Word study
Divide
10 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: divided, divide, dividing, divides. 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 “divide” 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 31 times of its 65 uses · Strong’s H2505Verb · Translated: divided 14, divide 9, distributed 4, dividing 3Full study and all 64 verses →
Genesis 14:15 During the night, Abram divided his forces and routed Chedorlaomer’s army, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus.
Exodus 15:9 The enemy declared, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.’
- חָצָה châtsâhdividetranslated this way 9 times of its 15 uses · Strong’s H2673Verb · Translated: divided 5, divide 4, parted 2Full study and all 14 verses →
Genesis 32:7 In great fear and distress, Jacob divided his people into two camps, as well as the flocks and herds and camels.
Exodus 21:35 If a man’s ox injures his neighbor’s ox and it dies, they must sell the live one and divide the proceeds; they also must divide the dead animal.
- פָּרַס pârasbreak in two, dividetranslated this way 8 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s H6536Verb · Translated: divided 5, completely divided 3, or 1, hooves 1Full study and all 10 verses →
Leviticus 11:4 But of those that only chew the cud or only have a divided hoof, you are not to eat the following: The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you.
Deuteronomy 14:7 But of those that chew the cud or have a completely divided hoof, you are not to eat the following: the camel, the rabbit, or the rock badger. Although they chew the cud, they do not have a divided hoof. They are unclean for you,
- בָּקַע bâqacleave, break open or throughtranslated this way 5 times of its 51 uses · Strong’s H1234Verb · Translated: split 7, breached 4, divided 3, burst forth 2Full study and all 50 verses →
Exodus 14:16 And as for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.
Nehemiah 9:11 You divided the sea before them, and they crossed through it on dry ground. You hurled their pursuers into the depths like a stone into raging waters.
- פָּרַד pâraddividetranslated this way 3 times of its 26 uses · Strong’s H6504Verb · Translated: separated 3, spread 3, separates 3, divided 2Full study and all 26 verses →
Deuteronomy 32:8 When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.
2 Samuel 1:23 Saul and Jonathan, beloved and delightful in life, were not divided in death. They were swifter than eagles; they were stronger than lions.
- פָּלַג pâlagsplit, dividetranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H6385Verb · Translated: divided 2, cuts 1, confound 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Genesis 10:25 Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg, because in his days the earth was divided, and his brother was named Joktan.
1 Chronicles 1:19 Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg, because in his days the earth was divided, and his brother was named Joktan.
- שָׁסַע shâsadivide, cleavetranslated this way 2 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s H8156Verb · Translated: tear it open 1, completely divided 1, divided 1, tore the lion apart 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Leviticus 11:3 You may eat any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud.
Deuteronomy 14:6 You may eat any animal that has a split hoof divided in two and that chews the cud.
- בָּזָא bâzâdivide, cut throughtranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H958Verb · Translated: divided 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Isaiah 18:2 which sends couriers by sea, in papyrus vessels on the waters. Go, swift messengers, to a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people widely feared, to a powerful nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers.
Isaiah 18:7 At that time gifts will be brought to the LORD of Hosts— from a people tall and smooth-skinned, from a people widely feared, from a powerful nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers— to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the LORD of Hosts.
- נָחַל nâchalget or take as a possessiontranslated this way 2 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 33:54 And you are to divide the land by lot according to your clans. Give a larger inheritance to a larger clan and a smaller inheritance to a smaller one. Whatever falls to each one by lot will be his. You will receive an inheritance according to the tribes of your fathers.
Ezekiel 47:14 You are to divide it equally among them. Because I swore with an uplifted hand to give it to your forefathers, this land will fall to you as an inheritance.
- אֶרֶץ eretsearth, landtranslated this way 2 times of its 2,375 uses · Strong’s H776Noun · Translated: land 1,483, earth 564, ground 119, lands 41Full study and all 2,120 verses →
Greek words (New Testament)
- μερίζω merízōI divide, part, sharetranslated this way 10 times of its 14 uses · Strong’s G3307Verb · Translated: divided 9, assigned 2, divide 1, given 1Full study and all 13 verses →
Matthew 12:25 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.
Mark 3:24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, it cannot stand.
- διαμερίζω diamerízōI divide up into parts, break up, distributetranslated this way 9 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s G1266Verb · Translated: divided 8, divide 1, separated 1, shared 1Full study and all 11 verses →
Matthew 27:35 When they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments by casting lots.
Mark 15:24 And they crucified Him. They also divided His garments by casting lots to decide what each of them would take.
- σχίζω schízōI rend, divide asundertranslated this way 2 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s G4977Verb · Translated: torn 4, tear 2, divided 2, split 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Acts 14:4 The people of the city were divided. Some sided with the Jews, and others with the apostles.
Acts 23:7 As soon as he had said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.
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.