Word study
Distribute
3 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: distributed, distributing, distribute. 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 “distribute” 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)
- חָלַק châlaqdivide, sharetranslated this way 6 times of its 65 uses · Strong’s H2505Verb · Translated: divided 14, divide 9, distributed 4, dividing 3Full study and all 64 verses →
Joshua 18:10 And Joshua cast lots for them in the presence of the LORD at Shiloh, where he distributed the land to the Israelites according to their divisions.
2 Samuel 6:19 Then he distributed to every man and woman among the multitude of Israel a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake. And all the people departed, each to his own home.
- נָחַל nâchalget or take as a possessiontranslated this way 4 times of its 58 uses · Strong’s H5157Verb · Translated: inheritance 11, inherit 7, receive an inheritance 3, possess 2Full study and all 56 verses →
Numbers 34:18 Appoint one leader from each tribe to distribute the land.
Joshua 14:1 Now these are the portions that the Israelites inherited in the land of Canaan, as distributed by Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the families of the tribes of Israel.
- נָתַן nâthangive, put, settranslated this way 3 times of its 1,957 uses · Strong’s H5414Verb · Translated: give 326, gave 206, given 187, put 135Full study and all 1,785 verses →
Greek words (New Testament)
- παρατίθημι paratíthēmiI set before, serve, entrust totranslated this way 1 time of its 19 uses · Strong’s G3908Verb · Translated: set 8, entrust 3, put 2, entrusted 2Full study and all 18 verses →
Mark 8:6 And He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then He took the seven loaves, gave thanks and broke them, and gave them to His disciples to set before the people. And they distributed them to the crowd.
- διαδίδωμι diadídōmiI offer here and there, distribute, dividetranslated this way 1 time of its 4 uses · Strong’s G1239Verb · Translated: divides 1, give 1, distributed 1, distribution 1Full study and all 4 verses →
John 6:11 Then Jesus took the loaves and the fish, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted.
- μερισμός merismósa distribution, separationtranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s G3311Noun · Translated: distributed 1, dividing 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Hebrews 2:4 and was affirmed by God through signs, wonders, various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will.
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.