the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. The people are rebuilding it with large stones and placing timbers in the walls. This work is being carried out diligently and is prospering in their hands.
Ezra 6:13 In response, Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates diligently carried out what King Darius had decreed.
- שָׁנַן shânanwhet, sharpentranslated this way 1 time of its 9 uses · Strong’s H8150Verb · Translated: sharpen 3, Sharp 2, teach them diligently 1, pierce 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Deuteronomy 6:7 And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
- אַדְרַזְדָּא adrazdâcorrectly, exactlytranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H149Adverb · Translated: diligently 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Ezra 7:23 Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven must be done diligently for His house. For why should wrath fall on the realm of the king and his sons?
- חָרָה chârâhburn, be kindledtranslated this way 1 time of its 89 uses · Strong’s H2734Verb · Translated: burned 26, angry 15, kindled 11, furious 6Full study and all 87 verses →
Nehemiah 3:20 Next to him, Baruch son of Zabbai diligently repaired another section, from the angle to the doorway of the house of Eliashib the high priest.
- שָׁחַר shâcharlook early, diligently fortranslated this way 1 time of its 12 uses · Strong’s H7836Verb · Translated: earnestly seek 2Full study and all 12 verses →
Proverbs 13:24 He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently.
- לָמַד lâmadexercise in, learntranslated this way 1 time of its 82 uses · Strong’s H3925Verb · Translated: teach 29, learn 14, taught 13, trains 3Full study and all 78 verses →
Jeremiah 12:16 And if they will diligently learn the ways of My people and swear by My name, saying, ‘As surely as the LORD lives’— just as they once taught My people to swear by Baal— then they will be established among My people.
- שָׁמַע shâmaheartranslated this way 1 time of its 1,132 uses · Strong’s H8085Verb · Translated: heard 311, hear 253, listen 218, obey 60Full study and all 1,063 verses →
Greek words (New Testament)
- κοπιάω kopiáōI grow weary, toiltranslated this way 1 time of its 23 uses · Strong’s G2872Verb · Translated: labor 5, worked 4, weary 2, worked hard 2Full study and all 21 verses →
1 Thessalonians 5:12 But we ask you, brothers, to acknowledge those who work diligently among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you.
- ζητέω zētéōI seek, search for, desiretranslated this way 1 time of its 117 uses · Strong’s G2212Verb · Translated: seek 17, seeking 14, looking 11, trying 9Full study and all 114 verses →
2 Timothy 1:17 Indeed, when he arrived in Rome, he searched diligently until he found me.
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.