Word study
Division
3 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: divisions, division. 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 “division” 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)
- צָבָא tsâbâarmy, war, warfaretranslated this way 41 times of its 468 uses · Strong’s H6635Noun · Translated: Hosts 286, army 66, host 23, divisions 21Full study and all 448 verses →
Exodus 6:26 It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said, “Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their divisions.”
Numbers 1:3 You and Aaron are to number those who are twenty years of age or older by their divisions— everyone who can serve in Israel’s army.
- מַחֲלֹקֶת machălôqethdivision, coursetranslated this way 37 times of its 40 uses · Strong’s H4256Noun · Translated: divisions 18, division 15, according to the allotments 2, according to their divisions 2Full study and all 36 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.
1 Chronicles 23:6 Then David divided the Levites into divisions according to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
- רֹאשׁ rôshheadtranslated this way 2 times of its 570 uses · Strong’s H7218Noun · Translated: head 200, heads 113, chief 31, top 29Full study and all 530 verses →
1 Samuel 11:11 The next day Saul organized the troops into three divisions, and during the morning watch they invaded the camp of the Ammonites and slaughtered them, until the hottest part of the day. And the survivors were so scattered that no two of them were left together.
1 Samuel 13:17 And raiders went out of the Philistine camp in three divisions. One headed toward Ophrah in the land of Shual,
Greek words (New Testament)
- σχίσμα schísmaa rent, divisiontranslated this way 6 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s G4978Noun · Translated: division 4, tear 2, divisions 2Full study and all 8 verses →
John 7:43 So there was division in the crowd because of Jesus.
1 Corinthians 1:10 I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree together, so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be united in mind and conviction.
- διχοστασία dichostasíadivision, dissensiontranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G1370Noun · Translated: divisions 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Romans 16:17 Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Turn away from them.
Galatians 5:20 idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions,
- ἐφημερία ephēmeríaa class of prieststranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G2183Noun · Translated: priestly division 1, division 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Luke 1:5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah, and whose wife Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron.
Luke 1:8 One day while Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God,
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.