Word study
Drain
8 Hebrew words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: drained, drain, draining. 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 “drain” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- מָצָה mâtsâhdrain, drain outtranslated this way 3 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s H4680Verb · Translated: drained 2, wrung 1, drink 1, dregs 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Leviticus 1:15 Then the priest shall bring it to the altar, twist off its head, and burn it on the altar; its blood should be drained out on the side of the altar.
Ezekiel 23:34 You will drink it and drain it; you will dash it to pieces, and tear your breasts. For I have spoken,’ declares the Lord GOD.
- כָּשַׁל kâshalstumble, stagger, tottertranslated this way 1 time of its 63 uses · Strong’s H3782Verb · Translated: stumble 23, stumbled 7, fall 5, stumbles 4Full study and all 59 verses →
Psalm 31:10 For my life is consumed with grief and my years with groaning; my iniquity has drained my strength, and my bones are wasting away.
- הָפַךְ hâphakturn, overturntranslated this way 1 time of its 93 uses · Strong’s H2015Verb · Translated: turned 27, turn 7, changed 4, overthrew 3Full study and all 91 verses →
Psalm 32:4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was drained as in the summer heat. Selah
- שָׁתָה shâthâhdrinktranslated this way 1 time of its 212 uses · Strong’s H8354Verb · Translated: drink 137, drank 24, drinking 20, drinks 6Full study and all 192 verses →
- שָׁפַךְ shâphakpour out, pourtranslated this way 1 time of its 112 uses · Strong’s H8210Verb · Translated: pour 35, shed 26, poured 19, build 6Full study and all 108 verses →
Leviticus 17:13 And if any Israelite or foreigner living among them hunts down a wild animal or bird that may be eaten, he must drain its blood and cover it with dirt.
- דּוּב dûbpine awaytranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H1727Verb · Translated: drain 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Leviticus 26:16 then this is what I will do to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting disease, and fever that will destroy your sight and drain your life. You will sow your seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.
- יָבֵשׁ yâbêshbe dry, dried up, witheredtranslated this way 1 time of its 59 uses · Strong’s H3001Verb · Translated: dried 15, dry 13, withered 9, wither 5Full study and all 53 verses →
Isaiah 42:15 I will lay waste the mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation. I will turn the rivers into dry land and drain the marshes.
- נוּס nûsflee, escapetranslated this way 1 time of its 157 uses · Strong’s H5127Verb · Translated: fled 65, flee 47, ran 5, run 5Full study and all 141 verses →
Nahum 2:8 Nineveh has been like a pool of water throughout her days, but now it is draining away. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one turns back.
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.