Word study
Distance
6 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “distance”. 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 “distance” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- רָחוֹק râchôqdistant, fartranslated this way 12 times of its 84 uses · Strong’s H7350Adjective · Translated: far 20, afar 13, distant 11, distance 10Full study and all 84 verses →
Genesis 22:4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.
Exodus 2:4 And his sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.
- כִּבְרָה kibrâhdistancetranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H3530Noun · Translated: distance 2, short distance 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Genesis 35:16 Later, they set out from Bethel, and while they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth, and her labor was difficult.
2 Kings 5:19 “Go in peace,” said Elisha. But after Naaman had traveled a short distance,
- נֶגֶד negedwhat is conspicuous or in fronttranslated this way 3 times of its 142 uses · Strong’s H5048Preposition · Translated: before 24, before me 11, opposite 11, presence 9Full study and all 135 verses →
Numbers 2:2 “The Israelites are to camp around the Tent of Meeting at a distance from it, each man under his standard, with the banners of his family.
Deuteronomy 32:52 Although you shall see from a distance the land that I am giving the Israelites, you shall not enter it.”
- רָחַק râchaqbe, or become, far, distanttranslated this way 2 times of its 57 uses · Strong’s H7368Verb · Translated: far 19, far away 6, removed 3, remove 3Full study and all 56 verses →
Exodus 33:7 Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it at a distance outside the camp. He called it the Tent of Meeting, and anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the Tent of Meeting outside the camp.
Judges 18:22 After they were some distance from Micah’s house, the men in the houses near Micah’s house mobilized and overtook the Danites.
- דֶּרֶךְ derekway, road, distance, journey, mannertranslated this way 2 times of its 653 uses · Strong’s H1870Noun · Translated: way 204, ways 166, road 54, journey 35Full study and all 595 verses →
Deuteronomy 14:24 But if the distance is too great for you to carry that with which the LORD your God has blessed you, because the place where the LORD your God will choose to put His Name is too far away,
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.
- מָדַד mâdadmeasuretranslated this way 2 times of its 50 uses · Strong’s H4058Verb · Translated: measured 34, measure 5, Next he measured 3, apportion 2Full study and all 48 verses →
Deuteronomy 21:2 your elders and judges must come out and measure the distance from the victim to the neighboring cities.
Ezekiel 40:23 There was a gate to the inner court facing the north gate, just as there was on the east. He measured the distance from gateway to gateway to be a hundred cubits.
Greek words (New Testament)
- μακρόθεν makróthenfrom a distancetranslated this way 13 times of its 14 uses · Strong’s G3113Adverb · Translated: distance 12, great distance 1, afar 1Full study and all 14 verses →
Matthew 26:58 But Peter followed Him at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the high priest. And he went in and sat down with the guards to see the outcome.
Mark 5:6 When the man saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees before 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.
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.