Word study
Dim
6 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “dim”. 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 “dim” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- כֵּהֶה kêhehdim, dull, fainttranslated this way 1 time of its 7 uses · Strong’s H3544Adjective · Translated: faded 3, dull 1, grown so dim 1, smoldering 1Full study and all 7 verses →
1 Samuel 3:2 And at that time Eli, whose eyesight had grown so dim that he could not see, was lying in his room.
- קוּם qûmarise, stand up, standtranslated this way 1 time of its 594 uses · Strong’s H6965Verb · Translated: rise 68, got 61, set 44, Get 42Full study and all 570 verses →
1 Kings 14:4 Jeroboam’s wife did as instructed; she arose and went to Shiloh and arrived at Ahijah’s house. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age.
- כָּהָה kâhâhbe or grow dim, fainttranslated this way 1 time of its 9 uses · Strong’s H3543Verb · Translated: weak 2, faded 2Full study and all 9 verses →
Job 17:7 My eyes have grown dim with grief, and my whole body is but a shadow.
- עָתַק âthaqmove, proceed, advancetranslated this way 1 time of its 9 uses · Strong’s H6275Verb · Translated: moved 3Full study and all 9 verses →
Psalm 6:7 My eyes fail from grief; they grow dim because of all my foes.
- דָּאַב dâabbecome faint, languishtranslated this way 1 time of its 3 uses · Strong’s H1669Verb · Translated: grow dim 1, languish 1, weak 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Psalm 88:9 My eyes grow dim with grief. I call to You daily, O LORD; I spread out my hands to You.
- חָשַׁךְ châshakbe, grow darktranslated this way 1 time of its 17 uses · Strong’s H2821Verb · Translated: darkened 3Full study and all 17 verses →
Lamentations 5:17 Because of this, our hearts are faint; because of these, our eyes grow dim—
Greek words (New Testament)
- αἴνιγμα aínigmaa riddle, an enigmatranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G135Noun · Translated: dim reflection 1Full study and its 1 verse →
1 Corinthians 13:12 Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
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.